Dancing With The Stars' Shane Crawford reveals Sonia Kruger's 'offensive' off-air comment

This year’s season of Dancing With The Stars has been filled with plenty of surprising stunts, risqué comments and cheeky innuendos - and Sunday night’s semi-final was certainly no different. Not only did Shane Crawford lock lips with judge Craig Revel Horwood in a truly shocking TV moment, but he was also the butt of Chris Brown’s joke about AFL stars and ‘white powder’ thanks to his 18th century-style make-up.

“Just quickly Shane, I think that’s the only time an AFL footballer can be covered in white powder and not lose a couple weeks to an AFL tribunal,” Chris remarked, leaving both the audience and judges stunned. This comes after Sonia Kruger copped criticism for being “too crude for television”, with an insider telling Yahoo Lifestyle that editors had been forced to rework the pre-recorded series to be more family-friendly viewing.

Following his elimination in Sunday night’s episode, Shane toldYahoo Lifestyle that he was often taken aback by the host’s off-colour remarks throughout the season - especially Sonia, who has been a part of the show since 2004.

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“I was surprised at how much Sonia and Chris were pushing it, Sonia more so,” he says. “I loved it though, because it would just relax everyone at times. I enjoyed all my interactions with her because I just knew it could go off the track and totally derail whatever I was trying to focus on.

“So I really enjoyed working with Sonia, and especially the conversations we would have even when the cameras weren’t rolling. She used to say I’m weird. She’d be like, ‘Oh you’re weird!’ and I’d say, ‘Sonia, that’s offensive, you can’t say that!’. But everyone’s weird in their own way and I’d say, ‘Well, it's making you smile’.

“She was always having a bit of a dig at the judges too, which was quite nice. She was always having a go at Mark about his hair or something, and always stirring Craig up a bit. But deep down they all loved it.”

Shane's honest thoughts on 'inappropriate' jokes

While Shane found himself at the centre of many gags this season, he says he’s glad to have made viewers laugh and “take their mind off whatever their worries are for a minute or two”.

“I was set up for plenty of gags last night, but that's okay. If it all works, it's good that they could leave most of them in,” he shares.

“People get a bit precious these days and we worry too much. But at the end of the day, if you’re doing things with the right intention to just entertain and not offend too much, you should be able to leave a lot of stuff in.”

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He adds that he was surprised his joke about Ant Middleton being the “worst” in the cast made it into the final edit - including his comment that the SAS Australia host was only doing the show because it was in his “contract” - but hopes viewers know he had no ill intent.

“I wasn’t sure they would leave that in!” he remarks. “I had a great relationship with Ant. He’s a hardcore sort of [guy] with the shows that he does, but he had great energy and was always having a bit of a joke backstage.

“I absolutely loved getting to know him, so that was very much a bit of a fun joke. I meant nothing in a bad way, it was all just tongue in cheek and I’m hoping it all gets taken in that way.”

The Dancing With The Stars 2024 grand finale airs Monday, August 12 at 7:30pm on Channel 7 and 7Plus

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