The 12-time Golden Guitar winner, who was dancing on behalf of the Children's Cancer Institute after losing his two-year-old nephew Harry to the disease, spoke to WHO post-win about spray tans, his lack of talent, and those rumours he's dating dance partner Jade Hatcher.

Congratulations! You were the dark horse of the competition!

Yeah, I was so dark you couldn't see me, I think.

What made you come to the front?

I have no idea. We just kept on going harder and harder and harder and training longer hours. As it gets towards the end I really wanted to do well, to prove I was making progress.

How did you celebrate?

There was a big after party but I didn't stay for long because I knew I had a big day today. It was lovely. What was really nice was there were no losers.

Who did you think was your main competition, Kylie or Matt?

It was split between them because they've been at the top of the scoreboards every week and are fantastic. I make no bones about it, there were some better dancers than me for sure. Even though it's a competition you don't feel like you're competing with each other because we've become such good friends. It's reality and it's fun but the competition was secondary. When someone has a bad day you go up and give them a hug, and other people's dance partners would give you help if you needed. From the semis onwards it was so sad watching people go.

So had you done a lot of dancing before the show?

Just a little at family get togethers, a little dance with nanna, a little shuffle, a bit of air guitar occasionally.

You talked last night about your reasons for doing the show, the death of your nephew, Harry, to cancer.

It was quite raw for me last night, the emotion of it, thinking back. Once you stop for a second and they ask you a question about the competition it made me take stock. All the hard work and all the hours you put into it really was for a much greater reason. As hard as the journey has been this last four months, trying to get your brain to fit in all these things and thinking that you look stupid and getting harsh comments, as hard as that journey's been, it's not even a scratch on the surface of what these kids go through. My little Harry, his journey was just amazingly difficult. So it was all worth it.

Was your sister, Harry's mother, there watching?

She wasn't, she was at home - my three sisters had an emotional time. Mum was in the audience with my aunty. Mum said, "Give me that [trophy] ball. I'm taking it home and putting it on my mantle piece!"

What did you think when they asked you to do the show?
They approached me and I knew the first second that I was going to be dodgy-I knew I was going to feel awkward and it wasn't going to come naturally. But it was all worth it.

Along the way I really developed an appreciation of dancing and respect for the dancers and what they go through. Jade, the amount of patience she needed to have to grab me by the scruff of the neck and drag me through four months of training! A lot of the time when the judges said there wasn't enough of this or that in my routines - well that's probably because that's all my little brain could handle. We were rehearsing every day, four days a week at start, then five days a week then seven days a week the last three months. I've never felt this fit since ... well never. It's crazy! I'm heading over to Nashville at the end of February so at least I'm starting a new chapter of my life feeling fit and healthy.

Were you worried about copping flak from your mates?

Oh, totally. And did so for the first few weeks. Then they started going, actually mate, you're still crap but you're not too bad!

What about those wardrobe choices?

There were some questionable little costumes but you've got to embrace it. I got to the point where I said "Give yourself to it, it doesn't matter what you look like." I was the only one who didn't spray tan by the way! At the start of the season all the guys were in the dressing room and they said "Whose having a spray tan?" and they all said "Nah, not me, not me" and one by one they fell!

How about waxing?

No waxing or spray tanning. I stayed true to the end. I held out!

There are rumours you're dating your dance partner, Jade.

You know, I can see why people say that. And we have formed a special bond, we've become great mates. This is a really emotional journey to go on. But the reality is I'm basically moving to Nashville soon and it's difficult, you know. First we'll see if she even wants to hang with me after this. She's been busting to get rid of me for a while because I've been one frustrating person for her to train. But she stuck by me through thick and thin. She's just an incredible lady.

Will you miss dancing?
I think I am going to. I'm going to miss certain aspects of it. I went to a charity dinner five weeks ago and Jade was with me and the band started playing. And I would never, ever get up on the dance floor at these kind of things. But I was like, "Bang-come on, lets go," and I was still dodgy and didn't know what I was doing but I was pulling off tiny bits of the routines that I remembered and I felt like the king of the dance floor!