“I feel like I’m Effie without the ‘boof'”

She’s been asked many times but Mary Coustas, aka Effie, has finally relented to taking to the ballroom floor for Dancing with the Stars.

She will compete for her chosen charity Youth Off the Streets in the Seven series hosted by Sonia Kruger and Daryl Somers.

For Coustas it is even something of a showbiz reunion, given a celebrated Red Faces performance of Amigos para Siempre.

“Daryl & I have a long history because I gave my first ever, I suppose, comical dance routine as Effie with Norman Gunston,” she recalls.

“It was a classic at the time and often I get fans telling me that it’s the best thing I’ve done.

“Two little virgin characters that were in the hearts and homes of the Australian public got to do this really silly song that we couldn’t parody because it was Andrew Lloyd Webber. He was too rich to risk parodying and getting sued so we had to do an act as a legitimate song and just try to put the comedy in the visuals and in the choreography. We did that on Hey Hey it’s Saturday. That was so much fun.”

But don’t expect to see any dance reprisals of Amigos para Siempre.

“Look, no one’s asking so it didn’t happen!”

Given she was too terrified to agree previously, what was it that changed her mind this time round?

“I’ve been doing more ‘Mary work’ in the last year or two, and it sort of made sense for me to keep taking those ‘Mary’ risks. I figured I should give it a go.”

Coustas admits to preferring work in character but has more recently been stepping out from behind the mask.

“I’m like a showbiz mother. I just push my little character children forward… and I never thought to do ‘Me.’ I premiered my one woman Mary show at the Opera House last year, which I’m performing this week in Sydney, and that sort of opened the doorway. It’s time I started exploring more of that now. Not that I would ever give up my character work because I love it so much. It’s so liberating, fun and theatrical,” she continues.

“But weirdly, those fun, theatrical components are on Dancing with the Stars. I’m wearing sequins and short dresses. I feel like I’m Effie without the ‘boof’. It’s quite a theatrical world.”

Seven has has snared an impressive cast this season including Charlie Albone, Christie Whelan Browne, Emily Weir, Issa Schultz, James Magnussen, Matt Preston, Paulini, Pia Miranda, Virginia Gay and more. Judging this season are a refreshed panel of Craig Revel Horwood, Sharna Burgess, Todd McKenney and Mark Wilson.

The pre-recorded season means there are just a matter of days between shooting, a punishing schedule to learn multiple routines.

“At any one point, you’re holding five alien dancers in your mind. Steps that you’ve never even heard of, let alone done,” Coustas suggests.

“This has pushed me -as everyone who’s done this show will tell you- way beyond a comfort zone. I literally thought my feet had their own heartbeat for the last eight weeks. They’ve been throbbing, blistered and bruised and all those things. I have never put myself under more physical pressure than this show did. There’s something very liberating and joyful about it once you turn the corner with it, but it’s punishing until that moment.

“I was full of regret, thinking ‘I can’t do this! What was I thinking?’ For the first couple of weeks, I was completely terrorised by the challenge. I saw it in the faces of all my co stars as well. We’re super close, the 14 of us, we adore each other… can’t get enough of them. But you see that terror in every single face, and the tiredness, the hours -and then suddenly, it starts to feel like fun.”

She has also been approached for other reality TV shows.

“Yes I’ve been asked. I feel like life has traumatised me enough. I really don’t need to go into a jungle and have a camera capture me being terrorised and traumatised by nature and different pressures that they put people under it. I’ve passed on all that stuff before,” she insists.

“But, the reason why I love Dancing with the Stars so much is it’s a joyful skill that I would never have sought, joyful skill. It’s a feelgood show. Yes you’re competing, but not really. Ultimately you’re competing against yourself.”

She is naturally full of praise for dance partner Aric Yegudkin.

“I don’t know how they managed it, but they put the right people with the right partner. The bonds are lifelong. Of course, you’re gonna love anyone that has that amount of patience. How he didn’t try and kill me at points!

“Aric has won a couple of times. He’s got his own studio, he’s married to a dancer, his relatives are dancers, it’s a big Russian thing. You know, ballroom dancing, Latin dancing, the Russians can’t get enough of it. He’s super talented and a lot of fun to spend time with.

“It is such a great show for a family to watch…..Tim Chappell has done all the costuming and he’s an Academy Award winning genius and the hair and makeup people equally so. Everyone is top-shelf on this show. You feel really supported.”

But the big question will Effie also make an appearance?

“I can’t say for legal reasons. I have been advised to not say anything. I will say one word: Stay tuned!”

Dancing with the Stars returns 7pm Sunday on Seven.