A waltzing Shane Cameron would normally be the last thing you’d expect to see during your supermarket dash. But that’s exactly what shoppers in Auckland might witness in the next few weeks – a muscled, tattooed twinkle-toes sashaying down the canned goods aisle.
“He doesn’t even know he’s doing it,” laughs his gorgeous wife Tara (30). “He just keeps breaking out into little steps all over the place.”
“People keep looking at me weirdly, but, oh well,” Shane (35) adds, shrugging. “I don’t care! I’m in this for as long as possible.”
Since the former professional boxer and gentle giant agreed to appear in the latest season of Dancing with the Stars, dance has taken over all the Cameron family’s lives – even 17-month-old Shane Jr’s. Or, as his parents call him, “Little Man”.
Shane and dance partner Nerida Cortese kicked off their quest for the glitter-ball trophy with a cha-cha to U2’s When Love Comes to Town.
“He keeps trying to join in when I’m practising,” a proud Shane chuckles. “His little feet start kicking out and he kind of just bobs up and down. Dance, Little Man!” he urges his son, who immediately erupts into a kind of jig, his smile wide and his impressive mop of curls bouncing all over the place.
Shane, who is partnered with Nerida Cortese for the TV3 show, admits the move away from the boxing ring to the dance floor has challenged him in more ways than he could have imagined. But the support of his longtime love is helping him rise to the challenge. “Tara’s been amazing,” he says fondly.
“I hardly ever see him these days,” Tara adds. “He used to get really stressed before a fight, and this is worse. Give me back the boxer!” she jokes.
But it was Tara, the stunning fitness buff he met on a night out in Auckland four years ago, who pushed the “Mountain Warrior” to strap on his dancing shoes in the first place. “He’s needed something to do since he retired from boxing,” she confides. “I know Shane loves to have something to work towards – a challenge. This seemed like a great opportunity. It’s awesome for people to see another side of him – he’s a big, burly boxer doing the waltz!”
Shane’s “Little Man” likes to join in with his dad’s dance rehearsals.
“Trying to waltz is probably more accurate,” Shane laughs.
Usually inseparable, the fitness fanatics live, train and work together, with Tara helping to manage their gym, Shane Cameron Fitness, as well as their eponymously named promotions business and charitable foundation.
“But it’s fine,” Tara says, unconcerned. “I was helping him practise, but he got too good after a few days! So I dance with Little Man now.”
It’s at this point that Shane takes advantage of a lull in proceedings, practising his waltz steps in the kitchen while making a cup of tea, with Shane Jr bobbing along.
“You think it’s a slow dance, but your feet are going fast as,” he grumbles.
“He used to shadow box when he was making a cuppa – now it’s dancing,” laughs Tara.
The Weekly last caught up with the Camerons a week after Shane Jr’s traumatic birth, when Tara lost more than a litre of blood in the delivery room. Since then, life has been good for the little family, which also includes beloved pooch Tini.
As part of an illustrious career in the ring, Shane competed for the World Cruiserweight title in 2012, but was defeated by Aussie opponent Danny Green.
“After Little Man was born, I used it as motivation to get back in shape – I got into the best shape of my life!” Tara says. “I had a boxing fight seven-and-a-half months after he was born, and I entered a CrossFit competition just for mums. I also host a boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts show on Maori TV.”
“And I retired from boxing last November, so I’m at the gym heaps now,” adds Shane.
Shane Jr also takes up a whole lot of their time. Like a toddler version of his father, he’s a nonstop whirlwind with a fascination for ball sports.
“The day he first walked, he kicked a football,” says Shane. “He’s full on, definitely. He’s not the best sleeper. Tara calls him The Hurricane.”
“I’ve given him his fight name already!” she laughs.
Shane, Tara and their “Little Man” have found their lives taken over by the dance show. The former boxer has even been known to dance while making the tea.
Shane’s time is also at a premium these days, as dance training with Nerida takes top priority. However, the tough guy of Kiwi boxing admits frustrations are creeping in.
“The problem is mental for me,” he explains. “I have the fitness – that part is fine. It’s my brain that’s tired. I had a hard day yesterday. I just couldn’t get these steps that Nerida was trying to teach me. And she had this dress on that seemed like it had four million layers. I had to pick her legs up for a lift, but I couldn’t find them through all the fabric. It was like they were padlocked!”
Problematic costumes and what he calls his “small mental capacity” aside, Shane says he loves learning how to dance, and hopes to be able to teach Tara after his time in the reality TV competition is up.
“I asked him the other day, “Shane, can you lift me like you lifted Nerida?” Tara grins. “He replied, very carefully, ‘Honey, I think you’re a little too athletic!’”
Tara adds that the hardest part of the experience for her is watching her husband be the subject of criticism. “The judges were hard on Shane on the first night, but what they need to understand is he doesn’t show emotion at the best of times!” she exclaims. “Even when he tells me he loves me, there’s not a lot going on in the face. So for him to show as much as he did was huge!”
She is, of course, incredibly proud of Shane for stepping so far outside his comfort zone. “He’s been doing so well. For him to put himself out there like that – he’s a true champion.”
