Perhaps it’s genetics or maybe there was something in the Canterbury water, but there’s no doubting the Cole family know how to move!
Siblings Scott, Vanessa and Brendan may be best known from Dancing with the Stars, but their mum Karen fancies herself as a bit of a pro too.
“I didn’t learn to dance, but I can dance. It’s a need almost – like it’s in your blood,” Karen, 66, tells Woman’s Day as Scott and Vanessa look on affectionately.
However, when Karen got her children into dancing, she never dreamed they would all pursue it as a career. In fact, her talented boys were far from fans when they first started.
“Growing up, it was a form of torture in a way,” laughs Scott, 45. “It wasn’t really the cool thing to do. Brendan and I used to roll down the car window and climb out, and run off down the street because we didn’t want to do it.”
But before long, the Christchurch trio started winning and Karen says their dancing ‘hobby’ then got so serious that she was rushing the kids to dance practice while they ate their dinner in the back of the car.
Although money was tight for Karen raising three teenagers on her own, she has always been firmly behind the siblings’ shared passion.
Vanessa, 41, adds, “Mum was never one of those ‘dance mums’, though. She was always 100% supportive and never interfered or pushed.”
Both Vanessa and Scott admit work in the dancing world comes in fits and starts, so they relish the opportunity to star on the Three reality show with their partners, former All Black Glen Osborne and Mai FM radio host K’Lee, respectively.
It has also been a great opportunity for the family to take a trip down memory lane with judge Camilla Sacre-Dallerup, whom Brendan, 43, danced with and dated for almost a decade. Karen smiles, “It was lovely to see her. She was part of our family for nine years!”
Brendan and his ex, DWTS judge Camilla.
The brother and sister duo say that one of the best parts of being on the show is being able to dance together again. The pair were dance partners competitively for years and are now often put together in the opening sequences on the dancing show.
“I don’t dance the same when I’m with other people. There’s something that we have when we come together that just allows us both to shine,” says Vanessa.
Karen adds, “Scott has always said there is no-one who can dance like Vanessa – even right from when they were young.”
The Coles in the 80s. Clockwise from top left: Karyn, Brendan, Vanessa and Scott.
It’s clear the family are close-knit, even with brother Brendan living halfway around the world after making a name for himself on the international dancing circuit and the original UK version of DWTS, called Strictly Come Dancing.
However, when Karen’s asked which of her children is the best dancer, she remains mum, insisting that’s one question she won’t answer.
The siblings have always been close.
Vanessa laughs, “She’s got an answer!”
“In my book, they are actually all incredibly talented and passionate, and there’s not one that outshines the other,” Karen emphasises with some diplomacy.
“The lovely part is people coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh, you must be so proud.’ I hear that all the time, but I really am!”
