People
Out and about with dancing star Stefano!
By Matt Akersten
4th May 2007 - 12:00 pm

Miss Ribena with Stefano at Family bar

Drag hostess Miss Ribena couldn't believe her lecherous old eyes when she spied Stefano Olivieri from TV1's ‘Dancing With The Stars' at Auckland gay nightclub Family. The handsome Aussie was bustled onto the stage, and the cheering crowd got to see a bit more of him than they would by watching the hit TV show!

Our photographer was there to capture the action, and a modest Stefano later told GayNZ.com he was a little embarrassed by all the attention that night. “I'd taken my top off because I was feeling a little bit sweaty, and then Ribena dragged me up on stage – I was thinking, ‘just my luck!'”

The increasingly demanding schedule of training for the telly dancing contest means Stefano predicts he won't have much time to party in coming weeks. His hot-to-trot partner – infomercial queen Suzanne Paul – is doing amazingly well on the show so far, and Stefano assures us he's not letting her slack off now: “It's just tremendous the amount of hours that we have to put in. It's a minimum of five hours training each day. I think I know more about this woman now than I know about my friends! It's quite bizarre.

“I'm so pleased that our personalities get on so well. When I first came over to New Zealand, I thought Christ, this woman's much too small for me on the dance floor [She's nearly 5'3', he's 6'3'!] but she's so effervescent, and so likeable, so that really is just about half the battle won. Can you imagine spending all this amount of time with someone you didn't get along with? You'd just go nuts,” he grins.

Stefano says he was living in London when he had his first gay experience. “I was 20, and had not even thought or did anything about being with a guy. All of a sudden a guy showed some attention to me. I was quite taken aback by it and didn't know what to do. I was really intimidated and really scared. But before you know it, one thing led to another. Even then, I was still with women right up until I was about 22 or 23. Now I'm 29 and I haven't been with a girl since,” he reveals.

He tells us he doesn't really have a ‘coming out story'. “When I was more comfortable with myself, I started telling a few people that were closest to me that I felt deserved to know. And when I felt that I met that first great guy that I fell in love with, I felt like I was cheating when I didn't tell my mum. I only told a person when they needed to know. “I always played my cards really close to my chest and even went as far as to make up girlfriends.”

The 29-year-old is of Italian descent, but grew up in Sydney. Because he's been involved in musical theatre productions touring around the world, he only spends about two or three months in his home city at any one year.

“I was settling down this year and looking forward to building a new home, and all of a sudden Dancing With The Stars contacted me and offered me a chance, and so I took it, ripping myself out of one job and into another tour.”

So much time traveling means it's difficult to keep a relationship going. “That's why I wanted to settle down a bit at home. If I'm honest with myself, it's very lonely on the road. Sure it's fun to be single and you can enjoy yourself, but truly what I really want is a partner.

“I want to adopt children eventually, and give good surroundings to a person who would not have had that stuff had they not been taken in by someone who was able to do it. I want to sculpt some amazing human being. I'm really looking forward to doing that, and if I can find someone who shares those same views as me – that would just be the ultimate.”

Suzanne & Stefano impress the judges

In the meantime, he's enjoying our gay scene. “I just realised how incestuous the scene is here, and how small,” he says candidly. “All the people I've gotten to know while I've been here – they all know each other.

“I've met a lot of cool people and I've been having fun, but I guess I won't be able to do as much of that now, because things get so hectic on the show.”

He says he didn't realise New Zealanders was so into Dancing with the Stars. “I worked out the numbers – one in five people would have seen me dancing now. And I'm starting to get recognised when I'm walking down the street – which is a really nice thing to happen because we don't often get recognition in my line of work."

Stefano can't believe his luck to be employed doing a job he loves so much. “I'm having so much fun and I'm really blessed to be doing what I'm doing.”

It's clear Stefano has taught Suzanne loads about the Cha Cha, Quick Step, Jive and Foxtrot, but we can't help thinking he's learned a bit from her too, as he reminds us of the competition voting numbers: “Text SUZANNE to 8981, or vote by phoning 0900 89 811 – and it helps Starship Hospital,” he informs us in the most blatant product plug of our year!