The cast of 2012 - Seven West Media

‘80S ROCK LEGEND, AGE 50
BRIAN MANNIX
PARTNER: MELANIE HOOPER
DANCING FOR: PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA
“I’m miles behind everybody. I can’t see anybody that I’m going to
beat. But I’m going to give it a damn good try.”
Australian rocker Brian Mannix hit the stage as lead singer
and songwriter with his band, The Uncanny X-Men. Hit singles
‘Everybody Wants to Work,’ ‘Party,’ and ‘Fifty Years’ saw the band
achieve gold and platinum sales as one of the most popular
bands of the 1980s.
Now he’s vying for a different prize, and Brian says training has
been like nothing before. “On the second night I sat at home and
thought ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ It seemed like a very
dark place. Hopefully I’ll just keep improving and getting better.”
Brian says his only hope for victory is getting down with some old
school moves. “The skinhead dance is one of my strengths. I can
do Axle Rose and Mick Jagger pretty well but that’s about it.”
There are more weaknesses. “Posture is really bad. Remembering
it all is not that good. Actually performing it and looking like a
dancer is really bad. I can’t really see any strengths!”
Like many in the competition, Brian says last year’s X Factor hit
Johnny Ruffo is the one to beat. “He dances like Michael Jackson!
And he’s got Luda’s whose a really good dancer too so you’d
have to pencil him in as the favourite.”
With his children backing Brendan Fevola, Brian says he can only
hope to impress his wife. “I can’t even waltz so I don’t even dance
with my wife at a wedding. It will be good after this when I can
get her out on the floor and give her a dance.”
Dancing for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Brian
says he can only hope to do his best. “My old man died of
prostate cancer about 12 years ago. Watching him die from it – if
you can stop that from happening to anybody else that would
be good. It’s a good motivation to try and do your best, and it’s
good that something good can come out of it.”
And he knows partner Melanie is the key to his success. “I’m
going to fang it and do the very best I can not just for my
sake but for Mel’s as well. I want to do the right thing by her
because she’s so talented, she deserves to go all the way, I
just don’t want to let her down.”
MELANIE HOOPER
In 2011 Melanie made her DANCING WITH THE STARS debut,
coming runner-up with partner Damien Leith.
Born in Townsville, North Queensland, Melanie moved to Brisbane
at the age of 21 where she went on to compete throughout
Australia in all three styles – Ballroom, Latin and New Vogue.
Melanie later moved to England to further her dancing career.
Specialising in Latin American, she enjoyed much success on the
International dance circuit dancing in championships throughout
the UK & Europe for approximately five years.
In 2008, Melanie joined the cast of ‘Burn The Floor’ performing on
Broadway for seven months, before continuing on the successful
world tour. Melanie’s dance career has taken her all over the
world with her biggest achievements including UK Rising Star
Professional Latin Champion, British Professional Rising Star Latin
runner-up, German Professional Rising Star Latin Champion,
Australian Open Professional Latin Champion, Moscow World
Professional Latin.