Podcast | Sonia Kruger (Dancing with the Stars) – Get ready to shine, shimmer, and salsa — because the ballroom is back, and Sonia Kruger is leading the charge!
In this dazzling episode of TV Central: One on One, host Aaron Ryan catches up with Australian television royalty, Sonia Kruger, as Dancing With The Stars returns for its 2025 season on Channel 7. From Logie nominations to that unforgettable return to the dance floor as Tina Sparkle, Sonia opens up about everything — with sparkle, sass, and signature charm.
Whether you’re a fan of fierce paso dobles, cheeky one-liners, or just love a bit of behind-the-scenes TV magic, this episode is packed with ballroom brilliance.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll hear Sonia talk about:
- Her Gold Logie and Bert Newton Award nominations — and what it means to have the audience’s love
- Kicking off a brand-new season of Dancing With The Stars and being back in the ballroom spotlight
- Her emotional and nostalgic return as Tina Sparkle, dancing once again with Ian Waite
- Standout performances from the first two episodes, including:
- Michael Usher’s foxtrot surprise
- Kyle Shilling’s mixed reviews
- Shaun Micallef’s unexpected leaderboard top spot
- Her early thoughts on front-runners and how the competition is shaping up
- The evolving chemistry with co-host Dr Chris Brown and what makes their dynamic work
- The tricky balance between technique vs entertainment in judge scoring
- Behind-the-scenes chaos, nerves, and the magic that viewers never see
- The joy (and occasional danger!) of live TV banter — and whether any jokes have ever gone too far
- How Sonia balances a massive hosting schedule with real life and family time
Whether you’re team Mirrorball or team Voice chair spin, this episode is a must-listen for fans of Aussie TV and fabulous live entertainment.
Catch Dancing With The Stars Sundays at 7pm on Channel 7 and 7plus, and don’t forget to cast your vote for Sonia at vote.tvweeklogies.com.au.
Note: Apologies for the quality of the sound in the podcast. This was a phone interview.
Link to Sonia Kruger’s Instagram HERE
Sonia Kruger
Craig McPherson & Sonia Kruger
Picture: John Koh.
Dancing with the Stars
The below media kit has all the details ahead of the season premiere, including Q&As with the celebrities revealing who feels most at home on the dance floor and which star is the ultimate dancing threat.
The Dancing With The Stars 2025 line-up:
Profile of Sonia Kruger
Sonia Kruger
Sonia Kruger’s 2023 Gold Logie award cements her reputation as one of the industry’s most loved and versatile performers.
As one of the hardest working people in the business, hosting three prime-time Network 7 programs – The Voice, Big Brother, Dancing with The Stars – the Gold Logie for most popular personality on Australian television was a well-earned accolade. She was also nominated again in 2024 for both the Gold and Silver Logies.
A lover of dance and all things wellness, Sonia is also the creator of dance-based exercise subscription program, Strictly You.
After discovering dance at the age of 4, Sonia became one of the country’s foremost dancers and landed the coveted role of Tina Sparkle in the hugely successful Australian movie, Strictly Ballroom. While on set, Sonia helped teach cast members how to dance. Her skills as a dance instructor have also been utilised by NIDA where Sonia taught for more than four years.
Sonia continued to remain in the public eye after Strictly Ballroom; on television as well as in theatre. She was a huge hit as a reporter on Channel Nine’s revamped kids show, Wonder World and made several appearances in ABC-TV’s Three Men and A Baby Grand.
In 1997 after completing an Arts degree at Sydney’s University of Technology she joined Seven’s long running morning and news show 11AM as its entertainment reporter. She remained with the program for two years before moving to Today Tonight.
Between 2004 and 2011 Sonia co-hosted 11 seasons of the Seven Network’s prime time hit show, Dancing With The Stars. Whilst with the Seven Network Sonia was a regular guest reporter for the current affairs program Sunday Night. In 2012, Sonia moved to the Nine Network to host Big Brother for 3 years. During her time at Nine Network, Sonia hosted the hugely successful prime time reality talent show, The Voice Australia. She could also be seen every weekday morning on Today Extra.
In 2019 Sonia launched her own fitness and nutritional program, Strictly You, the result of her lifelong love and passion for dance and wellness. Sonia created Strictly You with the philosophy to create fun dance-based fitness that isn’t out to intimidate women with unrealistic workouts and unachievable food programs. Sonia says Strictly You, “is about being fabulous and that means different things to different people and that’s definitely the mantra. One size doesn’t fit all.”
In 2020 Sonia announced her return to the Seven Network. CEO James Warburton described Sonia as “one of the best television talents in Australia”. He added, “I speak on behalf of the entire Seven team when I say that Sonia was the one that got away.”
Now firmly entrenched back at Seven, Sonia is looking forward to new future projects.
Sonia lives in Sydney with her partner Craig, and daughter Maggie.
From Talent Profile
