I think the attitude of professional, commercial, working dancers was it wasn't going to live up to the same standard of the American one, it was gonna be a bit of a write-off. They didn't wanna be affiliated with it - they thought it would detriment them in some way. How very wrong they were! It was the best move I ever made!

I didn't really nail the audition, I didn't quite hit it as much as I wanted to. I was a little disappointed in myself. I was hoping that I'd get a ticket straight away, but I was asked to come back for choreography and I actually had to work. I had to teach a make-up seminar, so it wasn't just like I was going to work, it was like I had this big responsibility, this big commitment. The producers sat me down for about 40 minutes  trying to convince me to stay. I was like, ‘I'd love to, but I've got responsibilities. I don't wanna let anyone down'. I ended up calling my boss and she managed to find someone else to do my seminar for me, much to my delight. Imagine if I'd gone to that seminar! Then I'd just be watching the show like everyone else going, ‘Woo, I love this show! I wish I was there [laughs]'.

I did think I could make Top Four. Always in the back in my mind I've felt confident enough in myself to perform and give myself and try as hard as I can. I wasn't always confident in my abilities, as far as translating a routine, or remembering or choreography and steps – I struggled with that a bit. But all the way through I've had the end in my sight, and I've always wanted to make it to the last possible moment.

I wasn't a crowd favourite at the beginning. I think it took a couple of weeks to get a good fan base, but I'm still surprised at why. I know other dancers that have left this competition that are great, if not better, dancers than myself - in a technical aspect or more comfortable with a certain style. I'm glad, actually, that people have gotten to know me, and that my personality has shone, and that had been a major standout for me.

In my life, how I am, there's hundreds of me, where I'm from. This is my lifestyle, this is my crew, my people. So I don't feel like I'm really out there or that unique or different, but to the rest of Australia, they're not exposed to that. It's shocking them but it excites them at the same time. I don't know if they feel a bit more cosmopolitian about it. They've seen a different side of life and they like it. Instead of not knowing or being uneducated about a certain lifestyle, therefore being negative towards it, they've actually learnt something and embraced it. I sound like a Big Brother contestant when I say this, but I'm just being myself. I'm real like J.Lo  [laughs].

I love watching back the Paso Doble and I love watching our Dancehall. It was just so much fun. And it served quite a bit of controversy, apparently! It's the most talked about and most viewed video from SYTYCD on Dance website. A lot of people were bit offended by it because of its sexual nature, and a lot of people were like 'That's not Hip Hop' or ‘That's not real Dancehall'. I love of stirring up a little bit of angst among the ranks! I love it!

I definitely want to travel. America, love to go to Europe. I want to immerse myself in performance and art and dance, and just go around the world and experience all there is to offer. I want to take it in and let that shape me and inspire me and eventually I'll become some kind of creative force; I'll start working and doing my own thing. I see myself as a bit of a sponge over the next few years. A developmental process leading to something of which I'm unsure. I've achieved so much more than what I expected in this show. I feel like I can pretty much do anything now.

I don't know if it's intuition or an inflated sense of self but I've always expected this kind of thing. I've just always believed somehow I was gonna be famous in a way, or just recognisable, or someone that makes a difference in some way that people remember. So, I love it, I've completely embraced it. I'm not sure what its gonna be like on the other side of the competition, how much it'll last after all of the hype. But for now I'm gonna roll with it! I'm gonna lap it up and milk it for all its worth.

Interview by Georgia Clark