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Top marks to any celebrity willing to kiss a snail on camera. It's certainly a memorable moment when dancing legend Paul Mercurio holds aloft a little critter and gives it a quick smooch, twice.
"Oh no ... the love dart is coming out," chortles Mercurio.
Then the smooth-talking
TV host adds the poor blighter to a pie dish - a uniquely-Aussie combo of yabbies and snails. This is a slice of the action from Mercurio's Menu - a new cooking series celebrating Australia's top spots and its diverse cuisine which starts on 3 August on Sky's Food TV.
As the affable tour guide and resident cook, Mercurio seeks out some corker personalities in his whistle-stop journey across Australia.
"I've met some mad people on the food trail," says Mercurio over the phone from Melbourne. "But they're all passionate about their work and I respect that. I'm just grateful they're sharing their knowledge."
Take snail farmers Robert and Helen Dyball from the Hunter Valley. They used to sell whiteware before turning their talents to breeding snails for culinary connoisseurs. Who would have guessed a snail's courtship can last up to 12 hours?
And then there are orange growers Betty and Harold Harris; 80-something and still working the land.
"The best way to eat fruit - straight off the tree and straight into gob," says Mercurio encouragingly.
There's nothing fancy pants, or over-rehearsed about Mercurio's foodie encounters.
It's a treat to see the sprightly couple, who met at the local dance hall more than 50 years ago, take a twirl around the orchard.
Just don't expect the star of Strictly Ballroom to dance much on this show.
"Occasionally I do [dance] to give a lady a thrill. But I'm a daggy dancer. I'm always stepping on people's toes."
But anyone who remembers Mercurio stomping his feet during the paso doble scene back in 1993 will disagree.
His character Scott Hastings' toned bod and lightning moves had many female viewers swooning.
Mercurio took up ballet at nine and was principal dancer with the Sydney Dance Company for 10 years. In 1992, he founded the Australian Choreographic Ensemble, dancing seriously for another six years. After Strictly Ballroom, he stared in Exit to Eden, playing a butt-flashing toy-boy to Desperate Housewives' Dana Delany.
Among his many credits for stage and screen, are a starring role in the theatre version of The Full Monty and movement consultant on Will Smith's I, Robot. Since 2004, he's been a judge on the New Zealand and Australia versions of Dancing with the Stars, mostly side-stepping any controversy.
"I don't get involved in any argy-bargy on the shows. I'm there to help contestants reveal the dancer within."
He's also committed to raising funds for Olivia Newton John's new cancer hospital and research facility in Melbourne.
Earlier this year, he joined a group of cancer survivors for a walk around the Great Wall of China.
"I was lucky enough to join the walk for two amazing days. We walked some remote parts of the wall and I got to hear some very moving stories from people who have defeated cancer."
Even if Mercurio does have a collection of poems on his blog site, he's hardly the effete dancer-turned-foodie. He loves his beer, barbecues and has been married to Andrea for 21 years. He even brews his own "Merc's Beer", a peachy ale, with his dad Gus, a former boxing professional, on the label.
"My speciality is beer scrambled eggs with equal parts milk and beer. I serve it with cheese and smoked trout."
There's no doubting Mercurio's passion for food.
"Part of me always wanted to be a chef, but I ended up being a dancer," he says, clearly delighted he is now getting to indulge his culinary cravings.
