Yianni Aspradakis
For several weeks in the lead up to Dancing With The Stars, Rebecca Gibney was hard at work in the rehearsal studio, attempting to master the art through an uncomfortable mixture of sweat, tears and sequins. She was proud of herself, she admits, to take on the challenge she vowed to pursue after her 60th birthday. However, when she walked on set for the live performance, she “instantly froze”.
The actress, who suffered crippling anxiety and body dysmorphia for many of her formative years, was plagued by the destructive inner thoughts of her former self.
“It all came flooding back as soon as I stepped onto the dance floor,” Rebecca, 60, tells TV WEEK.
“We had been in a bubble for weeks, then, suddenly, there’s crew, lights, costumes and the audience starts filing in. I had flashbacks to being 15, thinking, ‘What am I doing here? I don’t belong here.’ I fell to pieces.”
A hard worker to a fault, the Packed To The Rafters star looked to dance partner Ian Waite, who coached her out of the fog. She wasn’t alone: “A lot of us backstage had terrible nerves.” But Rebecca admits she has no idea how the performance went.
“I can’t actually remember the first dance. I went into a daze, I think, where I put on a persona of a dancer. I had to act because I didn’t know what I was doing.
“I did make mistakes on the night, and you kick yourself [afterwards] but the thing is, we’re baring our souls on national television and it’s terrifying.
“Physically, it was tough. I felt every bit of my 60 years. However, there are no egos on this show and no one wants you to fail, so it was lovely to be part of.”
For better or worse, it’s an experience Rebecca will never forget, nor want to.
With setbacks come learning and Rebecca is taking ownership of a bold new chapter – her third act, as she sees it. After more than two decades, she is returning to theatre alongside Cameron Daddo in Circle Mirror Transformation and has also just signed up for a confidential new project. She’s exploring options that, five years ago, would’ve seen her hesitate.
“I want to say yes more than no,” she explains. “Retirement or standing still doesn’t work because, ultimately, you end up winding down – and you’re a long time dead!
“I have a lot of years left in me and I want to push myself – and have fun doing it.
“How I respond to things has changed, too. I’ve always been a people pleaser and I used to be crushed when people were mean or vindictive. It still hurts; I won’t lie. But I don’t put up with things I don’t want too; I’m stronger now. I’ve got to an age when I’m comfortable in my skin.”
There are limits, though, especially when it comes to her foray into reality television.
“You won’t see me on Survivor – even though my son wants to do it,” she says with a laugh. “I’m A Celebrity… [Get Me Out Of Here] has approached me a couple of times, but there’s no way I could do something like that! ”
Her son, Zachary, with husband Richard Bell, seems to be far less risk averse than his parents. It’s a trait Rebecca says she can’t relate to but is extremely proud of. The 21-year-old is following in his mother’s footsteps, as an aspiring actor.
Rebecca describes him as having an “innate confidence”, which was on display during the 2024 TV WEEK Logie Awards, when Rebecca was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Zach introduced his mum to the stage – she became one of four women to receive the accolade, and his speech was a highlight of the night.
“I was so proud of him,” the Flying Doctors star recalls. “He had written that all by himself and I had no idea what he was going to say so, when the words came out, I was stunned.”
Family remains a line through everything Rebecca does. The actress has publicly discussed her ongoing fight with mental health after suffering a breakdown in her thirties, and also the horrors of the domestic violence her mother suffered at the hands of her father. Despite this, she believes in the family values that were instilled in her.
“I had a difficult upbringing, but, being the youngest of six siblings and having an incredibly resilient mother, I know that family is always there for me,” she says.
She met production designer and ‘best friend’ Richard on the set of Halifax f.p. and they’ll soon celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
“By the time I met Richard, I’d had my breakdown and I was doing therapy; I was in a good place. And, weirdly enough, we initially weren’t going to have children. But I didn’t want to get to 50 and say, ‘Wait, I forgot to have children’. So we made a deal to try for 12 months to see if it was meant to be.
“I fell pregnant within three months, which is so rare. I took it as a sign and a gift. He’s our world. And my anxiety did ease, because I stopped worrying about myself. It wasn’t all about me: it was all about him!”
Now, instead of fighting her inner thoughts, Rebecca invites them in and listens. That’s not to say she doesn’t have wobbly moments –say on a shiny dance floor – but she knows who she is and what she’s worth. And it’s a risk she’s willing to take.
“Being full of self-doubt for so long and having an emotional collapse and working with someone to uncover mental health, I’ve realised the importance of unplugging and resetting,” she says.
“I was so hard on myself when I was young. But now I look after myself. That’s been my biggest lesson: take time to do things for myself, try new things and care for myself. Then I can care for others.
“And maybe be a bit more like nature – bloom like a flower, flow like water – that’s what I’m trying to do more of.”
Dancing With The Stars airs Sunday, 7pm on Channel Seven
