Mark Holden questions “age-appropriate” partners on Dancing with the Stars
"For a 60 year old to be doing it with a 25 year old, I felt, was unseemly," says Mark Holden.
- Published by David Knox
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He’s not going without the final word….
Mark Holden has told Sunrise that Dancing with the Stars should have age-appropriate dancers for its celebrity talent.
“For a 60 year old to do the Pasodoble with a 25 year old is a bit wrong,” he said.
“Anybody who saw Eamon and Ash’s Pasodoble, that’s what a Pasodoble is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be full sex, hormones, young people. But for a 60 year old to be doing it with a 25 year old, I felt, was unseemly.
“Why shouldn’t there be a 59 year old professional woman pro-dancer?”
He said producers were annoyed at him because they thought he was disrespecting the brand but he maintained he embraced the concept because he is a non-dancer.
“On swingers week – why shouldn’t there be a man and a man? It’s actually discriminatory,” he continued.
Holden, who appeared to have some problems with his earpiece, ended up taking it out which led Sam Armytage saying, “I think that’s the first time a guest has ever taken their earpiece out when we’re interviewing them.”
For the record, ABC’s Strictly Dancing had same-sex dancers back in 2005.
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- Tagged with Dancing with the Stars, Strictly Dancing, Sunrise
5 Responses
I said it before and I’ll say it again, Mark Holden breathed fresh life into an stale old program. My 2 teenage sons watched DWTS for the first time ever because they heard about Mark. They were captured away from their computer games – can you believe that? Gamers leaving their computers to watch an old fart TV show about dancing? Besides Mark, they liked a good number of music choices in the show. Now that Mark has gone, Rikki-lee won’t be enough to sustain their full attention to the show, so the boys will be back on their computers. They loved Mark and so did my wife and I to be honest.
If Seven are using Mark for heavy promotion of DWTS it doesn’t say very much for the brand.
I think DWTS in Australia is past it. The US version is very much alive thanks to great casting.
7s version also had a same-sex dance. in 2009 the celebs danced with each other for one dance and matt white and adam brand partnered each other.
This show has been around for more than ten years. He should have been well aware what he was signing up for.
I’m all for a bit of car-crash reality tv, but there is a fine line between entertaining viewing and uncomfortable viewing. He well and truly leapt over the line into uncomfortable.
I think there could be same sex partners for the switchup ‘swingers’ week, but I don’t think it should just be expected. I recall back in the early seasons they had a gay celebrity on and he said he was insulted when his mates asked him if he had to dance with a male partner. Should same sex dancers be allowed – yes, should it be mandatory for a gay celeb – no.
In anycase, I’m glad the distraction is gone. I wish he was banned from the finale.