There’s been a noticeable absence on the Studio 10 panel since she left, but Denise Scott is returning to screens like you’ve never seen her before – getting her groove on to nab the Dancing With The Stars trophy.
“It’s certainly a lot more physical than my most recent project, which had me lying on my bed watching the entire series of The Good Wife while crocheting a hexagon blanket and drinking gin and tonic,” the 63-year-old comedian tells Woman’s Day.
”You name the dance, I’m dreading it!” (Image: Network Ten)
“I wish it hadn’t taken the sheer terror of having to dance in front of a million people on live TV to get me up off the couch and moving again but that’s the truth.”
Denise says the gig came as a huge surprise, considering she has no dancing experience, but it was an even bigger shock to the Studio 10 team.
“Given my complete lack of dance experience, fitness level of zero, and the fact I’m arthritic and in my 60s, they responded in much the same way my friends, family, GP and yoga teacher did – with a look of horror, followed by a plastered-on grin and a hesitant, ‘Good for you! Aren’t you brave.'”
READ MORE: Dancing With The Stars 2019: Meet the full cast set to salsa onto our screens.
Denise is just one of the many celebrities to join the cast. (Image: Network Ten)
Conquering fears
Despite her bravery, Denise still has a number of fears to conquer ahead of her first dance. There are the costumes, which she says she’d be happier wearing if she had Olympia Valance’s “youthful, fit, sexy, flexible body.” Then there are the dances themselves.
“You name the dance, I’m dreading it,” she cries. And there’s her crippling arthritis, which had become so painful she’d “more or less stopped moving.”
Remember when Chris Hemsworth was on Dancing With The Stars? Watch him groove in the player below! Post continues after video…
Still, Denise remains hellbent on giving it her best shot, and has been preparing for the gruelling road ahead by stocking up on Deep Heat, ankle support straps, icepacks, Epsom salts and a bucket for a foot soak.
But there is a plus side to counteract the inevitable pain that lies ahead – working with her dance partner Jeremy.
“We get on brilliantly, which is just as well because, truth be told, I’ve had more eye contact with that young man in the last couple of weeks than I’ve had with John, my life partner, in the last 38 years!” she laughs.
