Michael Usher is used to being centre stage. The award-winning journalist, 7NEWS Sydney presenter and Spotlight host has been a regular fixture on our TV screens over the past three decades.
Now, the 55-year-old is taking on a new challenge and hitting the dance floor on the 2025 season of Dancing With The Stars.
The popular reality TV series returned to Channel 7 and 7plus on 15 June, and Michael was one of the first celebrities to take to the dance floor during the premiere episode on Sunday night.
The veteran journalist, and his dance partner Natalie Lowe, tore up the dance floor with a fox trot that impressed the judges so much they placed him at the top of the leader board, with a total score of 27.
Fans were equally impressed with one person commenting on X: “BREAKING NEWS Michael Usher can dance?”
“Musher!! I’m shook! That was genuinely smooth as silk,” added another.
Here’s everything we know about Dancing With The Stars’ Michael Usher!
WHO IS MICHAEL USHER’S WIFE?
Michael and his wife Annalie Usher separated in 2013. In 2020, he told Stellar magazine he was a “complete wreck” at the time of the split.
“When you go through a sad time in your life, when you’ve got everything going at speed and you hit a wall and stop dead, you slide down that wall and fall in a heap – and I did that,” he said.
While neither party has commented publicly on the split, a source told Woman’s Day in 2016 that “the pressure of being on the road” may have impacted the marriage.
“You could say it’s the 60 Minutes curse,” the source said at the time. “The pressure of being on the road and working away from home affects marriages.”
“It’s hard to keep starting over every time you get back from an extended overseas assignment,” they added.
HOW MANY KIDS DOES MICHAEL USHER HAVE?
Michael Usher has three kids with his ex-wife Annalie — sons Tom, 23, and Max, 19, and daughter Alex, 17.
While speaking to Stellar magazine in 2020, Usher said he felt a lot of “dad guilt” while juggling his career and family life.
“It may look like I’ve got things in hand, but I’m like a duck paddling underneath,” he told the publication at the time. “I’m treading water every time and it’s a mess, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a juggle and it comes with a lot of dad guilt, but it works.”
INSIDE MICHAEL USHER’S FAMILY LIFE
Writing for The Nightly in September last year, Usher said he gave himself a score of 6 out of 10 as a dad for the year.
“The juggle and struggle have been real in 2024, and frankly it hasn’t been great in the dad stakes. So, with almost four months to go, I’m aiming to get that score to a solid eight out of 10,” he wrote at the time.
“Why not aim for 10 out of 10? Ridiculous. And any parent who reckons they’re a 10 is hiding dark secrets. Besides, what child wants a perfect parent? Who are they going to hate or rebel against? It’s your job, at certain points of their adolescent life, to be the completely horrible opposite of them. It makes them feel better. And saves them from being muppets to their teachers or anyone else trying to steer them through their transition those awkward years.”
Writing for The Nightly in February, Usher said he’s hoping his turn on Dancing with the Stars makes his kids proud.
“I asked the kids what they thought and it was a big ‘yes’ and that’s all the counsel I needed,” he wrote.
“I justified my decision to join the show in these ways: stretching my limits, getting out of my comfort zone and learning something new. Not things you get presented that often the more you age and settle into the routines of work and family life,” he continued. “And the delightful bonus of making your kids proud — or at the very least, not embarrassing them beyond what I already do most days.”
HOW MUCH IS MICHAEL USHER BEING PAID FOR DANCING WITH THE STARS?
Earlier this month, Woman’s Day reported that Usher was being paid $47,000 to appear on the popular reality TV show.
Meanwhile, his fellow contestants Rebecca Gibney, Osher Gunsberg and Shaun Micallef are each being paid $100,000 for the shot to take home the mirror ball trophy.
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