ERIC'S GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY ‘I've changed for my son'

The Olympic hero has danced his heart out, proving he’s just as awesome off the water

- Fleur Guthrie

Two weeks ago, champion rower Eric Murray could never have imagined that on the weekend of his 40th birthday, he’d be spending it getting a fake tan, showing off his “heavage” in a low buttoned sheer lilac shirt, while dancing the rumba on the telly.

“It’s crazy, right? And dancing is completely unnatural for me!” Eric tells the Weekly after spending his birthday morning rehearsing on set for Dancing with the Stars before more media interviews that afternoon.

So is it all work or does he have anything planned to celebrate his special day?

“My girlfriend and I are actually going to watch a performance of Elektra Shock on stage in Auckland’s K’ Road, so I have a feeling this old bugger might get danced on by a few drag queens.”

Every Tuesday, Eric travels back home to Cambridge with his professional dance partner Loryn Reynolds to continue training and see his 10-year-old son Zac, who is on the autism spectrum.

“I’m Zac’s primary caregiver, so I have to make sure that comes first over everything else,” says the former Olympian. “Loryn and I train in school hours, then Grandma and Grandad come to look after him on the show weekends if he’s not with his mother Jackie.

“I put DWTS on the iPad the other day to show him my dancing and he was watching it, then looking at me, then he’d look back down and look back at me, like, ‘What are you doing Dad?’” laughs Eric.