Burgundy's Debbie 'I STILL ROCK MY

After a lifetime of razzle-dazzle, the gorgeous performer is far from hanging up her dancing shoes

- Fleur Guthrie

If you lived in New Zealand in the 1980s and ’90s, you’ll likely remember entertainer Debbie Dorday. She was the high-energy, redheaded dancer who owned a popular cabaret club and famously delivered the tagline in its iconic TV ads… “See you at Burgundy’s!”

These days, she’s just as witty and glamorous – you’ll still find her putting on fishnet stockings, fake eyelashes and lashings of body glitter – as she takes her act to retirement villages throughout New Zealand.

Arthritis might have put paid to high dance kicks, but accompanied by guitarist and singer Jim Joll and her husband of 38 years, Mike Stickland (who runs the tech side), the trio put on a show, which includes numerous costume changes, cabaret tunes and comedy routines.

In a chat filled with irreverent memories and laughter, Debbie dishes up stories to the Weekly about how she tricked her dad so she could attend stage school and why a mystery smell was almost the undoing of her at Burgundy’s.

You had a transient upbringing as the daughter of an English vicar. What was that like?

I was born in Hertfordshire but we immigrated to New Zealand when I was 18 months old when Dad became vicar of St Heliers parish in Auckland. Then it was onto a vicarage in Ngāruawāhia for three years. I was a bit of a show off and loved to dance, so I used to do shows to raise funds for a new organ for the church or whatever was needed. We moved back to the UK before I was 10.

And your father wasn’t aware you were attending a London stage school instead of a ballet school?