It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last week Their Life.
Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload, and also welcome back to me, who has been absent for the last week as I had shingles off the back of that horrendous cold that you might have noticed that you could hear in my voice over the last few weeks. But guys, I am back and I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Novi Perez, who was one of this week's stars booted on Channel seven, which guys Dancing with the Stars. I'm absolutely loving this year.
I have to say that I love Shane Crawford as one of my favorites, and boy can Lisa mccowne really dance. It's been quite a fantastic season so far. But my guest today is an Australian legend. As you would know, Nova is an Aboriginal Australian athlete and former politician. As a part of Australia's women's field hockey team in the nineteen ninety six Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal Australian to.
Win an Olympic gold medal.
We have seen her on Survivor and at the moment she has been doing some sports commentary for the Olympic Games. What an honor it is to talk with her today. I will talk about how hard it is in the rehearsals and what she really thought of Craig, her dance partner. We will find out exactly what she thought of each judge as well, with some home truths for two of the lineup, which I think is really going to surprise
some people. There is an opportunity to talk about where she is commentating the Olympics and what it means to her to still be included in the Australian coverage so many years later. We will discuss the advantages each contestant has based on their careers, and which friend group she has found herself in with an unlikely friendship with Aunt Middleton.
There's actually so much to talk about with Nova as you can imagine, So as I said, sit back and relax and enjoy us unpacking the wonderful world love dancing with the stars.
Amazing, Hi Nova, how are you good?
Thank you?
Am I right to say that your knee deep in Olympic commitments at the moment.
Yes, that is correct.
Well, I'm here to talk about dancing with the stars. But I'm curious, am I talking to you? Are you in Paris or are you doing your work here from Australia.
No, I'm doing from Australia at the band studio p at Channel nine in Melbourne.
Okay, well, we're here to talk about dancing with the stars. But I was just thinking, if you're in Paris, it would be remiss of me not to harass you and ask you about what it's like.
Got all my family over there at the moment. So my younger cousin's a hockey rates. Oh wow, she's prying.
Well, what does it mean to you to still be included in such a global event?
I mean, the Olympics is madness.
Yeah it is, and it's just I'm sleep deprived, but it's a good sleep deprivation.
My stepfather he was mad for sport and international sport because he was English, so it was funny. I don't know how he ever got nothing done because he was always up at these really odd.
Times trying to watch sport when it's live.
Incredible, crazy, crazy, It is crazy.
But I need to ask you, how did you survive the cyclone experience that is dancing with the stars.
Yeah, it's a good experience. I know, I just not made it enjoyable of having a fantastic partner Craig Munley. He was just such a patient teacher, a really good teacher, beautiful human like that makes you experience. I guess good if you can have a partner that is actually someone that you get along with because you do spend an incredible amount of time with them. It was five weeks of training before the actual filming, so it was nine weeks of your life that you're spending a lot of
time with a person you've never met before. But the reason why I did it, I'm fifty three years old.
You know.
I'm just going to say that too.
Yeah, thank you. And it was just I'm always challenging myself, so I thought, why not, all I'll go and have a crack and it was good fun.
There's something about you which I always think of when I hear your name, is that you're someone who's kicked the tire in life.
Do you know what I mean?
You're not the sort of person who has sort of sat back. You've really achieved some amazing things and it's why.
You pity the judges didn't.
We've got to work on bribery. I think that's what you.
Need, you know what. It's funny. I just it's subjective, isn't it. The judging of it, it's incredible. It's not like the Dancing with the Stars is puer entertainment where I come from a pure performance based life where you have to you train and train and train. You don't care what you look like. You need to just get
out and get the job done. And so it's just a totally different aspect of you know, dancing with the stars, but you know, throwing yourself and I Middleton and I had this conversation and I think it was the night that I got punted out that we make ourselves vulnerable. We're not in the entertainment industry like Shane and Being you know, they're retired and they're spots and Middleton and myself,
you make yourself vulnerable. You put yourself in a totally different feel of something you'd never think about doing in your lifetime. And I have no dance background. The only time you'd see me dancing is Buddy on a bar when we's won World Cup for an Olympic gold medal and it's the celebration after us. So to be in that you do make yourself. I know, it's interesting the judging of the you know, all subjective, how their eyes see something, which is like, oh my god, I have
no dance background. You know, don't look at your partner, don't smile, turn your head this one. I'm like, why you look at your part knowing your body dance and.
You know, yeah, everything you instinctively feel like, you know, you kind of have to throw out the window, which I think is which is interesting. But you know, you bring something up which I thought was quite fascinating. I mean, I've been talking this season to a number of the stars about advantages. I mean, you're an Olympic gold medalist. I wondered whether being a sports star had given you an advantage because I can now see being an actor can help Lisa McCune and I can see how being
a sea. What are your thoughts, What do you think is the biggest advantage going this season if you are a star taking it on.
I think the training aspect, the fitness I didn't struggle with like in twenty what year in our twenty twenty two twenty twenty three, I've done back to back Kakoda track and they're doing the Kakoda track is one of the most physically hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It's mental, spirit, it's all of that. So being able to push myself, I can do that. That's not even
an option. So there were some of the days, you know, for five weeks of training there with your partner from eight eight thirty in the morning, you finish at between four and five in the afternoon. And on my right knee, I don't know if you notice my dance last night, I had it strapped. So I struck my legs every single day. And I don't have any cartilage left in my right knee none at all. Wow, God, So it's bone on bone. Art writers. I've had our frost. My
left one was not that much better. And I just thought to myself that if some things in life you just got to do because you'll never get another chance to do. And I said, ask stuff, but I'll I'll just go and do it and I'll grind away. And so every if it wasn't every day, every second that I was having ice baff, I was knocking back to celebrates and the anti inflammatory and I got through and you know, yeah, I had I had fun. And the thing is having done Survivor before where everyone wants to
basically stab each other in the back and light your face. Yeah, coming in and doing you know, Dancing with the Stars with everyone, all the celebrities, we all cheered each other on and all got along like a house on fire. There was we all. We all became a twenty twenty four Dancing with the Stars family, and it was it was fun in that aspect, you know, there's that was a nice thing to be able to walk away from a really reality TV show and say, gosh, wasn't that fun?
Yeah?
To have that, But you know that doesn't happen every year, right because this season and you know, I've got my finger on the pulse when it comes to what goes on behind the scenes of these shows. And everything I kept hearing back from this was how well this cast connected and the friendship was very genuine and you were all very supportive, and that isn't what happens every year.
There's sometimes people that you know, take it too seriously, and you've got some people there that are obviously taking this very seriously. But isn't it nice that our Australian sportsmanship comes out and that you can still get along off the dance floor.
Yeah?
I think so, And maybe I don't know. I mean, you know, Shane Ben, myself and us sort of for we could say, where the sporty? So we had that high level of respect for each other. And then you look at you know, Aiden Hayden and Jans and well, I guess surely all the rest of them. They're all entertainers. Yeah, they're all entertainers in different field. So there was no need to be envious of the other person. So I got to feel we are all successful within our own right,
you know. And you know even Nadia, you know she's I thought she did incredible within herself and you know, her own fashion design. So we're all high achieving people. And Nikki Osborne. I got close to Nikki. She was absolutely hysterical. She sort of you know, kept the humor going with all of us. And yeah, we had fun and like I said, there was no reason for anyone to sort of be disgrunted with anyone. We all got along really well and had some really good fun times.
It's funny because this competition is about physical and that's what we think of first. But I also think about you talking about the mental side of this as well, and I think your pedigree with your background is actually quite good for dancing with this. Does not you have got that sports side, but also having the politicians, which is also mentally quite challenging. I think the combination of those two would work for you.
Yeah, Like I sort of feel it's funny because you have to entertain and have the facial expressions. People like your Samantha Jay you know, you lease the me cus and and you know, even Nicky they can do the facial expressions and all that sort of stuff, and they knew where the camera was, you know, even like James Stewart performing, you know, as an entertainer, you know where they look for the cameras. And I was like just trying to remember the dance steps.
I could see that in you. I like that though.
And it's funny because the countdown to the song starts to go. It does like a little four beats that go into and then you just think, oh, ship, here we go, and you don't you do.
Something if you jump it up, it's just do it straight on and It's one of those things you've just got to, you know, try and best and nail a nail your performances.
And yeah, like I said, it was all foreign, but you just have to embrace it. And you know, my heart rate if I had.
A worn to wash when I was sitting up on.
That fricking shoe and that dance, my heart rate would have been one twenty one thirty sitting on my backslide on a big bloody shoe. So, yes, the nerves get to you, and yes, the you know, the breath. And it was funny because even that first dance I get.
I think it was telling Richard, oh, you look so nervous, and I was thinking to myself because honey, you wouldn't have it through what nervous was look like when you line up in a bloody in the final, I was just like hit myself, thinking, am I going to stuff a step up? It's like game day? And then you have for me is the game place that was? I took it seriously, you know. And then when you're the jive and the I just sang the whole way and even my kids like, mom, you were just singing the
whole time. I said, Yes, made me bloody.
Of a lot.
I loved it.
I love watching you being able to sing along with it because that made it look like you were having fun. I mean, you definitely had the look sometimes because I could see myself in you. I was like, if that was me, that's how I would look, you know, I would I would be looking around because you're a little bit like a deer in a headlights at some point, because you really are putting yourself, you know, you're really
putting yourself out there. I thought that Julia Goodwin's admission in last night's episode was really quite telling as well, where she talked about saying, you know, she said that she believes things about herself that she didn't believe before. I think these shows can teach us things that are quite out of the box, like something that wouldn't happen to you if you wouldn't have said yes to this show.
Did you walk away with.
A similar feeling like this show had taught you something that you may not have known before.
Yeah, I think so. Like well, to begin with, when you're learning the steps and I have all this video with Craig was videoing from the very first to the last, It's like Wow, to actually think that I could remember it, and what it does is like going back to sports.
So even when at the Olympics, you've become a creature of habit, right, And when I played an Olympics in ninety six, our philosophy was game plan would keep it simple, stupid because you do all the training and then you become reactive in a game and all your drills and everything. You've trained hours and hours and years and you've dreamt of that moment and it's a weird thing. Even like
a Dancing with the Stars. Craig would say to me, if you just keep practicing going over and going over, and you know, we fit in five weeks, you actually end up learning five dancers or six dancers, thinking that everyone set the chance to get to the finals. So it's not like you just practiced the one for two or three weeks. You're practicing multiple dances. And there was even one day, I think it was the week before
we started, Craig said let's do this dance. I just looked at him and said, I can't even remember that, and he goes, I've been doing for I can't remember it. And I did show the sheet and he just wo was Oh that dashing.
I'm overwhelmed talking to you about this today. I don't think the average person can put that much information into their brains to remember it. I'd have PTSD if I ever saw Craig again, you know, just as much as you loved working with him in his training, as soon as you'd see this man, I'd be like, I'll get him away from me.
That's too much.
Yeah.
And it was like that. And some days, are you all right? And my brains, athletic brain was on frick and hurting, but I'm not. I'm going to tell you I'm hurting. I'm going to say, yes, we've got two more hours to go. So it was like you just you kept pushing. And even though for Julie, you know, she's spent her you know, she's she's got her own story and she's got a book out this year, and and like for her to do something that is so
totally foreign, you know, it's and people don't realize. It's easy for people to just get online say oh you are terrible and whatever. I'm like, this isn't our thing, you know, Like ID even watched the show last night.
I'm telling you the true I haven't watched it because I'm getting my head around to the athletics, which I publitate at four thirty in the morning, you know, So it's it's a part of your life that's come and gone, and yes, I'll catch up with it, but I you know, I had my mum and everyone really meet you so that they loved it and all the rest of it.
So what do you think about the judges, because I think they've got a tough job because, you know, not only they get to give you sound advice, but they also need to be entertaining because it's a TV show. So do you think sometimes they can go too far with some of the negative criticisms. I mean, we know it's for entertainment, but how do you how do you feel in those moments?
You know? I think what I take away is Shanna she gave good sound advice how to hold certain things, but she was like, great, that was great. I really enjoyed it. I could see, you know, that wasn't an easy thing to do. I thought Mark Wilson, he was great. I appreciated that he reminded people of my achievements beyond dancing with the stuff, which was nice. Yeah, And then you know, I think Helen was inconsistent with her critiquing. It was very inconsistent that I'll leave it at that.
And then with Craig, if it's meant to be funny, work on your funny joke. You know, there's a line in the sand which you have to draw between.
Okay, I'm going to critique you about this, but then there's a line in the sand how you can describe things for a woman.
I think that becomes where it's hard because you know, if it was just them giving you really positive critiques, I don't know if this show works, you know, globally where if you watch this show, whether it's you know, Strictly Dancing or wherever it's played, or America's you know, Dancing with the Stars, you know, there needs to be these sort of polarizing comments. And I don't think that he is genuinely trying to upset you. I think he's got a mark that he has to hit, which is
a dangerous ground. It's a dangerous ground to play in because he can leave himself open in moments like that. But I just think it's hard to facilitate that role, and you know that would be challenging in it in itself.
Yeah, but there's ways of means of getting a message across, like this isn't a thing, and you know, we all open ourselves up to vulnerability. But even like the critiquing of my stuff from it never changed in anything, like the judges, Oh this is your best dance or whatever, the score has never changed. Oh you're improving, Well, the score's never changed. I stayed on fucking nineteen all three dances.
So you know, there's inconsistency. Everyone improved except for me, and I actually thought I improved as I went on. So I was inconsistent life with that. And I feel like with Craig Revel whatever his name is, So the critiquing from that wasn't okay. You know, when I did a slip, do you know how long it took Craig, my partner, to convince me to have a go at that.
Yeah, I can imagine. I can imagine I wouldn't have done you.
Know, I know, and just you know, like even like, for example, my leg who have taken me for thirteen years of representing this country on the international stage, I can't straighten my leak. So and as a track athlete, finding one track athlete that does not have a kink in their leak because printers, that's our body like that. So you're being judged all the legs are straight. Well, fucking my legs don't go straight. Period.
I don't meant to laugh, but it's you know, it's you're making a valid point. No, I think you're making a valid point, and I totally see where you're coming from, and I think that that's where it's a bit of a gray area because the show, the magic of the show is about getting people that don't know how to dance to dance like it's it's the magic of this show is getting to see people that you know are recognizable faces and then seeing what they can do and how they can.
Dance, which is something completely out of box for that.
I mean, I could talk to you about this all day, and I just think you were so fantastic on this show, and I wish I did have more time to sort of unpack this, but look, you took this competition on and it was fantastic to watch, which, at the end of the day is the true magic of this show. So thank you.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I've got to ask you my last question just is what is something from behind the scenes, something that we didn't get a chance to see. What's your behind the scene secret for doing Dancing with the Stars, because I asked that question for everyone who joins the podcast.
Secret.
Yeah, something that we wouldn't know, something happened. Yeah, like a funny story or an anecdote or.
Just something that funny story is we all stay at the one apartment.
Oh wow, and like two and.
A half three weeks in Shane Cowford still got lost in the apartment where lift would go to the four five get out. It was hysterical. And then one time Li and Mique was in her pajamas with no shoes on, keet to go down there's to meet someone, and she realized you didn't have the key to get back up. So it was one feel down the bottom for like ten minutes and listening up and down. And then Shane
has kept getting lost in it. But that was a bit of a funny sort of gay that we stayed at this one hotel for like I love it, three four weeks, oh my god.
But it's a kind of like Big Brother behind the scenes of Dancing with the Stars, which you know, could be a TV show within itself. You know. Good luck with everything with the Olympics, and I thank you for being so generous with your time and chatting with me today.
I loved it.
And take care, Thank you, say bye,