Nikki Osborne has revealed the reality of filming Dancing With The Stars after she showed fans the painful bruises she sustained during rehearsals.
The comedian, 42, is partnered up with professional dancer Aric Yegudkin on the 2024 series of the show, and hopes to get to the very end of the competition.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Nikki admitted filming was more ‘punishing’ than she had expected, with rehearsal days often being 13 hours long.
‘It’s harder than one would expect and a bit more punishing,’ she confessed.
‘By the end, I [on] was painkillers and whisky, holding hands. That was how I got through the end. You are in so much pain but it just becomes the new normal.
‘By the end, I couldn’t even pick up my toothbrush off the floor when I dropped it, I just went ”ah f**k it”.’
Despite the struggles, Nikki insisted she has no regrets and enjoyed every second on the show, saying she wore her painful bruises and injuries as a badge of honour.
Nikki Osborne has revealed the ‘punishing’ reality of filming Dancing With The Stars and told how her professional partner Aric Yegudkin (both pictured) was ‘ruthless’ in his coaching
‘I wear the [bruises] with honour, I was quite proud that I had all those injuries and kept dancing,’ she shared.
‘My grandfather was a war vet and he was the one who taught me to keep going. Aric and I had a safe word and that was ”go harder”.’
‘It was hectic! That’s what competition does to people, I feel like I’m ready for the Olympics now,’ she added.
Nikki is not the only one to get injured on the 2024 show.
Julie Goodwin was forced to postpone her debut after sustaining a calf muscle tear.
The MasterChef Australia star’s future on the show looks uncertain due to her estimated six-week recovery time, but Nikki insisted the star is determined to get back on the dance floor.
Nikki told how both she and Julie didn’t tell producers the extent of their injuries because they wanted to keep dancing, so carried on despite being in pain.
She said: ‘I’m pretty sure that [Julie], similar to me, was gritting her teeth and not reporting the extent of her injuries because she was in tears backstage on the first night when she couldn’t perform.
She recently shared a picture of the painful bruises (pictured) she sustained from her difficult dance routines, and has now lifted the lid on the gruelling 13-hour rehearsal days
‘It was heartbreaking for all of us, we all know we’re one slip-up away from being in the same situation. I think she’s going to dance.’
Nikki said all the dancers and celebrities rallied around each other throughout filming, while doctors were on hand to assist with their physical injuries.
She went on to detail her dance partner Aric’s ‘relentless’ coaching and confessed they even butted heads on occasion, but said she is ultimately thankful for his focus.
‘He’s relentless, but I’m glad for it! You don’t want a soft coach because you don’t get better,’ she said.
‘If I had my way and Aric actually listened to my many complaints, we would have knocked off early and had far more downtime, but he just wouldn’t let me go!
‘I’m glad for that but I’d yell at him and say ”get out of my way, I want to go home” and he’d say ”no, you can do better, stop crying, get up and straighten your legs”.’
‘I don’t know how they do it, how these professional dancers put up with our endless whinging and the crying and the I’m hungry, and I can’t do it,’ she added.
The actress hilariously admitted she was a bit of ‘drama queen’ during some of their rehearsals and praised Aric for handling her outbursts.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Nikki admitted filming was more ‘punishing’ than she had expected but insisted she still enjoyed every second of being on the show
She also admitted they both broke the show’s rules and would schedule in extra late night rehearsals as they were laser-focused on trying to win.
‘Aric is very competitive and he was spying on all the other couples so if they were doing a hard lift he’d say ”right we’ve got to beat them”,’ she shared.
‘We were arranging late night rehearsals as well, which you’re not meant to do, but we did that to try and beat everybody else.’
Of her competitive nature, she added: ‘My goal, I want to win, but I feel like that’s just not my karma to win because I’m not the darling.
‘I’m always kind of the bad guy, I don’t think the network will even let me win, but my goal [is] to make it to the end and wear every dress and do every dance.’
Nikki said she enjoyed every second of the show, but she has found watching the final edit difficult after she was set up to ‘flop’ during the promotion.
‘You don’t know what the edit is going to do as well so that is hard I would say,’ she explained.
‘The promos, you don’t know who you’re going to be. Last week, I was the person who is going to flop. So I don’t know how they are going to promo me next week but I guess I will just have to watch and wait.’
Nikki became good friends with controversial AFL star Ben Cousins on the show, despite her friends warning her to ‘stay away’ from him because of his troubled past
Despite the difficulties, Nikki said her highlight was doing the dances on show night, telling how she bonded closely with her co-stars.
‘I definitely bonded with Shane Crawford, we got on fabulously, also Ant Middleton, we hit it off. They said ”do you want to come on SAS and I said f**k off!”
‘Samantha Jade and I, we are still texting heaps. I got on with all of them, which I wasn’t expecting!’
She also told how she and Nova Peris snuck in alcohol on show nights, despite it being against the rules.
‘Nova and I snuck bubbles in to each show because you’re not allowed alcohol but Nova and I just went ”ah you’ve got to get through it somehow don’t you”,’ she said.
‘Bugger rules, nobody gets ahead obeying the rules do they?’
She also became good friends with controversial AFL star Ben Cousins, despite her friends warning her to ‘stay away’ from him because of his troubled past.
Ben’s casting on the Channel Seven show raised some viewers’ eyebrows because of his 2020 conviction for stalking the mother of his children.
Of the connections forming backstage, Nikki also addressed claims that host Dr Chris Brown has grown close and 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 female friends saying ”oh stay away from him” and I was like ”oh geez OK”.’
However, Nikki insisted Ben is a ‘sweetheart’ and they have bonded and become good friends during their time on the show.
‘When I first met him I was like ”oh my God, he’s just a sweetheart”. He’s a humble, lovely sweetheart and we got on great,’ she said.
‘He even came to my show in Perth and supported me over there, so whatever people think Ben Cousins was, he no longer is.’
Of the connections forming backstage, Nikki also addressed claims that host Dr Chris Brown has grown close and been ‘flirting’ with contestant Lisa McCune on set.
Responding to the rumours, Nikki joked: ‘That gives me the s**ts because I thought he had the hots for me, I’m furious!’