INTERVIEW. Actor Eden Classens on his Dancing with the Stars SA journey: 'The whole experience was difficult but it's something that you got addicted to. It was fun.'

On Sunday night actor Eden Classens didn't win Dancing with the Stars South Africa during the live finale but ended up as one of the two runner-up couples together with actress Zola Nombona.

Just after the live finale broadcast on M-Net (DStv 101) TVwithThinus caught up with Eden Classens who spoke about his disappointment about not winning, but how much he enjoyed being part of the show and learning to be a dancer.

Eden Classens shared what he thought about the judges, his professional dancing partner Ash-Leigh Hunter, what he learnt and discovered about himself, how his body changed, and what he didn't expect would happen when he signed up to become part of the show.

Is there anything that you would have done differently during the course of the show?
No. We did everything we could. We had a great night, we had a great season; great support. We did everything we could.


What was the experience like for you being part of this show?
I grew as a person. It was actually life-changing and I learnt a few things about myself that I didn't know and I became a dancer, so it was an absolutely amazing experience. It's something I will treasure for the rest of my life.

How was the experience of getting a body harness strapped around your body and straps through your legs and around your thighs - in addition to wearing ballroom dancing clothes in the finale, and then being hoisted up with wires and dropped down for the one dance number?
Oh, it was a lot of fun.
Uhm, I mean, for a guy the strapping isn't very comfortable I would say, but it was a lot of fun and it was very cool to be able to make such an entrance.


Can you talk to me a bit about the trust relationship between you and your dance partner and how that grew over the course of the show for someone that you met and didn't know at all when you started?
Ash-Leigh Hunter and I are very similar people.
We have the same work ethic, we had the same goals, and we're very similar in the way that we approach things and we just clicked from the start and it was very easy to work with her.


What did you think of the judges?
The judges were great, they were very informative and their critique were always on point about what we could work on and it was great to get feedback from professionals like that.

What was the hardest for you?
The whole experience was difficult but it's something that you got addicted to. It was fun.
I think the hardest for the whole season was not winning tonight.


How did your body change?
I lost 12 kg and I became super fit; much more supple, much more able to do specific movements you can't do when you've got a lot of muscle on.


What did you not expect about this journey?
I didn't expect to fall in love with dancing.
I thought it was just going to be doing routine after routine, and I think tonight in the finale it became full-circle, especially with my freestyle dance. It was just amazing to have that emotional journey in such a song and I didn't expect that at all.

When will you be back at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town and resume your role on the set of kykNET's Suidooster?
I'm not allowed to comment.

[Suidooster tells me Eden Classens will definitely be back in his role as Justin Potgieter and confirms that he will be back on set on 1 May and will be seen on TV again from the end of June.]


What did you learn about yourself?
Well, I've learnt that I'm a very hard worker.
I've learnt that if I set my mind to something and I want to achieve something, that I can achieve it.
And I've learnt that you're going to get knock down a lot in your life, and you just have to stand up and keep on working hard and if you work hard enough, you'll get there.

Singer-songwriter Connell Cruise crowned the winner of Dancing with the Stars on M-Net in the fantabulous glitter dance show's live finale.

Singer Connell Cruise was crowned the winner of Dancing with the Stars South Africa on M-Net (DStv 101) on Sunday night.

The live finale of the retitled 9th season of the BBC glitter floor format show was broadcast from the roof of the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre in Johannesburg, with the reality competition series that was produced by Rapid Blue.

Before the broadcast of the Dancing with the Stars SA live finale, invited guests who had to adhere to a "strictly ballroom" formal clothing dress code, snacked and sipped outside the Dance Dome (see photos at the end of the article), and got special Lindt bonbons handed out at their seats for the last episode.

The broadcast of the Dancing with the Stars SA live finale was followed by a press conference with Connell Cruise, the Rapid Blue executive producer and M-Net executives, followed by an over-the-top and lavish afterparty at the mezzanine pool deck and lounge of the Southern Sun Hyde Park hotel adjacent to the Hyde Park Corner.

ALSO READ: INTERVIEW. Connell Cruise on winning Dancing with the Stars SA: "It's the story of how hard work always pays off".

The singer-songwriter and his professional dance partner Marcella Solimeo took the glitter ball trophy, winning more public viewer votes in the finale than actress Zola Nombona and her dance partner Tebogo Mashilo, and Suidooster soap star Eden Classens and his dance partner Ash-Leigh Hunter.

Connell Cruise had been a contender and a crowd favourite right from the start of the competition.

"This is just a dream. I thank you all so much," said Connell Cruise. "From day one you filled me with such love for this beautiful art form that took over my life," at the end of the live finale.

Dancing with the Stars SA judge, Debbie Turner, at the end of the 2-hour broadcast, said "There is a famous quote that says, 'dance came from the people and should always be delivered back to the people,' and I believe that the contestants have done that".

The season finale included showstopper group dance performances, as well as special appearances by singers, including The Voice SA winner Craig Lucas, the veteran South African singer Claire Johnson and the multiple Sama-winning legends Mafikizolo.

For one group dance performance, Eden Classens (what he said about it), Zola Nombona (what she said about it) and Connell Cruise (what he said about it) were all strapped into snug-fitting harnesses and hoisted up into the rafters of the Dance dome, only to be dropped down with wire-work during a dance number.

Dancing with the Stars SA closed out with a new South African TV production record: The most glitter dropped on-screen as part of a massive glitter bomb dropped on the in-studio winners and audience, dwarfing what's ever been done before on shows like Idols, SA's Got Talent and The Voice SA.

Connell Cruise, Eden Classens and Zola Nombona to compete in M-Net's Dancing with the Stars SA live season finalé this Sunday.

The live TV broadcast of the season finalé of Dancing with the Stars South Africa on M-Net (DStv 101) this coming Sunday at 17:00 will see Connell Cruise, Eden Classens and Zola Nombona compete in a last dance-off to see who will be crowned the winner and get to lift up the coveted glitter ball trophy.

The revived BBC-format - produced by Rapid Blue productions for M-Net and name-changed from Strictly Come Dancing SA to Dancing with the Stars SA for a 9th season to differentiate it from when it was on the SABC for the previous 8th seasons until 2015 - will come to a close from the Strictly Come Dancing SA Dome on the roof of the Hyde Park Centre this Sunday.

The winner of Strictly Come Dancing SA will now be decided by viewers' votes with the scoring from the judges Jason Gilkison, Tebogo Kgobokoe, Debbie Turner and Bryan Watson no longer in play for Sunday's season finale.

Connell Cruise is dancing with Marcella Solimeo, Eden Classens with Ash-Leigh Hunter and Zola Nombona's professional dance partner is Tebogo Mashilo.

M-Net added an extra voting period leading up to the Dancing with the Stars SA finalé on Sunday 22 April, with viewers who can vote until Wednesday 18 April at 22:00 with their usual 100 votes.

Live voting for the finalé show will reopen at 17:00 on Sunday 22 April and will close (slightly earlier than usual) at 18:15 ahead of the winner announcement just before 19:00.

M-Net says the vote count and ranking of contestants is done according to the international format rules and is independently computed by Deloitte and Touche and are confirmed against the vote results as determined by M-Net.

From Swarovski crystals to wardrobe malfunctions, flying through the air and shedding their clothes – here’s everything you want to know about M-Net's Dancing with the Stars SA.

In Dancing with the Stars South Africa the sexy celebrity contestants and their dance partners will be shedding their clothes, someone will be flying through the air, and if there’s a wardrobe malfunction they need to keep on dancing.

M-Net held a press briefing over the weekend during which producers, judges and M-Net executives inside the specially-constructed ballroom dome on the roof of the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre in Johannesburg and answered all kinds of questions about the show starting today, Sunday, 4 February on M-Net (DStv 101) at 17:00 as a weekly live broadcast.

The briefing offered up some very revealing – and funny – answers ranging from the expensive costumes and what happens if there are injuries, to how long the contestants have been practising, the orchestra and how the contestants were chosen.

Is that shirt coming off?
Yes, the clothes are going to come off on Dancing with the Stars SA. Do you for want to see Suidooster actor and model Eden Classens shirtless during the course of the show? He was asked specifically this question and simply said ... "yes".


Injuries
TVwithThinus asked what happens if there's an injury during the show.

"If there's an injury, during a dance, if we've seen about 30 to 40 seconds of a performance and our head judge feels that they've seen enough to judge the dance, then they will judge the dance."

"We will then during that time establish how bad the injury is - whether they can perform the following week or whether they need to fall out of the competition," says Kee-Leen Irvine, executive producer of the show at Rapid Blue.


The costumes ... and Swarovski's
"The costumes cost more than a small penthouse," says Kee-Leen Irvine. "So I have a phenomenal head of wardrobe, Lynn Driver, that all of the cast have worked with. She's worked with me for many years now on all of our big shows."

"There's 78 costumes for the first episode. I won't tell you how much the Swarovski crystals cost but it's a lot. So Lynn oversees a team of about 4 designers, assistants and seamstresses and they turn around costumes in a phenomenally fast turn-around time."

"The costumes are such a high quality. We're so lucky also that the cast have all such phenomenal bodies. So the costumes are going to dazzle."


Someone is ... flying?
Jan du Plessis, director of M-Net channels, reveals that he screamed when he saw someone flying through the air!

"I have seen amazing stuff. There was one moment where I actually think I distracted one of the dancers where I screamed when a certain person was flying through the air.


If there's a wardrobe malfunction?
TVwithThinus asked if the show is going to be really live, live, or delayed live by a few seconds and what happens if there is a wardrobe malfunction like something popping open - or out - of those costumes.

"It really is live, live and if there is a wardrobe malfunction, they just suck it up and dance," says Kee-Leen Irvine.

Jan du Plessis, joked and said that because of the beautiful cast he hopes that there are actually wardrobe malfunctions.

Practising
TVwithThinus asked how long the contestants have been practising. You'd be surprised. The contestants have only been practising ... 3 weeks!
"They've been practising for what feels like 127 years, but they started 3 weeks ago," says Kee-Leen Irvine.

"What I do want to say is that after learning their dances, they've also had to do some group routines. Drill sergeant Jason Gilkison (choreographer and creative director and one of the judges) has been working them really, really hard. I do want to say as a producer I was in tears this morning because they've brought their AAA game. They were absolutely amazing to accomplish what they've have in 3 weeks - it's phenomenal.


Dancing the first episode
In the first episode of Dancing with the Stars SA today on M-Net at 17:00 there will be 6 contestants performing but there will be a group dance including everybody.
In the second episode it will be the next 6. And then from the 3rd week the show will have the live shows at 17:00 and then the live results show at 20:00.

There's an orchestra
Dancing with the Stars SA has a live orchestra and two vocalists.


How's it different from Strictly Come Dancing SA?

Strictly Come Dancing SA had 8 seasons on the SABC2 and then SABC3. It's the same show and show format but now improved since moving to M-Net as a pay-TV broadcaster and being made for DStv Premium subscribers.

"It's a BBC format but we're bring it M-Net's premium touch," says Kee-Leen Irvine.

The name-change says Kaye-Ann Williams, M-Net's head of local content, is because "we just wanted to differentiate ourselves and using the alternate title allowed us to do that."

"It allows us to differentiate ourselves and give our subscribers a premium experience."


How the contestants were chosen
"Each of the celebrity contestants needed to be relatable, they needed to have some resonance and represent our audience," says Kaye-Ann Williams. "Our subscribers need to be able to identify with whoever they see on screen and that's why we chose every single celebrity who we chose - they fulfill a certain category."

"We really went through a long, arduous selection process, and we are so proud of every single celeb and dancer that ended up in our final group".


Why Dancing with the Stars SA will only be on M-Net on DStv Premium
Dancing with the Stars SA is a premium entertainment experience. DStv subscribers on lower subscription tiers can upgrade if they want to see the show. "It's always a mission of M-Net to reach out to as many subscribers as possible, but Dancing with the Stars SA is definitely a premium offering," says Kaye-Ann Williams.

Who stays and who goes ...
will be in viewers' hands. Viewers need to register to vote and vote, says judge Jason Gilkison.

"One by one each week we'll lose one couple, eventually getting to our 3 finalists. But the power is in the viewer's hands. They're the one who have to vote. We can give scoring but viewers' voting will ultimately decide the winner".


It's not slave labour or a prison camp, but ...
Jason Gilkison hilariously quips "Kee-Leen gave me 45 minutes off last week. It's really, really intense".

"It's really going to be an incredible journey over three months. There's going to be incredible dancing on M-Net."

The dance floor ... tested
The dance floor is brand-new. "We had Jason Gilkison bouncing around the floor to see if he's happy with how it's sprung. We do replace the floor with every season of Dancing with the Stars SA," says Kee-Leen Irvine.


Super producers
Jan du Plessis thanked Duncan and Kee-Leen Irvine from Rapid Blue for making Dancing with the Stars SA and called them "the prolific husband and wife that I'm as scared as hell of - the guys from Rapid Blue. Your work on this show is incredible".

About Jason Gilkison he says "I'm so proud that through Kee-Leen's wheelings and dealings we've been able to convince him to come and stay with us and take us on this journey".

Eden Classens, Ebenhaezer Dibakwane and Vanes-Mari du Toit also part of M-Net's Dancing with the Stars SA dance competition show.

The model and soap actor Eden Classens will also be dancing as one of the contestants in the glitter floor format show Dancing with the Stars South Africa starting on 4 February on M-Net (DStv 101), along with the comedian Ebenhaezar Dibakwane and the netball player Vanes-Mari du Toit.

Eden Classens is a model and soap actor in the Afrikaans weekday soap Suidooster on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) and kykNET (DStv 144) who studied acting and musical theatre in New York at the New York Film Academy before returning to South Africa.

“I am absolutely ecstatic to be a part of this experience," says Eden Classens. "I’m excited by this challenge and am here to dance my heart out and have fun.”

The South African comedian Ebenhaezer Dibakwane who won the Newcomer Award at the Comic's Choice Awards in 2016, will also be taking part in the show as a contestant.

Ebenhaezer Dibakwane is best known for his stand-up acts, opening for Dillan Oliphant, being part of the Stand Up 4 Comedy ensemble alongside Mo Mathebe and Virgil Prins and having been part of the Blacks Only and the Comedy Central International Comedy Festival alongside Trevor Noah.

He has also appeared in the e.tv drama series Ashes to Ashes, was a presenter on Walala Wasala on SABC1 and had a role in the sitcom Thuli noThulanli also on SABC1.

“These are exciting times for me. I can’t wait to dance, baby - into people's homes, memories and hearts,” says Ebenhaezer Dibakwane.

The South African netball star Vanes-Mari Du Toit will also be on the Dancing with the Stars SA dancefloor.

Vanes-Mari Du Toit is a player on the South African National Netball team and has an impressive 38 caps for South Africa under her belt. She's also a presenter and commentator on SuperSport, and last year married Matthew Proudfoot, assistant coach for the Springboks.

“I’m as excited as a kid on Christmas morning to be a part of Dancing With The Stars SA. It’s going to be a tough challenge, but I’m so ready to learn how to dance.”

The other already announced Dancing with the Stars SA contestants rounding out the 12 untrained celebrities are TV presenter Thembisa Mdoda, actor Frank Opperman, actress Juanita de Villiers, the former Miss SA Liesl Laurie, athlete mother Odessa Swarts, film star Zola Nombona, singer-songwriter Connell Cruise, the former Bafana Bafana soccer star Delron Buckley, and the former Springbok Thando Manana.

Dancing With The Stars SA is produced for M-Net by Rapid Blue.