Strictly Ballroom star unrecognisable 25 years after film

He rocketed to fame as the star of Baz Luhrmann's hugely popular 1992 film Strictly Ballroom, but few would now recognise this star if you ran into him on the street.

After years on reality TV competition Dancing with the Stars, Paul Mecurio made his return to the small screen this week as a guest on Rove McManus’ new show, Show Me the Movies, where he looked very different to the 90’s heartthrob we all remember.

In fact, he was so unrecognisable that when a clip from Rove’s show was shown on Gogglebox, that the stars could hardly believe it was him.

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“Geez! I haven’t seen him forever!” one star said, while another quipped, “He’s ‘Strictly Baldroom’ now”.

What’s even more surprising is that these days, 54-year-old Mercurio spends less of his time in front of a camera – or in his dancing shoes - and more of it developing his love of cooking.

He’s spent the past seven months launching his own brand of meat condiments named Beerlicious Condiments and Rubs.

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