Lack of fear key to big Norm's dancing win

Dancing with the Stars winner Norm Hewitt and dance partner Carol-Anne Hickmore.

Lack of fear and plenty of confidence were the keys to pre-final favourite Norm Hewitt's victory on the dance floor, the former All Black hooker said today.

He and dance partner Carol-Anne Hickmore were last night crowned winners of TV One's Dancing with the Stars, beating out actor Shane Cortese and Nerida Lister in the final.

Over the show's eight-week season, Hewitt had had to don gear that was a world away from his days on the rugby field, but he said it wasn't something he had ever worried about.

"One thing I wasn't in taking on this opportunity, I wasn't scared," he told National Radio.

"I wasn't scared of taking risks with what people would have perceived as, 'Oh that's a bit over the top, what you are wearing,' but it was all part of the show." 

Hewitt, 36, played 14 games for the All Blacks, including nine tests, and he said he was rapt with the victory in a totally different arena.

He had believed winning on the dance floor was possible, citing his natural confidence.

"I became an All Black with confidence and believe that you have to have confidence as part of being successful, he said.

"We were serious, because if we didn't take it seriously we would not have been in the final and we would never have won."

Hewitt gave credit to Hickmore for what she had achieved with the partner she had been given.

"My first lesson with Carol-Ann, I felt like a block of concrete and I said to her, 'You have to chisel this into something that got to be tenable on the floor.'

"She worked extremely hard, and I was committed. I said to her from day one, 'I don't want to let you down, because you are the professional. I will do whatever it takes'."

What happened from there was "an amazing opportunity, an amazing time, an amazing challenge".

Hewitt, who nominated the waltzes as his favourite dances, said he wouldn't be hanging up his dancing shoes, but was looking forward to getting together with his wife on the floor.

"I'm looking forward to learning together in a setting where we can just take our time and there's no pressure to learn three dances in one week and then perform."

- NZPA