Ben Barrington’s ankles were killing him.
The Hamilton actor and Dancing with the Stars contestant had already danced for four hours before his interview with stuff.co.nz and was straight back into the studio afterwards.
If he’s to be believed, he needs the practice – but he’s enjoying it.
"I knew I wasn't going to be good at it, but just the levels of incompetence have absolutely shocked me."
Barrington’s one of ten Kiwi stars who will take the floor for TV3’s Dancing with the Stars.
He’s a Hamilton lad who went through St Paul’s Collegiate and the University of Waikato, and worked a stint at the Outback Inn.
Since then, he’s become a familiar face for many after his roles in Kiwi comedy-drama The Almighty Johnsons (as Olaf) and Aussie family drama Offspring (as Thomas Buchdahl).
But the dancing will be a first foray into reality TV.
"The other work I've done is always been 'you're playing this person'... whereas this is just me."
So he’s glad to be partnered with Krystal Stuart, a champion Latin American, ballroom and new vogue dancer .
"lf anybody can get any rhythm and any semblance of a watchable dance out of me, she’s the person who’s going to be able to."
Yet he didn't have to be pushed into appearing on the show.
"It took me less than two minutes to decide that I was champing at my little sequinned bit to do the show," he said.
"[The audience] can look at me up there and think 'Right, that’s a person who’s as far away from the world of professional dance as one could possibly be."
The dance styles he’s going to learn are still top secret but Barrington said he was drawn to the variety and the way they could tell a story.
He’s in it to win it though, especially given the pain and embarrassment he sees coming.
And he’s promising some jaw-dropping sights for audience members, including from the wardrobe department.
"It will just be glitter ball, sequinned, rhinestone, racing stripes, tiaras, embroidered flames, high heels, fake lashes, hair extensions. As for what the girls will be wearing..."
He’s also picked St John Ambulance for his charity.
"I felt like, lately, everywhere I went, there they were... Really, those guys are on the front line of all sorts of disaster and unpleasantness."
Two of Barrington’s key supporters are Hamilton residents – his mum and dad.
The city is still home for Barrington, who regularly stops in for visits.
He heads over to Australia when work takes him but is based in the west Auckland suburb of Green Bay.
"It’s like a Hamilton away from Hamilton".
As far as his role as love rat Thomas Buckdahl in Offspring goes, Barrington said it got more interesting once he went from "nice guy to 'holy hell' – that’s a complicated man".
"A strong character element like that, whether it be good or bad, is really fun to play," he said.
"Once it got juicy then it became much more fun."
And he’s got another "very, very exciting" project lined up once his time on Dancing with the Stars is done.
But he couldn't give details – except this: "[Dancing with the Stars] is very good training for what I've got coming up".
Details on when Dancing with the Stars will start are few and far between, but TV3 has said it will be screened on Sunday or Monday nights.
