Cuddling up on a wet winter’s day in Auckland, Dancing with the Stars NZ judge Camilla Sacre-Dallerup and her husband Kevin casually let slip that this week marks a decade since they first met, sending us scrambling for a bottle of bubbles.
How will they celebrate their anniversary? “Well, we’re doing a romantic photo shoot for a magazine called Woman’s Day – have you heard of it?” laughs Camilla, adding, “It honestly doesn’t feel like it’s been 10 years. I still get excited about seeing him.”
British former soap star Kevin, who has flown into New Zealand for the final week of the Three series, agrees, saying, “It doesn’t compute that it’s been that long. I still like being around Cam and I don’t generally
like people. We’ll have some oysters later and maybe a bottle or six of Central Otago pinot noir.”
Danish-born Camilla – then a pro dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, the UK version of DWTS – first laid eyes on ex-Hollyoaks hunk Kevin on the 2008 British reality series The Underdog Show, which saw celebrities paired up with rescue dogs to compete in a Crufts-style competition.
The actor, 40, jokes, “When she swanned in, I thought she was nice-looking but clearly thought a lot of herself.”
Camilla, 44, who was wary after her failed engagement to Kiwi dancer Brendan Cole, recalls, “I thought he was cute but so cocky and ridiculously competitive. The other girls were fawning over him, but
I wrote him off because he was an actor and I didn’t want another relationship in the public eye.”
However, the pair soon became friends and after Kevin got Camilla’s number from a crew member, he asked her out for a drink.
He grins, “It was the longest pint of Guinness ever! We sat there talking for over an hour and had a cheeky snog, and from that day on, we were a couple. Camilla was so endearing, honest and forthcoming, which was very refreshing. I used to be a bit of a player, but I knew within a week she’d be the one I would marry.”
Now also a self-help author and life coach, Camilla adds, “I’d judged him, which was exactly what I tell people not to do, and I was so wrong. Kevin wasn’t into games – he texted me that night. I liked him and that was it.”
Soon living with Camilla in her home, Kevin went on to win The Underdog Show, with the pair adopting his champion mutt Sven, who still lives with them. Camilla jokes, “I let Kevin win. I only wanted one trophy that year and that was the Strictly one, which I got!”
Exactly a year after their first date, Kevin popped the question on the Italian island of Capri. Twelve months after that, they tied the knot in an intimate but star-studded seaside ceremony in Ibiza.
In 2014, on the advice of Camilla’s fellow DWTS judge Julz Tocker, the couple relocated to LA, where they reinvented their careers, the dancer becoming a wellness guru and her actor hubby an investment advisor.
Camilla tells, “It was a huge risk and a humbling experience after being so comfortable back in London. But we were done with our jobs over there and once we finally figured out how LA works, we came out of it stronger than ever.”
Ditching her old career inspired Camilla to write her new book Reinvent Me, though she wasn’t completely done with dancing, leaping at the chance to audition for the role of a judge on our Kiwi series when it arose.
“I’d put this role on my vision board and I’ve loved the whole experience,” she says. “Having been in the dancers’ shoes, I’ve got emotionally invested in all their journeys. I couldn’t hold myself together when Suzy Cato left.”
Kevin, who watched most of the show from LA, gushes, “This is the first time I’ve seen Camilla be herself on screen and she’s really glowing.
I’m also a big fan of David Seymour and I was gutted to see him leave in the semi-finals – but I had to hide that fact from Camilla!”
After the grand final, the blonde bombshell has planned a road trip around Aotearoa, which will take in lots of hot pools and Lake Rotopounamu, in Tongariro National Park, which is world famous as a spiritual site of pilgrimage.
“I absolutely love New Zealand and I really hope to be back for another season of Dancing,” Camilla says, joking that Kevin could get a stint on Shortland Street so they don’t have to be apart for so long next time. “But I am looking forward to getting home and cuddling our dog.”
