Ben Cousins made his highly anticipated Dancing With The Stars debut on Sunday night.
Along with dance partner Siobhan Power, the 46-year-old AFL legend’s attempt at the foxtrot received poor reviews from the judging panel.
Cousins was awarded three fours and one two, for a total of 14 out of 40, which put him at the bottom of the leaderboard.
On Monday, the former AFL player admitted he found it difficult to rewatch his first dance.
“It was hard to watch last night because I knew what was coming,” he told Mix94.5’s Pete & Kymba.
“Whatever they did with the editing, no matter how clever they were, it was going to be nearly impossible to put a positive spin on my first episode!” Ben said.
Despite watching the show with his family, Cousins said he found the experience daunting.
“I went to my mom’s house. My sister has two little boys, ages 3 and 6, who are really good dancers and take it very seriously, so I thought it would be fun to go watch it with them.”
Ben Cousins, 46, (left), made his long-awaited Dancing With The Stars debut on Sunday night. He is pictured with his dance partner Siobhan Power.
“I still had a hard time watching him. I got up and was cooking a steak when my dance started and I was watching him from the kitchen, but I had to look away a couple of times!” she continued.
Meanwhile, viewers had mixed feelings about seeing the fallen star back on TV screens.
Social media users shared their thoughts on X, with some feeling uncomfortable that Ben is being given another chance given his difficult past.
Along with dance partner Siobhan Power, the AFL legend’s attempt at the foxtrot received poor reviews from the judging panel. Both pictured
“Oh great, now it’s time for your forced Ben Cousins redemption,” one person complained on the social media platform.
“How many second chances does Ben Cousins get? He must know dirt on a lot of people,” said another.
Someone else chimed in: “Seeing Ben Cousins on the platform doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I just want to make it clear that I feel very uncomfortable with Ben and Ant (Middleton) in this cast. I’m not here for their redemption arc,” wrote another.
The former AFL player admitted it was a struggle to rewatch his first dance.
“Ben Cousins looks like he’s going to ruin the whole routine,” another joked.
Others were delighted to see the former footballer give it a go, with one person posting: “At least Ben made some decent moves. Cute.”
“Loved the Foxtrot. Well done Ben and Siobhan,” wrote another person tuning in from home.