Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington was left red faced during Friday’s episode of Sunrise when a throwback clip featuring the former Olympian’s underwhelming appearance on the very first season of Dancing with the Stars resurfaced.
In 2004, Matt stunned viewers when he appeared on the reality show and attempted to perform a samba, while dressed in tight fitting dance slacks and an eye-popping white shirt with over-sized ruffles.
‘Can I just ask, so I’ve burnt this tape that many times – how do you keep finding it?’ a mortified Shirvo said as he watched the playback.
Shirvo’s memorable performance was part of a segment that teased Sunday’s premiere of Dancing with the Stars and featured new contestants Lisa McCune, James Stewart and Hayden Quinn.
‘He looks like a little cockatoo shaking around on stage,’ Hayden joked after watching the clip, a comment that had Sunrise co-host Natalie Barr collapse into laughter.
Matt never made it past the fifth round of his appearance on DWTS after scoring low in his ‘shimmying’ samba performance.
In the end Bec Hewitt took out the top prize in debut season of DWTS.
It comes after Matt recently revealed the gruelling schedule which helped him shoot to the top of Network Seven in just a year.
Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington was left red faced during Friday’s episode of Sunrise when a throwback clip featuring the former Olympian’s underwhelming appearance on the very first season of Dancing with the Stars resurfaced. Pictured: Matt on DWTS in 2004
He said he has taken tips from co-host Natalie Barr to implement a very strict morning routine.
‘I’m trying to do a crash course sitting next to Nat because the lessons that she’s learnt along the way, I can learn from a lot,’ he told 7News.com.au.
Shirvo begins his day at 2:20am to workout on his exercise bike at home for 30 minutes while the rest of the country is still asleep.
He then makes sure he’s getting in all his vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals by packing them into a delicious fruit smoothie.
Shirvo’s memorable performance was part of a segment that teased Sunday’s premiere of Dancing with the Stars and featured new contestants Lisa McCune, James Stewart and Hayden Quinn. Pictured: Matt joked that he had ‘burnt’ all the surviving tapes of his performance
The refreshment contains spinach, Greek yoghurt, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and beetroot with a dash of cinnamon and coconut water.
Shirvo said it’s the only way he can keep up with the aspects of his job which are, to his surprise, very physically demanding.
‘I think I’m a fairly strong and fit person, but even sitting there in that position and understanding that you’ve got to move and react in a certain way, it’s quite draining physically and even mentally, so I think that was a big shock,’ he said.
The presenter went on to say he doesn’t even get a break when the ads flick on for viewers at home because he and Nat, 56, have behind-the-scenes work.
‘He looks like a little cockatoo shaking around on stage,’ DWTS contestant Hayden Quinn joked after watching the clip, a comment that had Sunrise co-host Natalie Barr collapse into laughter (pictured)
While fans of the show are watching the latest advertisements, Shirvo said he and Nat are busy ‘recording promos, intros and openers, and we’re also talking to the people we’re interviewing’.
By the time he gets back home, Shirvo said he’s so exhausted he has to ‘have a nap’ for half an hour after a big lunch just to ‘get him through the rest of the day’.
Shirvo then knocks out for the night when he goes to bed early at 7:30pm.
He shares daughters Sienna, 17, Winter, 15, and son Lincoln, six, with high school sweetheart and now wife Jessica Shirvington.
He was announced as the replacement for veteran Sunrise anchor Kochie, 68, in June 2023 after he first signed on to work with Seven in 2020.
