Nikki Osborne has revealed the reality of filming Dancing With The Stars after showing fans the painful bruises she sustained during rehearsals.
The 42-year-old comedian will partner professional dancer Aric Yegudkin in the 2024 series of the show and is hoping to make it all the way to the end of the competition.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Nikki admitted that filming was more “punishing” than she expected, with rehearsal days often lasting 13 hours.
“It’s harder than you’d expect and a little more punishing,” he admitted.
‘In the end, I just took painkillers and whiskey, holding hands. That’s how I got through the end. You suffer a lot, but that becomes the new normal.
‘In the end, I couldn’t even pick my toothbrush up off the floor when I dropped it, I just thought, ‘Ah, fuck it.’
Despite the difficulties, Nikki insisted she had no regrets and enjoyed every second of the show, saying she wore her painful bruises and wounds like a badge of honour.
Nikki Osborne has revealed the harsh reality of filming Dancing With The Stars and told how her professional partner Aric Yegudkin (both pictured) was “ruthless” in her training.
“I wear them with honor, I was quite proud of having all those injuries and I kept dancing,” she shared.
“My grandfather was a war veteran and he was the one who taught me to keep going. Aric and I had a safe word which was ‘try harder.'”
“It was very hectic. That’s what competition does to people. Now I feel like I’m ready for the Olympics,” she added.
Nikki isn’t the only one who got injured on the 2024 show.
Julie Goodwin was forced to postpone her debut after suffering a torn calf muscle.
The MasterChef Australia star’s future on the show appears uncertain due to her estimated six-week recovery time, but Nikki insisted the star is determined to get back on the dance floor.
Nikki said that both she and Julie did not tell producers the extent of their injuries because they wanted to keep dancing, so they continued despite the pain.
She said: ‘I’m pretty sure (Julie), like me, was gritting her teeth and not reporting the extent of her injuries because she was crying backstage on the first night when she couldn’t perform.
She recently shared a photograph of the painful bruises (pictured) she sustained from her difficult dance routines, and has now revealed the gruelling 13-hour rehearsal days.
“It was heartbreaking for all of us, we all know we’re one step away from being in the same situation. I think she’s going to dance.”
Nikki said all the dancers and celebrities supported each other during filming, while doctors were on hand to help them with their physical injuries.
She went on to detail her dance partner Aric’s “relentless” training and confessed that they even clashed at times, but said she is ultimately grateful for his approach.
“He’s relentless, but I’m glad about that. You don’t want a soft coach because you don’t improve,” he said.
‘If I could have had my way and Aric would have listened to my numerous complaints, we would have finished sooner and had a lot more downtime, but he just wouldn’t let me go!
“I’m glad about that, but I was yelling at him and saying, ‘Get out of my way, I want to go home,’ and he was like, ‘No, you can do better than that, stop crying, get up and stretch your legs.'”
“I don’t know how they do it, how these professional dancers put up with our endless whining and our crying and our ‘I’m hungry and I can’t do it,'” she added.
The actress hilariously admitted that she was a bit of a “drama queen” during some of her rehearsals and praised Aric for handling her outbursts.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Nikki admitted filming was more “punishing” than she expected, but insisted she still enjoyed every second of being on the show.
She also admitted that they both broke the show’s rules and scheduled extra rehearsals late at night because they were totally focused on trying to win.
“Aric is very competitive and he would spy on all the other couples, so if they were doing a difficult lift, he would say, ‘okay, we have to beat them,'” she shared.
‘We were also holding rehearsals late at night, which you’re not supposed to do, but we did it to try and beat everyone else.’
On her competitive nature, she added: ‘My goal is to win, but I feel like winning is not in my karma because I’m not the favourite.
‘I’m always a bit of a bad guy, I don’t think the network will let me win, but my goal is to get to the end and wear all the dresses and do all the dances.’
Nikki said she enjoyed every second of the show, but found it difficult to watch the final cut after being set up to “fail” during promotion.
“You don’t know what the edit is going to do, so I would say it’s difficult,” he explained.
“In promotions, you don’t know who you’re going to be. Last week, I was the person who was going to fail. So I don’t know how they’re going to promote me next week, but I guess I’ll just have to watch and wait.”
Nikki became close friends with controversial AFL star Ben Cousins on the show, despite being warned by friends to “stay away” from him due to his troubled past.
Despite the difficulties, Nikki said the highlight was doing the dances on show night and recounted how she bonded closely with her fellow cast members.
“I definitely clicked with Shane Crawford, we got on really well, Ant Middleton too, we got on really well. They said, ‘Do you want to come to SAS?’ and I told them to go fuck themselves.”
“Samantha Jade and I still text each other a lot. I got along with everyone, which I didn’t expect!”
She also recounted how she and Nova Peris would sneak alcohol into show nights, even though it was against the rules.
“Nova and I included bubbles in every show because you’re not allowed to drink alcohol, but Nova and I were just like, ‘Ah, you have to top it somehow, right?'” she said.
‘Damn rules, nobody advances by obeying the rules, right?’
She also became close friends with controversial AFL star Ben Cousins, despite being warned by friends to “stay away” from him due to his troubled past.
Ben’s addition to the Channel Seven show came as a surprise to some viewers given his conviction in 2020 for harassing the mother of his children.
On the connections that are forming backstage, Nikki also addressed claims that host Dr. Chris Brown has become close and has been “flirting” with contestant Lisa McCune on set.
Speaking about the controversy, Nikki told Daily Mail Australia: “It’s funny because I didn’t know Ben before I started and I had friends who were like ‘oh, stay away from him’ and I was like ‘oh my god, okay?'”
However, Nikki insisted that Ben is a “crush” and that they have bonded and become good friends during their time on the show.
“When I met him, I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s such a sweetheart.’ He’s a humble, lovely man and we get along really well,” she said.
“He even came to my show in Perth and supported me there, so whatever people think Ben Cousins was, he’s not anymore.”
Regarding the connections that are forming backstage, Nikki also addressed claims that host Dr. Chris Brown has become close and has been “flirting” with contestant Lisa McCune on set.
Responding to the rumours, Nikki joked: ‘That makes me furious because I thought he was in love with me. I’m furious!’
