It’s been 16 years since Ada Nicodemou won the coveted Dancing With The Stars Mirror Ball trophy on the season three series of the reality TV show back in 2005.
And while the Home And Away favourite says she has no desire to win the All Stars series, she admits returning to the ballroom has reignited her love of dance all over again.
“I love to dance, it’s my favourite thing in the world and I missed it. And I really missed performing, so that’s what I wanted to achieve out of going back on the show – just getting that joy of dance back,” Ada tells Now To Love in an exclusive chat.
But signing up to the show came at a cost with Ada revealing she had to work seven days straight for seven weeks while juggling her role as Leah on Home And Away with her intensive dance rehearsals, on top of raising her young son Johnas.
“I basically did all weekend dancing – all day Saturday, all day Sunday, it was crazy,” she reflects.
Thankfully her long-term partner Adam Rigby stepped in and looked after her eight-year-old son Johnas, who she shares with ex-husband Chrys Xipolitas.
“I was either at Home And Away, or I was dancing, or I was in bed sleeping. I was so lucky because Adam just took the reins and did everything so it meant that all things re Jonas, he was looked after. He was incredible,” she beams of her partner.
“I was looked after really well at home by the two boys and then I was either learning lines or dance steps.”
For the love of dancing: The Home And Away star says returning to the show has reignited her passion for performing.
(Images: Instagram)“Some of the recordings for Dancing, I was there til midnight and then I was back in the makeup chair at 6am the next day for Home And Away. It was really mad but I got through it and I loved it because I do love to dance. And I get extra excited when there’s an audience and I get to perform,” the mother-of-one reflects.
As a natural exercise junkie, Ada already had a great base-line level of fitness which meant she got “super fit” during the gruelling rehearsals with her dance partner Aric Yegudkin.
“I’m always quite fit. I love to exercise, I eat pretty well and if you add that with hours of dancing you just get extra fit! That amount of cardio is crazy,” she tells us.
However she soon realised that trying to stick to her usual fitness routine wasn’t a good idea.
“I stupidly tried to fit in a couple of weight training sessions a week, so I was at the gym super early trying to do that. But then I realised that it was making me quite sore and stiff for Dancing and I was already quite tight in the hips.”
“Aric, my dance partner was like ‘you’ve got to stop doing the weight training because you’re just not going to be able to get the kicks in the jive.'”
The show has since wrapped but the actress says she’s been inspired to incorporate dancing into her regular workouts.
“I want to start dancing again. It’s inspired me to do some dance classes and just keep it up. I’ve kept my dancing shoes and I’d love to do a ballroom class, or even just going down to the Sydney Dance Company and just doing some drop-in classes.”
“We still get bored of doing the same thing. If you just mix it up a bit, dancing is so much fun! The minute a bit of music is on, how can you not dance?”
“I want to start dancing again. It’s inspired me to do some dance classes and just keep it up.”
(Image: Instagram)On top of taking dance classes, the much-loved soap star says mixing up her workouts is key to keeping motivated.
“I try and work out about four times a week. So realistically, two of those days will be early morning training sessions where I just do weights,” she says.
“I love to walk outside, even at lunchtime at work I go for a big walk. If I don’t have a lot of time, I’ll do a 20-minute run, plus weight training.”
“Exercise is really good for me, it means I can get through the long hours at work and it’s just great for my mental health. I feel good when I’m exercising!”
“I try and work out about four times a week.”
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