Dancing with the Stars Australia PT 1 !

Okay!

So we’re all on the same page, I moved to Australia. Did a camper van trip. Got a job, place to live and a Sydney family (basically). All in the span of about three weeks. We all up to speed? Yeah? Okay, good.

Now. Time for a story where the power of the internet, a small island and blessings on top of blessings combine to create an incredible experience – Alyssa at Dancing with the Stars Australia!

It all started when…

One day, I was going through my Facebook timeline (this was just before I moved, while I was still in NZ), and saw something about Sir Curtly Ambrose in Australia. 

Eh?

[For those of you who don’t know, Curtly Ambrose is a world famous cricket player (an international sport mostly played in commonwealth countries) from Antigua and Barbuda that played on the West Indies Cricket team some time ago. The West Indies team dominated the sport’s international arena for yearsssss only a few decades ago.]

Small Island Connection…

Curtly’s daughter and I went to high school together and his wife refereed a lot of my school netball games. Antigua’s a small place, so these things happen and we don’t think much of it. There are a few famous cricketers that come from my island (Sir Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Richie Richardson), but home is home so no one really treats them differently.

[Side note: I think it’s safe to say that goes for all Caribbean islands with their cricketers and other famous individuals. In the end, they’re the same people everyone grew up with, so we treat them as such. No big fan fare or bruha every time you see them on the street (unless you’re a tourist).]

But, back to my Facebook scroll…

Curtly’s daughter, Tanya (who is also a blogger – check out “All about the Scrub life“) posted something about her dad participating in Dancing with the Stars Australia. I saw a photo of him in sparkly pants with a girl in just as sparkly a dress posing.

Huh?

Curtly? Is going to be on a famous Dancing show? In Australia?

Confused yet intrigued, I thought to myself “Alyssa, if this is true, you may be in Australia at the same time. You should try to go! This would be an amazing opportunity to support a fellow Antiguan & Barbudan. In a whole Australia!”

Yes, Alyssa is deyy!

I reached out to Tanya…

Whom I hadn’t spoken to in years btw, and asked her to confirm if what I was seeing was right.

Me: “Is your dad actually going to be a contestant on Dancing with the Stars Australia?”

Tanya: ”Yes! Yes he is!” 

I explained I’d be in Sydney at the time and sad if that’s where the show would be, I’d definitely go and support! She immediately responded and said that’s exactly where it would be and she’d ensure something was arranged so I could go….

What??

I, could go, be in the audience, of Dancing with the Stars? Australia?

To wave the Antiguan and Barbudan flag in support of our OWN participant?

Juss so? (T*: “Just so” / Just like that?”)

I was speechless.

Throughout the next couple of weeks…

Her dad was in back to back rehearsals with barely a moment to spare (he’s also Curtly Ambrose so, yeah). So, Tanya relayed the event updates to me, even though she was in the USA #technology. A few days later, she confirmed the first live show was a week after I arrived in Sydney! I could make it!

I moved in with the family only a few days before but took the risk and asked for a strange request:

Alyssa: “Hey there. So, this really famous cricketer from my country is performing on Australia’s Dancing with the Stars next week. I have a connection and can get us in the audience for the live television show. Can I go and would you all like to come with?

Them: “Oh okay. Of course!”

Even though cricket wasn’t big where they were from (USA), they shared in the excitement just the same. And we were going to be on live national Australian television! Helllooooo.

To add even more excitement…

A few days later, my phone rang and it was Sir Curtly himself, calling to confirm three seats for us in the audience of the premier show! What was happening?!

After I hung up the phone though I had a full on fan girl moment cause I just spoke to Curtly Ambrose. He knew my name. Insane!!

Needless to say, a week later, the three of us (My kid, His mom and myself) dressed up in our nice ‘dan dan’* (T*:”Fancy clothes”) and went to Fox Studios in Sydney (the theme of the night was glitz and glamour, so you know we went all out!).

We were going to watch Sir Curtly Ambrose compete in Dancing with the Stars Australia!

And it was only MY FIRST WEEK IN SYDNEY!

I felt as though somehow everything was aligning.
And I wasn’t complaining one bit…

Here’s how the night went in PT 2 of the story.