DWTS: Spotlight on Sharna!
Photo: Vince Truspin
She’s tangoed, waltzed and cha cha cha’ed her way into Nick’s heart, helping him soar to new dancing heights, overcome insecurities and score perfect tens on one of the biggest nights of his life.
If that’s not enough to make you welcome Sharna Burgess into the Backstreet Army with open arms, consider this…
Last year we spoke to Lauren about her hopes for Nick’s future and her greatest wish was to see her husband fulfil his professional dreams outside of BSB.
“I really want to see and support Nick do other things besides music because he’s really passionate about acting and I know that would bring him joy to stop for a moment and do something outside of the box,” she said.
A year later, Sharna – who’s known Nick for only a fraction of the time that Lauren has – is echoing her exact sentiments.
“I can’t wait for his career to get even bigger – I know the Backstreet Boys are always going to tour and be together, but Nick really does have awesome stuff on his own and I’m excited for fans to see that. I want that for him.”
We think this is proof enough that although they’ve only known each other a short time, Nick and Sharna have forged a genuine and lifelong friendship.
Just like Lauren and the rest of BSB, she knows our boy well, hopes to see him grow and wants the very best for him!
So who exactly is this 30-year-old redhead from Down Under and how did she foxtrot her way into Backstreetdom?
It’s time we get to know Sharna Burgess a little better (and grill her on Nick, of course)…
Can you tell us a little about your childhood and dancing background?
I grew up in a little town called Wagga Wagga and I was in all forms of dance from the age of four/five. I was also into every sport you can imagine, but once we moved to Sydney when I was 13 I had to choose what I wanted to do because my parents didn’t have the money to put me in everything. I chose ballroom dancing and at 15 I represented Australia at the World Championships, at 18 I moved to London to chase my dreams of being a world champion dancer, then at 20 I got offered a place with an Australian production that’s been travelling the world called Burn the Floor.
We went to Broadway in 2009 and I was a lead. That’s where DWTS saw me. So after six years of world tours with Burn the Floor, I ended up moving to LA and being part of DWTS.
We know you were a BSB fan growing up, but what other music were you into?
I was a huge Backstreet Boys fan! I listened to a lot of pop music. Ace of Base! I’m an ‘85 baby, so in the nineties I was into all those pop tracks on the radio. I always loved Mariah Carey and would sing her songs for my family when they would come over.
You listened to lots of boy bands – were you active in the whole BSB vs *NSYNC debate?
I don’t think I chose between the two. I was younger when I was into the Backstreet Boys, then in my mid-teens I really liked *NSYNC, but I had equal love for all of them.
It must have been cool to have a bunch of boy banders in the audience a few weeks back then…
That was epic. I was totally not ready for that. I knew Nick would have people in the audience, but I had no idea they would be standing at the front of the stage while we were performing.
You guys seem to have a great relationship, which comes across on the show. What do you have in common?
There are a lot of things Nick and I have in common to do with family and growing up. We really have connected and found a lot of parallels there, so it’s been great getting to know someone who you feel is very similar to you. We enjoy talking about music and I always love hearing about his adventures with the Backstreet Boys and his beautiful wife Lauren and how they met. He’s been through a lot, but he’s really coming out the other end and I think his new life is really about to start.
Unlike Lauren, you have been completely embraced by the Backstreet Army. How does that feel?
It’s crazy. I didn’t know how it would go. I know the Backstreet Boys have such incredible, dedicated fans, but I have been welcomed with open arms into the Backstreet Army. I’m a Backstreet Girl for life now. I feel the support from them every week and couldn’t be more grateful. I know they’re incredibly-protective of their boys and want the best for them, so I just hope I continue to make them proud every week and do one of their boys justice.
You’ve also seen the other side of it, in terms of people leaving nasty comments about Lauren on your Instagram. How weird is it having to deal with that aspect of Nick’s life?
Unfortunately with fame always comes criticism and I find it really sad that people feel the need to say nasty things on Instagram posts, especially when it’s about Lauren – who is the person Nick has chosen to be with for the rest of his life. She is a wonderful woman and it’s horrible to see that on my feed. I adore her and I adore them together, so I just think it’s small-minded and unfair.
There’s a lot more I could say a little more passionately, but I won’t. They are incredibly-strong in their love and bond with each other to even be able to deal with that because it’s hurtful and the people saying those things are literally messing with people’s lives.
What do you admire most about Lauren?
The most awesome thing I’ve seen with Lauren is just the way Nick lights up when he sees her. Or when she’s in the audience and he sees where she’s sitting and runs to her when he’s finished dancing – you can see how much love and support is there. She is awesome and has welcomed me with open arms. We’re all trying to plan a dinner, so spend more time together.
And how does Nick get along with your boyfriend?
Paul and Nick get along great. They can hang for hours! Paul is a dancer and choreographer as well and helped me choreograph our routine for ‘Backstreet’s Back.’
Nick was so in love with what we created together for him – he gave Paul a really big hug and was like, “Thank you man for the moves, I love it!”
We’re building a really cool friendship between the four of us, which I think will last beyond the show.
Nick has talked about how he still has a lot of insecurities. How have you been helping him overcome that on the dance floor?
Nick definitely has a lot of insecurities, developed over a lifetime. We all collect things as we go through life and you don’t even realize it, but something like DWTS can really lay those things on the table. I think Nick is learning a lot about himself. He’s learning what his insecurities are, but also how strong and talented he is, how much more he has to give and how much more of life is left.
There’s something really special about dance and how you can find yourself within it – because you have to let everything go. If you want to commit and give it everything you’ve got, you have to use that emotion and Nick is really finding that.
His dancing is going to a whole other level. It’s becoming less about an exertion of energy and more about a telling of emotions and a story.
What’s been his biggest battle on the dance floor?
Nick’s biggest issue has been his posture. I don’t think he has been taught throughout his career how to use his beautiful height and long limbs. For someone who’s 6’2” he dances quite small and it comes across very insecure. He’s learning how to use his width and height and be big, strong and confident.
Have you witnessed any of what we like to call “Nick dancing”?
I have most certainly seen his weird dance moves. He breaks out into dance at times and I just think, “My goodness, how can that man actually dance?”
He does some really funny things, but he has some great free-styling moments too, where he’ll bust out a couple of things and I’ll be like, “Okay, we need to use that!”
I love that he can make fun of himself in the rehearsal studio – that’s how you find great new ways of doing things.
You’re doing the DWTS tour, but you also have a dance convention coming up?
There’s a convention that Paul and I created together called Dance Fuzion, which we’re hoping to launch in June 2016. Everyone thinks it’s going to be awesome and really open up the convention dance world to people of any age, style or level. They’ll get to learn from people who have choreographed for Madonna or been on DWTS or So You Think You Can Dance? It brings the best-of-the-best and the celebrity talent of the dance world to one place and anybody can come and be a part of it.
Maybe you can teach your ‘Backstreet’s Back’ jazz routine there?
You never know!
Thanks to Sharna for chatting to backstreetboys.com and taking care of our favorite daddy-to-be on the show. Catch her and Nick in a duet dance with Tamar and Val, Monday night on ABC. And keep voting!