It’s been an emotional few months for Olympia Valance. The 26-year-old made her reality TV debut on Dancing with the Stars – shocking the nation in an early exit – one she says “I’m still not over it! I’m still coming down from it.”
The star has toned up; one look at her Instagram feed and it’s obvious she’s stronger than ever – with regular visits to the gym for weights training, however she tells WHO she credits her weight-loss to her time on the show, “I did Dancing with the Stars, I was training seven hours a day.”
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Barely having enough time to take a breath, the L’Oréal ambassador tells us she’s been busy working in her hometown of Melbourne, on the set of Playing for Keeps – a Network Ten drama based on the wives and girlfriends of AFL superstars. Call it life imitating art, but the star, who plays Thalia, says she’s found happiness in the arms of her very own footy player, Essendon forward Thomas Bellchambers.
The drama she says though, does not follow her off screen. “He’s the most beautiful man ever,” she tells WHO. With a beaming smile, she speaks of her significant other – Valance tells us the 30-year-old sports star is her biggest fan; “he’s thrilled about us”.
Asked if the romance between the two is going well, an excited Valance can’t contain how smitten she is.
“I am loved up. I find it hilarious, but I honestly never thought I would date a footballer – and then I met him, and it was like, ‘Oh my God, you are the biggest legend in the world.’”
So just how serious are the two?
“We live together, we haven’t spent a night apart since. I’m absolutely happy,” she says.
Valance goes on to explain Bellchambers isn’t just impressing her – he has met her very best friends – and has received the approval, so much so she’s planning double dates.
“We’ve never been loved up at the same time! It’s just nice, we’re both at that time in our lives we’re just chilled.”
Despite the glimmer in her eyes, Valance laments that their relationship began during a very difficult stage – the same time she lost her grandfather. She describes Bellchambers’ support as “really amazing, he has come to me at a good time in my life”.
Still, with her typical positive attitude, Valance finds a silver lining to losing a pillar of strength in her family, 88-year-old Dimitri Gogos, her grandfather and founder of the biggest Greek newspaper in Australia, Neos Kosmos.
“He’s had dementia for a long time; he was ready to go. And it was just so nice to see how respected he was and all the beautiful things he did for Australia … he was just the most sensational human being. It was nice to see him heavily celebrated in Australia,” she says.
Getting back to work no doubt helped Valance cope – alongside her cast mates Madeleine West, Annie Maynard, Cece Peters, and Isabella Giovinazzo, who she describes as “the best bunch of women”.
The show which has is being filmed for its second season, she says is going to surprise die-hard fans.
“We just did our first week of filming and it’s outrageous. What we’re doing is absolutely outrageous, there’s going to be huge shock value in the first episode,” she tells WHO.
Before issuing a spoiler alert, “No-one gets killed off … but fans will not be expecting what happens.”
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