Former MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston lost 15kg while rehearsing up to six hours a day for Dancing With The Stars. But having a slimmer shape isn’t what’s important to him.
“I’ve never worried about that sort of stuff, I’ve got to say,” Matt, 61, tells TV WEEK. “It’s something my kids will undoubtedly comment on. They’re all very fit and active.
Matt’s kids said he was a “terrible dancer.”
(Image: Supplied)“But it’s that thing of, as you get older, you’ve got to keep active; you’ve got to train.”
Matt, now a radio host, consulted all three of his children – Jonathan, William and Sadie – individually before agreeing to go on Dancing With The Stars.
“Each one had exactly the same reaction: they looked at me, laughed, and said, ‘That’ll be really funny – you’re a terrible dancer.'”
As Matt revealed on DWTS, he damaged a tendon in his ankle just minutes into his very first rehearsal with dance partner Jessica Raffa. He admits he thought his time on the show might be over before it had begun.
“My immediate reaction was, ‘Oh, I can’t do it now,'” he says.
But he and Jess worked around the injury, and Matt found himself relaxing about the upcoming performance.
“You go, ‘Well, actually, it just takes away the pressure.'”
For Matt, who has “zero” ballroom dancing experience – “If I don’t trip over my feet, yay, what a win!” – the enjoyment comes from dancing with Jess.
“If I don’t trip over my feet, yay, what a win!”
(Image: Supplied)“That moment of me looking into her eyes, which are bright and sparkling and she and I have just had the best time… that’s the joy and the pleasure,” he says. “Everything else almost becomes a bit irrelevant after that.”
Even though filming on DWTS finished up weeks ago, Matt is still meeting up with Jess regularly for dance lessons.
“There’s a special bond that forms between the celeb and the dancer, because they’re your guide, your protector through this process,” he says. “Jess has become like my new little sister.”
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