Dancing with the heels hard for Shavaughn
Tuesday’s are the hardest on Dancing with the Stars says contestant Shavaughn Ruakere.
‘‘You’re coming off the back of the two live shows and you’re still on the show, which is great, but you have to learn a whole new routine,’’ she said while battling a cold she’s ‘pretty sure any man would call a flu.
‘‘But it’s just a cold.’’ When the Taranaki-born actress was approached for the show, where she is paired with Enrique Johns, she knew she’d say yes. ‘‘I was asked at the end of last year so I had a lot of time to think about it but it was always a ‘yes’ from me. I’m friends with Siobhan Marshall and Teuila Blakely, who have been on the show, and both were like ‘yeah do it’. They thought it was a great experience.
‘‘I’ve already had so many people say to me ‘I would love to be on that show’. A lot of people have a very romantic notion of it and I felt the same.’’
Ruakere struggled to learn to dance in heels, as she’s only used to doing that on a night out.
‘‘There’s something different about dancing in heels when you’ve been drinking where I’m all good but without alcohol in the equation and doing proper dancing as well, not just dancing around a handbag with your friends,’’ the 40-year-old said.
‘‘I’m definitely feeling better on the heels now but at the start I felt very shaky and like I’d roll my ankle or arse over on national television.’’ Ruakere, who trains four hours a day, said she knew the show would be challenging but was still surprised by the physicality of dancing.
‘‘It definitely has been hard each week and you’re putting your body through the ringer. Everyone on the show meet up on a Saturday on set and it’s like exchanging war stories.’’ Ruakere grew up in Opunake and moved to New Plymouth, where she still has family, when eight.
‘‘I’m definitely feeling better on the heels now but at the start I felt very shaky, like I’d roll my ankle or arse over on national television.’’ Shavaughn Ruakere