Kiwi dance beauty finds success in UK

Ballroom beauty Erin Boag is the Cinderella of New Zealand dance.

The former Candy Lane student has waltzed her way into a life of fame and fortune as one of the stars of hit Brit reality series Strictly Come Dancing.

A household name in the UK, Erin, 33, has performed all over the world and will have her celebrity-packed wedding covered by top-selling Hello magazine.

But it wasn't a case of overnight success for the former west Auckland schoolgirl dancer.

She held down four jobs, including a cleaning and ironing lady gig, to start on her path to a professional career.

"There were times when you gave up eating for the evening because you had to chose between paying to go to practice or having dinner," Erin told Sunday News.

"I was poor but I didn't care because I had my dancing shoes."

Erin trained under Lane for three years while she was at Avondale College and credits the Dancing with the Stars presenter for inspiring her to becoming a fulltime dancer.

She moved to Sydney at 18, and 18 months later was on a plane to London, where she has appeared in every episode of Strictly Come Dancing along with Kiwi "bad-boy of the ballroom" Brendan Cole.

Erin and Brendan are intoducing fellow Kiwi Hayley Holt girlfriend of All Blacks captain Richie McCaw to the current series of the UK show.

"It's wonderful. There are 16 professional dancers and three of them are from New Zealand," Erin said.

"I've known Brendan for years and funnily enough I knew Hayley, as we used to compete against each other when we were young.

"It was great to see her again and she's been paired with a good celebrity which will be nice for her.

"There are only three sportsmen this series and she's dancing with a swimmer (British Olympics star Mark Foster) while I've got a rugby player (Lions star Austin Healey) so she'll be one of my main competitors. I'll have to show her who's boss!"

In 2004, Erin and her English dance partner Anton Du Beke successfully auditioned for the first series of Strictly Come Dancing along with Brendan and his then-fiance Camilla Dallerup.

They were astounded at how successful the show became and how it propelled them into the limelight.

"It was slightly daunting because all of a sudden you become known to the general public you walk down the street and people point and stare," Erin said.

"The only celebrity partner I've been romantically linked with was (league sensation) Martin Offiah I saw it in the paper and thought, `Geez I must have slept through that one!"'

Erin says she felt sorry for Brendan Cole whose Lothario image began when he was linked to celebrity partner and newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky.

"Brendan has got this bad-boy image but actually he's a decent guy," she said.

"I think he wasn't expecting all this public interest and it wrecked his engagement with Camilla Dallerup."

It was through Camilla that Erin met her fiance, business consultant Peter O'Dowd, who she will be tying the knot with in Italy next June in a romantic ceremony which Hello has asked to cover.

The wedding will be attended by all six of the dancers she has partnered on Strictly, including comedian Julian Clary, athlete Colin Jackson and partner for this year's series, rugby star Healey.

The couple have no plans to relocate to New Zealand, although they may buy an apartment here and are planning plenty of holidays.

Erin, a two-time New Zealand national dance champ, has ruled out following in Brendan's footsteps and becoming a judge on Dancing with the Stars.

"When I came over to England I said one day I will own an apartment on the River Thames, which I now do, and I will be a famous dancer.

"To come back to New Zealand would mean I would have to leave that."

Do you know anyone who has made it big overseas?

- © Fairfax NZ News