ALL NEW MONTY
THE BRAVE BLOKES CHAT ABOUT GETTING THEIR KIT OFF
They might have been married for 40 years and seen it all, but Robert ‘Dipper’ Dipierdomenico, 61, reveals that his wife, Cheryl, loved every minute of watching him get his kit off in The All New Monty.
“My wife was in the audience,” he tells New Idea, “and she loved it!” Of course, the ex-footy player isn’t just doing it for her, he is doing it to help raise awareness for men’s health issues.
“I do a lot of work in the mentalhealth area,” he says. “So when this came about, I thought, ‘Why not?’
It’s a great opportunity to get out there and spread this positive message.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I had so much fun, I should have got into stripping years ago!”
In fact, Dipper, who considers himself one of the best dancers in the group, even suggested a dance move that made it into their routine.
“There’s a dance move in the routine called
the Dipper,” he reveals. “I said to our choreographer, Todd [Mckenney], ‘It’s got to be in the dance’ and he liked it. Imagine music in the background, and you’re butting out a cigarette, you put your right foot in and you twist it all around then you take it out. “That’s the Dipper.” Meanwhile, Dipper admits that he did a few special things to get ready for the big night, including getting a spray tan and a wax.
“I loved it! I did both,” he laughs. “Matty J got everything waxed but I got part of my shoulders waxed and under my arms. How you women do it I have no idea. Oh my, it hurt, but I’d wax again if I needed to.”
However, there is one piece of hair he reveals he will never remove – his moustache! “No way, I would never get rid of it,” he laughs. “I’m too close to it!”
DIPPER ‘MY WIFE LOVED WATCHING ME STRIP’
JOHN WOOD ‘I’VE BEEN NAKED ON STAGE BEFORE’
When it comes to taking your clothes off on stage, you would think that most people would be nervous, but for veteran actor John Wood, it’s just another day of work.
“I wasn’t nervous. I’ve been naked on stage in a couple of theatre shows before,” he reveals to New idea. “Although, it is always a little confronting. But I like a bit of a challenge. And it was for a good cause. Men are notoriously bad at checking on their health.” Health challenges are something that John, 73, knows about, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, but he says it didn’t hinder him in the dance routine.
“The rheumatoid didn’t present any particular problems during this.
The routine wasn’t all that arduous,” he says.
“It slows me down a bit, but you always have to work through it anyway. It makes me move more clumsily, I suppose.” In fact, John admits that dancing, isn’t his forte.
“I was probably the worst mover, but that’s hardly a surprise,” he laughs.