Disney stars Briar Nolet and Myles Erlick do their bit for Aussie wildlife

Disney stars Briar Nolet and Myles Erlick – from hit show The Next Step touched down in Sydney this week with a package of pouches to help orphaned joeys survive in care.

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Every little bit counts — Disney stars Briar Nolet and Myles Erlick came prepared to help when they touched down in Sydney this week.

Like so many around the world, the 21-year-old stars of hit TV series The Next Step have felt helpless watching the bushfires kill so much Australian wildlife.

Next Step stars Myles Erlick and Briar Nolet in Sydney for series of masterclasses. Picture: Dylan Robinson

So they bought a number of kangaroo pouches online to help orphaned joeys.

“We brought them from Canada and have ordered some more to send over,” Nolet said, Erlick adding: “It is something little to help the injured animals. It is just so devastating. We have seen it all over the news and online so we wanted to do something.”

A wombat joey (centre) and swamp wallaby joey were orphaned when their mothers were fatally struck by cars as they fled bushfires. They are being cared for by a WIRES volunteer. Pictures: Richard Dobson

Nolet and Erlick are in Australia for a series of dance masterclasses, including stops at Sydney’s The Next Step Performing Arts, JWDA Caringbah and Brent Street, as well as the Lee Academy on the central coast. The pair met on the show and have been dating for five years.

“I wouldn’t say it is an easy class but it definitely is not an impossible class,” Erlick said. “We’ve structured it for dancers who have a little dance training, so everyone can take it at their own pace and it can be challenging for those who want to push themselves.”

The Next Step stars Briar Nolet and Myles Erlick have brought pouches for orphaned joeys with them to Australia. Picture: Supplied

Volunteer wildlife carer Minka Macaule, 14, feeds an injured koala joey at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park after it was decimated by a bushfire on January 4. Picture: Getty

The Next Step is a global franchise. Shot in Canada, it is broadcast around the world, launching the careers of stars including Victoria Baldesarra, Brittany Raymond and Shamier Anderson.

For Erlick, that has led to him landing a lead role in Steven Spielberg’s big budget Hollywood remake of West Side Story. Nolet recently toured with Jennifer Lopez.

“The audition process was like eight months,” Erlick said of the film that will also star Ansel Elgort. “And six months shooting with Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest directors that ever lived, the things I learned from that set and the things I took away from it I am going to cherish for the rest of my life.”

Next Step stars Myles Erlick and Briar Nolet in Sydney for series of masterclasses. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Originally published as Disney stars Briar Nolet and Myles Erlick do their bit for Aussie wildlife