Kylie Gillies certainly isn’t a stranger to being in front of the camera. This June, she celebrates 15 incredible years co-hosting The Morning Show alongside Larry Emdur!
WATCH BELOW: Kylie Gillies Pays Tribute To Her Late Dad
Still, the popular journalist admits to New Idea that, behind the scenes, she’s “actually very shy” and tries her hardest to “avoid” becoming the story.
“I am happy to just do my job and not make the headlines,” Kylie laughs when New Idea catches up with her.
“I mean, I have been a journalist for my whole life and while it is fun to do photo shoots, I am happier being the one asking the questions instead of the one getting asked.”
Our particularly glamorous shoot coincides with Kylie’s return to the dance floor for the second season of Channel 7’s Dancing with the Stars: All Stars.
“This is me out of my comfort zone,” Kylie confesses. “Yes, I’m on TV for two and a half hours a day, but I am doing COVID updates, I’m bringing you the news and entertainment. I’m not usually the entertainment.
“But I couldn’t say no. I have loved the show since I saw the first-ever episode, and the fact I have got to do it twice is like a dream come true. I think I am equal parts excited and petrified for people to see me on the stage again.”
Kylie first put on her dancing shoes back in 2009 to compete in the ninth season of the hit series. Partnered with Carmelo Pizzino, they made it to the finals, coming in third.
This time, Kylie hopes she and her new partner, Aric Yegudkin, can take out the top position and “lift the shining mirrorball trophy at the end”.
Although, with a 13-year break in between, learning the dance steps wasn’t quite as easy this time around.
“I had forgotten everything, so basically I was starting from scratch. And, you know, I’m not 18 years old, so what you see is what you get,” says Kylie, 54.
“I think Aric took a lot of care to bring out the best in me and we worked really hard.”
If Kylie’s greatest fear comes true and she “falls flat on her face”, she knows her two sons, Gus, 19, and Archie, 17, will “have her back” every step of the way – even though they will “tease the heck” out of her!
“The boys were really proud of me for giving it a go,” she says. “That’s not to say they aren’t going to laugh their heads off when they watch mum throwing her legs around, but going into it they have been very supportive.”
Anyone who has appeared on Dancing with the Stars will tell you that the training schedules can be intense, to say the least. Combine that with Kylie’s busy TV career and her role as a mum, and it seems like an almost-impossible task.
Thankfully, Kylie’s husband of more than 30 years, Tony, has been a lifesaver throughout her All Stars experience.
“He is my person,” she gushes. “He made dinner every night and did all the grocery shopping – I only had to worry about dancing. He has been an absolute rock through this. He absolutely stepped it up.”
With Gus at university and Archie doing his HSC this year, Kylie and Tony are also facing the prospect of being empty-nesters in the near future.
Kylie says they are already getting a small taste of what it will be like. “I mean, I don’t want them to leave home ever, but having said that, I never see them.
“Ask any mum of teenagers and they will tell you the same thing. Plus, they both have licences now, so we don’t have to be home as much to drive them everywhere – but they still come home to eat.”
And while Kylie has many career highlights and accolades to her name, being a mum is her best job yet – although she does admit it isn’t always the easiest one.
“I am so glad I am a mum – but wow, it’s a job and a half!” she confesses. “Dancing in front of a national audience, that’s easy compared to raising a teenager, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Dancing With The Stars: All Stars, premieres Sunday, February 20, 7pm on Seven & 7plus
