Arthur Gourounlian on life as a dad, Dancing With The Stars, and the contestant he doesn't know

As Dancing With The Stars returns to ease our January blues, Mary Cate Smith meets judge Arthur Gourounlian to get the inside track on the new season

Sat, 31 Dec, 2022 - 02:00

Mary Cate Smith

If Jesus was born in the 70s as a maximalist fashion icon, he might look a little bit like Arthur Gourounlian. The pussy-bow blouse-wearing, French-speaking Armenian judge on Dancing With the Stars is a chameleon: he’s Beyoncé’s former backing dancer, Brian’s devoted husband, and his favourite role to date, Blake’s doting dad.

“Blake is literally the perfect baby, I just want to eat her. You’ve been fighting for such a long time to have a family and now we finally have this beauty.”

While most new parents complain about sleep deprivation, Arthur is enjoying every waking minute. Perhaps becoming a refugee at the age of 12 altered his perspective on life? It certainly shaped the trajectory of his career.

“If we didn’t leave Armenia, I don’t think I would have ever been a dancer. There are not many Armenian dancers, especially boys. It’s not in our culture.”

Arthur’s fans will be glad to hear that he is bringing his signature high octane positivity back to the show in January. So, what does he think of the line-up?

“I’m not going to lie. There are a few people that I was like ‘who are they?’ People are saying the rugby player [Shane Byrne] is a legend but I’m so bad at names.”

As a commercial dancer who has worked with Beyonce, Rihanna, Kylie and more, he doesn’t get phased by celebrities.

“It’s actually good because I am going in as a blind eye person. I just want to see you as a dancer, I don’t even care what celebrity you are.”

There is one contestant that everyone presumes Arthur knows.

“People think ‘oh my god, you must know Panti. You must be hanging out together. It’s coming from a sweet place but it’s so funny — they think because I’m gay that I have to know every single drag queen.”

Arthur’s husband Brian Dowling, the former Big Brother winner performed the first same-sex couple’s dance back in 2020.

Arthur’s fellow judges are effusive when they talk about his infectious personality, and he loves the dynamic between the trio.

“The first time I joined the show, I never called people by their names. Loraine was the queen, and Brian was Baddie B and the audience loved that.”

You need someone to tell it like it is in this show and that’s never going to be him, Arthur tells me — it’s not in his nature to be blunt.

“Brian is the wittiest human ever. He is adorable. But the thing is, you have to have a bad person. Loraine is straight to the point but me? I feel fake or I feel sick because [giving low scores] that’s not me.”

Going in without any preconceived notions puts Arthur in a position to be impartial and he really does feel like anything could happen.

“Some people can really surprise you, look at the winner this year. I will never forget Nina’s first dance, she was so stiff. I said ‘listen, go home, have a bath and try to swim like a mermaid, loosen up a little bit.”

There are two contestants that Arthur knows can move — Suzanne Jackson and Brooke Scullion — but it’s not just natural rhythm and talent that takes home the prize at the end of the season.

“I always say to rise to the show. People are falling in love with a character. Sometimes the winner is not the best dancer.”

He credits his success as a commercial dancer to his attitude as much as his talent; he took his work very seriously. It’s something he always advises the Dancing With the Stars contestants to do — and to have fun while they’re at it.

“I don’t only watch the steps; I watch the whole creative process. I am very anal with everything. There’s always a little mistake here and there but I want to encourage them to do better next time.’”

Arthur loves his role as a judge so much that his career as a professional dancer almost doesn’t seem real.

“I’ve done so many things in 10 years. I was assisting the choreographer for One Direction when they performed their first-ever single on Red or Black. I was there backstage, holding Harry, pushing them to go on stage.”

When Arthur was hired to work on a Puma campaign with Rihanna as creative director, it was a pinch-me moment.

“I mean, I kept thinking ‘oh my god, is this for real?”

He performed with Emma Bunton on the very first season of Strictly Come Dancing back in 2004.

“Everyone was saying that it wasn’t going to take off, that nobody would watch ballroom dancing. Two years later, I’m talking to Bruno Tonioli saying ‘I would love to have your career. And then four years later, here I am.”

He secretly harboured a desire to be a judge but thought his grasp of the English language would hold him back.

“Hand on my heart, I never thought I’d be on national TV speaking English. I don’t usually get nervous, but I did have a little wee before the show. I was like; ‘you know what, I might f*ck it up or I’m just going to be myself. And I just went for it.”