Chris Judd has shared a tribute to Ben Cousins as the troubled footballer makes a career comeback.
Cousins is in the semi-finals on reality show Dancing With The Stars and Judd told Mix94.5’s Pete & Kymba this week that he is impressed by the AFL star’s efforts.
‘Ben, I just wanted to say what a great job you’re doing on Dancing with the Stars‘ Judd said when calling into the show during Ben’s interview.
‘I’ve been very taken by some of your outfits, particularly the red silk shirt. I’ve been looking for one all over town, but I’m yet to find it!’ he joked.
‘I saw a little bit of dancing back in your footy days and there was a little bit of work to do then – and fair to say there’s probably a little bit of work to do now!
‘But in all seriousness to see you having so much fun and having a crack at something new. All the very best, hope it goes well!’ he added.
Ben replied: ‘He’s all class, we love Chris Judd. What a star! He’s definitely seen me dancing back in the day when, on the odd occasion, it all got the better of me!’
Chris Judd (pictured) has shared a tribute to Ben Cousins as the troubled footballer makes a career comeback
Cousins is in the semi-finals on reality show Dancing With The Stars and Judd told Mix94.5’s Pete & Kymba this week (pictured) that he is impressed by the AFL star’s efforts
‘If I had a signature move, it wasn’t pretty. I couldn’t dance very well, but I could dance for a really long time! It’s an endurance event for me!’
Cousins has been rebuilding his life in recent years after a fall from grace.
The 45-year-old AFL legend revealed hat part of his redemption arc will include reality TV.
The footballer says he was approached multiple times by Channel Seven‘s SAS Australia, which is known for signing up controversial public figures.
Ben has so far refused, however, he agreed to do Dancing With The Stars this year, explaining that focusing on a new challenge will aid him in rebuilding his life.
‘Ben, I just wanted to say what a great job you’re doing on Dancing with the Stars’ Judd said when calling into the show during Ben’s interview. Pictured on the show
The athlete told the Herald Sun that actually agreed to do the dance competition before, back in 2008, before changing his mind.
‘I’m just in a pretty good space at the moment and am in a position to take on some new challenges and this has come along and probably for the first time in quite a while I am in a position to give it a go’ he said.
‘This worked for where I was at mentally and wanting to throw myself into something.’
When it comes to rebuilding his life, Ben says there is ‘no quick fix’ and he is willing to pay his dues.
‘It is certainly not lost on me, or forgotten, the hard work and commitment that it has taken to get back to where I am’ he explained.
‘But in all seriousness to see you having so much fun and having a crack at something new. All the very best, hope it goes well!’ he added
‘It is the long game… You don’t just do something and then all of a sudden it changes overnight.’
Ben won the Brownlow Medal in 2005 and captained the West Coast Eagles from 2001 to 2005, securing the club’s best and fairest awards four out of those season.
He played 238 games and booted 205 goals for the West Coast Eagles, where he won a premiership with the club in 2006.
His dramatic fall from grace was well documented from 2007 as he publicly battled a drug addiction and coped with his failed relationship with Maylea Tinecheff.
He was later sacked and copped a one year ban from the AFL for repeated infringements.
In 2021, Susan Backshell, who has acted as a mentor for Cousins since his last stint on jail, told Daily Mail Australia that he remains solely focused on his kids.
Ben’s dramatic fall from grace was well documented from 2007 as he publicly battled a drug addiction and coped with his failed relationship with Maylea Tinecheff. Pictured in 2006
Sitting in a cold, cramped jail cell for the sixth time in 13 years, Cousins decided enough was enough after seven months behind bars in 2020.
He told her he wanted to make amends and clean up his life and Backshell gave him an ultimatum: ‘Give it his all, or forget it entirely’.
Since Cousins was released from custody back in December 2020, Backshell said she’s never once questioned his commitment to sobriety and bettering his community.
Last year, cousins announce hat he will partake in several speaking engagements on his Such Is Life Tour, which kicked off in July.
Promising to tell untold tales from his football career, the tour marked a kind of catharsis for the controversial Brownlow Medallist.