Dancing with the Stars contestants should be prepared to receive a brunt of criticism for their newly learnt moves as the tough team of judges is announced.
Craig Revel Horwood, Sharna Burgess and Tristan MacManus will make up this year’s panel, and their not afraid to tell it like it is.
Speaking to 10 Daily in the lead up to their debut, the team claimed they won’t be going easy on the stars, critiquing everything from their posture to their hopefully beautiful technique.
Victorian born choreographer Horwood may just be this year toughest judge, having previously worked on the UK’s popular show Strictly Come Dancing.
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The theatre director said he will be giving contestants the “unfiltered Craig treatment”.
“I will be watching every move, there is no hiding bad technique or poor posture on my watch. I expect nothing less than perfection,” he told 10 Daily.
Wagga Wagga born Burgess, on the other hand, could be a little more friendly in her approach. The 33-year-old has a very impressive resume, having competed as a professional dancer on the American version of Dancing with the Stars for several years.
According to Burgess, she is just looking forward to heading back home and sharing her knowledge and passion with contestants.
Last but not least is Ireland’s MacManus. The talented performer has also appeared as a professional dancer on America’s Dancing with the Stars. MacManus admitted to 10 Daily that he is willing to hand out some perfect scores but only if the contestant has really earned it.
The three will be critiquing the dancing skills of 11 contestants including Karl Stefanovic’s ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn, Studio 10 favourite Denise Scott and Australian Idol star Courtney Act .
Thorburn, who divorced ex-Today host Karl in 2016, revealed she was unsure about taking on the challenge at first, but revealed how her late father convinced her to give the talent show a go before he passed away.
“I decided to do it because it was one of the last conversations I had with my dad before he passed away,” she said. “It had been offered to me and at first I thought, no that’s crazy. I couldn’t possibly do that. If you don’t do something, an opportunity that you never thought would come up and if you said no … you will regret it one day. And I thought ‘OK so let’s go for it’.”
Actor turned charity fundraiser Samuel Johnson and former West Indies test cricketer Sir Curtly Ambrose will also take to the stage, along with Neighbours star Olympia Valance, Jett Kenny, the son of surf lifesaver Grant Kenny and triple Olympian Lisa Curry and fitness professional Michelle Bridges.
Completing the line-up are TV chef Miguel Maestre, children’s TV star Jimmy Rees, aka Jimmy Giggle, and ‘mummy blogger’ and social media star Constance Hall.
Channel 10 announced it was reviving the show in November, with Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller to host the star-studded series that puts celebrities through their paces with a challenging new dance routine every week.