Ben Cousins might have experience with the AFL’s gruelling training regime but even he admits training for Dancing With The Stars has been “intense”.
Cousins, who is also a Channel Seven sports presenter, spoke at a network function on Tuesday when he revealed how he had fared in the fourth week of rehearsals for the TV show.
“It’s been really hard,” he said.
“It’s a very steep learning curve, and I’m covering a lot of content.”
But though his days are long, Cousins says he has been paired with the best teacher — professional dancer Siobhan Power.
“She’s lovely, very patient and a great teacher,” he said.
“Whilst the days have been really long, the time has passed really quickly.
“I’m just learning to move in a totally different way, and there’s been some tough days, I must admit.
“I had one day where I didn’t sleep well the night before, and I really woke up and it all became a bit overwhelming, and I thought ‘What have I got myself into here? I’m in deep’.
“But I managed to get through that day, had a good sleep the following night, and woke up a different person.
“And the rest has been, you know, thoroughly enjoyable.”
Cousins said he signed on to DWTS before talking with his old West Coast Eagles teammate David Wirrpanda, who took part in the 10th season of the show in 2010.
“I didn’t want to hear what he had to say,” he said.
“Because I did have some reservations.
“But I spoke to him yesterday, and he said ‘You should have spoken to me beforehand — it’s the hardest thing I have ever done in my life!’.
“We had a good laugh.”
Cousins insisted he was enjoying being out of his comfort zone.
“I have chosen not to go over too many past seasons, or follow up too much about what people have done — I’ve got enough to worry about with my own dancing at the moment,” he said.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”