Courtney Act to Make History With Return to ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Author: Mikelle Street

Courtney Act is ready to dance again.

After finishing as runner-up on Dancing With the Stars Australia season 16, the reality star is returning to the fold. As first announced in September, Act will compete on the second season of the Australian Dancing With the Stars: All Stars. Act will face off against 13 other contestants including four winners. The season will premiere February 20 on Channel 7 and 7Plus. 

Act will be dancing alongside Josh Keefe again, as she did in her first season. The pair will be dancing for Black Rainbow Foundation, a suicide prevention advocacy program for LGBTQ+ Indigenous Australians. The foundation also supports those who are experiencing homelessness, are leaving abusive relationships, or are entangled with the justice system.

On her first run on the show, Act made history multiple times over. Act was the first drag performer to compete in drag on an iteration of Dancing With the Stars. In addition, in the semi-finals, Act performed with Keefe out of drag, marking the first time on the Australian iteration where two dancers presenting as male competed together. Act consistently was one of the highest-scoring performers of the season.

This all is a part of Act’s boundary-breaking career on television. The star competed on Australian Idol, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Celebrity Big Brother — she won the latter. She also hosted the U.K.’s first bisexual dating show, The Bi Life. In December, Act won the Australian equivalent of an Oscar when she took home the AACTA Award for Best Entertainment Program. The award was for hosting the Sydney Mardi Gras live broadcast. She was also nominated for Best Factual Entertainment Program for the season of ABC’s interview series One Plus One that she hosted. 

After Act and Keefe competed on Dancing With the Stars in Australia, others picked up the mantle, like Jojo Siwa, who danced with Jenna Johnson on the American version, as well as John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, who were partners in Strictly Come Dancing, the British show that inspired the global Dancing With the Stars phenomenon. 

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Mikelle Street