Dancing star Alex Vaz 'FAME PUT ME IN THERAPY!'

The Heartbreak hunk reveals his rocky ride on reality TV and why he's doing it all again

- Leena Tailor

After moving to Aotearoa from volatile South Africa, Alex Vaz struggled to fit in and was frequently bullied. But when he'd come home in tears from high school, his single mother Norma would sweetly assure him he was loved and that the difficult times would pass.

"I couldn't find free counselling services for teenagers, so Mum became my counsellor," the former Heartbreak Island and The Bachelorette NZ contestant tells Woman's Day.

However, when it came to facing darker struggles after his time on reality TV, it was professional support that saved Alex - which is why the 28-year-old is taking part in Dancing With The Stars NZ to raise money for Gumboot Friday, a charity that provides free youth therapy sessions.

It was in counselling that Alex was able to address suppressed trauma from his childhood and, without it, he believes his depression would have seen him "spiral into this sad, lonely person who hated the world" Raised in Johannesburg, Alex was a happy kid who enjoyed school, but home invasions were a part of everyday life. He recalls, "The worst memory was having three armed men break into my bedroom. I'd run around looking for my mother and she'd try to calm them down, letting them take whatever. People knew she was a solo mum, so we were targeted."

Moving to New Zealand at 14, Alex found life "wildly different", he says. "I became a victim of bullying because everything was different here the lingo, food, culture, fashion... I'd turn up to mufti day and what was cool in Sout Africa wasn't cool here.