Builder Adam Dovile finished an impressive second on the Dancing With The Stars leader board after his first performance. But he reveals that he almost knocked back the chance to appear on the show after talking to his fellow Better Homes And Gardens presenter Charlie Albone.
“I originally said no because Charlie had told me how hard it was, and I’m just like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can go through that,’” Adam tells TV WEEK. “Then after I spoke to the wife and kids, and the kids really wanted to see me dance, I thought, ‘Oh, why not? I’ll have some fun with it.’”
Adam, 41, is dad to Arabella, eight, and Ruby, seven, with wife Lisa Lamond, and he’s always enjoyed dancing with his daughters around the house.
“They love dancing, so usually when Mum’s not home I pump the music really loud and we run around crazy,” he says.
Adam has enjoyed dancing at parties too, although on one occasion, it led to a very painful injury.
“I was being myself, usual idiot, and I was dancing around, having fun, and my kneecap went out and I fell backwards, and hit my head on the bar,” he remembers. “I’m like, ‘How embarrassing is that!’”
Fortunately, Adam didn’t suffer any injuries while training for Dancing With The Stars with partner Jess Raffa. Already pretty fit, he became even fitter as the weeks went by.
“I said to my mates, I felt leaner than a lean piece of meat,” he laughs. “I think I dropped about six kilos.” What Adam did find challenging was getting into character for the different dances. For this week’s dance, the Argentinean tango, he was told he had to remain serious throughout the whole performance.
“Basically, Jess told me I couldn’t smile. I said, ‘Well, how’s that going to work, Jess? I don’t think I’ve gone any time in my life without smiling over a two-minute period. That’s just ridiculous.’ So she just had to beat it out of me, basically.”
Adam’s charity on Dancing With The Stars is the Prostate & Breast Cancer Foundation, which he chose because his dad has been diagnosed with prostate cancer while his mum has battled breast cancer. “Mum just went through it over the last two years, and it’s a brutal disease,” he says. “The only thing you can do is just try and stay positive and be there for them and support them as much as possible.”
Happily, both parents were able to be in the studio audience when Adam was performing his first dance, the jive. “I said to them, ‘Don’t embarrass me, for crying out loud!’” Adam laughs. “No, they were very happy to watch that and very excited. They’re proud parents.”
Dancing With The Stars airs Sunday, 7pm on Channel Seven
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