Wayde’s mom: it’s my time to dance
Wayde van Niekerk’s mom Odessa is hoping to waltz her way to the top in Dancing with the Stars
SHE’S swopped sneakers and sportswear for high heels and fancy frocks – and she’s loving every second of it. Odessa Swarts has achieved a lot in her life. She was a star athlete in her day, she’s the mother of one of the world’s top athletes, and she’s gone on to become a sought-after sports coach.
But she has only one ambition these days: to go all the way and win Dancing with the Stars South Africa.
“I’m really enjoying it,” the 43-year-old mom of Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk says. “Please don’t vote me out, viewers!
“I love these dresses and being dolled up because I don’t get to do that every day – you’ll usually find me in a tracksuit or shorts and trainers. To be transformed so glamorously immediately makes me feel special.”
In her dazzling debut in the sparkly ballroom, Odessa looked ethereal and serene in a floaty white gown. She and her dance partner, Dylon Daniels (23), charmed judges and spectators with a graceful waltz.
Her husband, Steven, and teenage daughter, Kayla, joined many in the audience who gave her a standing ovation.
Odessa loved it. “I can’t wait to go back and start again on Monday,” she told presenter Tracey Lange after her performance.
Those who were at Wayde’s wedding to Chesney Campbell in October know this hot mama has the stamina and moves to go far in the competition.
“I think a couple of people thought I was going crazy at the wedding,” she says with a laugh.
“I don’t drink but people came up to me and were, like, ‘Are you drunk?’ I told them my child is going to get married once in his life, so why not enjoy it? I was on the dance floor the whole night.” Home for Odessa during filming of the show is a chic apartment in Rosebank, Johannesburg – hundreds of kilometres from her home in Bloemfontein. It’s taken some getting used to, she says, and she gets homesick. Viewers had a taste of this after her f i rst dance. While waiting
for the judges’ scores her voice trembled as she tearfully said she was missing her family.
“I just miss everything about being at my house and having my things around me,” she tells us. “I’d have enjoyed the show a lot more if it was in Bloemfontein, I think.”
HER Dancing with the Stars journey began in October with a call asking her to take part. It took a lot of persuasion by Steven (42) before Odessa was ready to sign on the dotted line.
“He made me do the show. When I got the call, I phoned him and said they want me to be part of Dancing with the Stars but I didn’t think I wanted to,” she says.
Steven, who works in telecoms for commercial businesses, encouraged her to go for it. After 25 years of raising kids it was her time to shine and do something for herself, he told her.
“I didn’t have a choice because Steven printed the contract and filled it in! All I had to do was sign. He was more excited than me,” she says.
Her kids – Wayde (25), Craig (20) and Kayla (15) – are also fully behind her, although Kayla finds it tough having her away from home.
Watching Odessa strut her stuff on TV is worth it though.
“Everyone is very excited, even though my daughter is worried I won’t be able to do the hip-hop moves,” Odessa says.
“They have a totally different dance style to the ones we had when we were young. The kids tell me, ‘Come on, Mommy, you must dab.’ And when I try they say, ‘No, that’s Usain Bolt’s move.’ They’ve instructed me that by the end of this show I must know how to dab.”
While her first-born is used to the glare of the cameras, Odessa is less accustomed to the spotlight and she’s struggled to cope with the public criticism of her participation in the show.
Some social media users have negative comments about her involvement because she isn’t strictly speaking a celebrity. But she’s decided not to take it to heart and Wayde has made it clear he’s proud of her.
The track sensation silenced the trolls after tweeting, “She’s my star. So I guess it’s how you look at it.”
This isn’t the first time he’s come to his mom’s rescue during this experience. Odessa found the first three days of rehearsals somewhat gruelling – she felt out of her element and was beginning to question why she’d agreed to be part of the show in the first place.
“I was close to tears on the third day, although Wayde had no idea how I was feeling. He called me that evening and asked me, ‘Mommy, how are you doing?’
“I told him I was feeling very lonely and that I wasn’t enjoying it. He said, ‘Well, Ma, now you know how I feel when I’m all alone overseas and you guys are here. This is your time to find yourself, get closer to God and just enjoy yourself ’.”
Those words of encouragement gave Odessa the strength to continue and give it her all, pushing through the pain, the long hours and tough rehearsals.
ODESSA’S punishing rehearsal schedule runs from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Sunday, under the guidance of her talented partner, Dylon. He’s an experienced dance instructor who won the Fedansa South African Ballroom Junior Champions in 2008 and the Sadta Latin America South African Champions in 2010.
Odessa says she can’t stop looking at herself in the mirror these days.
“I love how my body is transforming and toning. Everything is tightening and I love the way it’s shaping my body. I didn’t think it would make such a difference.”
She’s so taken with dancing she’s decided she’ll continue taking classes when the show’s over. And she’s not doing it just for herself – she wants to tell other women out there it’s never too late to find your mojo again.
She’s even coined her own hashtag, #OdessaGettingHerGrooveBack.
“Even if I change one woman’s life with what I’m bringing to Dancing with the Stars, that will be enough for me. I’m here to help change lives,” she says.
“Raising kids over the years made me forget the dreams I had for myself. Not that I’m complaining – I’d do it all over again, but they’re all grown up.
“There are many women out there who’ve forgotten their dreams and their hopes because they’ve raised a family. They can step up and say, ‘It’s my time now’.”
Dancing with the Stars is on M-Net (DStv channel 101) on Sundays at 5pm.