When Nova Peris steps out on Dancing with the Stars , in a tangerine jive dress by Indigenous designer Paul McCann depicting the Seven Sisters of the Milky Way , she will be far from the first athlete to enter the celebrity ballroom competition and not the first politician either. But she is the first with both credentials. Dancing for the Nova Peris Foundation, which empowers Aboriginal people through nutrition, clean water, sport, education and culture, the Olympic sprinter, Hockeyroo, and former Labor senator couldn’t pass up the opportunity to practise as she preaches.
“I’m 53, and I try to maintain a good, healthy lifestyle,” says Peris. “I’ve done Kokoda a few times. But some of my people are dying in their early 50s – people I went to school with.
I’m still very active in the public-speaking space, and I’m always telling kids to try new things and ‘Don’t be afraid of what other people think of you. Go ahead and do it.’” Former Olympian and politician Nova Peris makes her Dancing with the Stars debut with dance partner Craig Moloney.
For the 21st season, hosted by Sonia Kruger and new Seven recruit Dr Chris Brown , Peris is joined by 10 other famous faces, including actors Lisa McCune and James Stewart, singer Samantha Jade, MasterChef Australia’s Julie Goodwin and Hayden Quinn, model Nadia Bartel, comedian Nikki Osbourne, and Adam Dovile from Better Homes and Gardens . She had previously encountered fellow competitors and former AFL stars Sh.
