Bec Hewitt is ready for Dancing With the Stars: ‘I have a pretty thick skin’

Bec Hewitt has revealed how she’s making her Dancing With the Stars comeback possible with little time to prepare.

For years Bec Hewitt shone on our small screens. She was the rising actress who played Hayley Smith Lawson on iconic Aussie soapie, Home And Away, with a music career on the side.

Then she fell in love with Aussie tennis star Lleyton Hewitt in a whirlwind romance – the pair engaged after only six weeks, then quickly married and pregnant with their first child. Hewitt left Summer Bay to travel the world supporting her husband’s career and raise their three children Mia, now 15, Cruz, 12 and Ava, 10.

Despite pressing pause on her showbiz life and largely retreating from the spotlight, gossip mags were relentless – headlines screaming the marriage was in trouble or she was pregnant. Over and over again.

Bec Hewitt jokes to The BINGE Guide that if they were accurate she’d have had 63 babies by now. The 37-year-old doesn’t pay any attention to them. She never has.

“I must have a pretty thick skin because none of that stuff fazes me,” Hewitt shares as we chat in between the intense rehearsal schedule for her return to Dancing With The Stars. “I never look at comments. I never have. (In part) just because I’m actually so busy. But, look it’s just creative writing.”

Hewitt laughs as she adds “I would love to be a fly on the wall in one of their editorial meetings though.”

bec Hewitt gets ready for Dancing with the Stars. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

She’s dancing back on to our screens tonight, joining All Stars Kyly Clarke, Lincoln Lewis, Fifi Box, Tom Williams, Luke Jacobz, Ada Nicodemou, Jamie Durie, Manu Feildel, Erin McNaught and wildcards Schapelle Corby, Matty J, Renee Bargh and Jessica Gomes on Seven’s reboot of DWTS. And the much-loved hosts Daryl Somers and Sonia Kruger are back with the original judges Helen Richey, Todd McKenney, Paul Mercurio and Mark Wilson.

In 2004, Hewitt was the reality show’s inaugural Australian winner, holding the coveted mirror ball trophy aloft with dancing partner Michael Miziner. She had such a blast then she didn’t hesitate to say yes when Seven came calling a second time.

“I also thought it was a really good example to show my kids - that you are never too old to do something that you love,” she says. “My instant reaction was yes, but I did have to sit back and think about logistics and my kids’ very busy schedules.”

And she’s not joking about busy schedules – Hewitt laughs again as she says as hectic and exhausting as her return to the dance floor has been, it has been a holiday from her normal life of ferrying the kids here, there and everywhere.

Lleyton Hewitt and Bec Hewitt are still going strong. Picture: AAP

Ava is following in her mum’s talented footsteps with dancing and acting in TV and film, while Mia sings, writes songs, plays the piano and ukulele. Cruz is more like his dad – “he loves anything with a ball, you have to physically drag him off the tennis court because he’s sych a hard worker,” Hewitt shares.

Fortunately, Mia is the best helper, stepping in to do hair and make-up for her younger sister the day we chat for a dance video shoot, reading lines for an audition.

“They’ve all been really good – we’ve lived and travelled so closely together for so long that we all know how things operate,” Hewitt shares, adding they’ve recruited a close friend to help get three kids to three different places each afternoon.

Mia and Bec Hewitt. Pic: Instagram

Speaking of friends – Band-aids have become her best friend and long baths at night, in the full-on schedule to get the two-week spectacle filmed. Hewitt also confesses it was a struggle to slip into the shoes again – she’s much more of a sneakers girl these days.

“It’s not like one dance a week – we are cramming it all in and it’s a lot on your body,” she shares. “Everyone’s falling apart but we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

While the muscle memory’s come back, the flexibility has not. Despite our cover girl Hewitt barely looking a day older than when she last danced her way to the winning spot, she assures she has.

Bec Hewitt is back on DWTS on Seven.

“I want to throw my leg up that high – but we have to change choreography because I can’t,” she laughs. “I do feel limited in terms of some of the things I could do choreographically because the leg’s just not going to go there.”

What Hewitt has developed is a deeper understanding of technique.

“I kind of bluffed my way through the first one,” she says. “I’ve only sort of realised that now and gone ‘Oh, that’s what timing is’. My partner Craig is a very accomplished dancer. I’m very privileged to dance with someone of his calibre so he really helps you to understand the technique – that’s what the judges are looking for. It’s as much about the technique as performance.”

And there was very little time to prepare – Hewitt was pretty much in the dance studio two days after saying yes.

“But, as my (dance) partner Craig said ‘what better way to get fit for dancing than by dancing?’ and it’s so true,” she says.

Bec Hewitt and daughter Ava as she was growing up. Picture: David Smith

“We are doing eight hours a day – I’m very lucky to have the luxury of time to do that this time. Back on season one I was working on Home And Away so my time was very limited.”

Given there’s a little more freedom with her schedule this time, is there a chance she reclaim the title? Hewitt demurs a little, but admits she hopes she can make the final.

“The standard is so high – it’s going to be such an enjoyable show,” she says. “I loved watching every performer and everyone has something different to offer.”

She’s got her favourites – but won’t divulge them to The BINGE Guide. She’s especially delighted in hanging with her Home any Away buddies – Lewis, Jacobz and Nicodemou.

But don’t hold your breath for a more permanent reunion in Summer Bay – Hewitt’s not quite tempted to return full-time to that life.

“It was really fun being back in the front of the camera and I’m feeling more and more comfortable as the weeks go on,” Hewitt says. “It did feel really foreign at first. I’ve been quite happy doing the mum thing and running the kids around.

“It was such a big part of my life growing up so it’s giving myself permission to enjoy it.

“You know what you want to do as a performer and you know what you should be doing – it’s just whether you feel a little bit self-conscious about giving those things a try.

“I think it’s like going back into any job in the workforce no matter what you do, if you’ve been mum, it’s a bigger deal after being out of it for a while.

“But can we do it – yes we can. We absolutely can.”

Dancing with The Stars All Stars, starts Sunday, 7pm, Seven

Originally published as Bec Hewitt is ready for Dancing With the Stars: ‘I have a pretty thick skin’