Mark Holden has apologised for his disturbing performance in a clown costume on Dancing With the Stars and reassured audiences it was “sober Holden” who donned the Stephen King-esque costume, insulted the judges, made jokes about swingers and released smoke from his backside.
Holden, a 60-year-old barrister, 70s pop star and former judge of Australian Idol, and his partner, Jessica Prince, were given a score of four on the Channel Seven celebrity dancing program.
In the short interview before throwing to the judges, host Daniel McPherson said there was “a lot of clown phobia” in the room, as Holden pressed up against him and growled “do you like balloons, Danny? I could get you a balloon, Danny,” while rubbing his stomach. The line is possibly a reference to the Stephen King movie, It.
Judges described it as “really scary”, “not a lot of dancing,” and a “disaster on the dancefloor.” Adam Garcia said it was “pedestrian at best – and what I mean by that is: it was walking mainly.”
Holden responded by pretending to recognise some judges from films they had not appeared in, telling Kym Johnson she was just “pissed off” at him for not going “the full Putin” (shirtless), and bending over and releasing a puff of white smoke from his pants.
When he began making jokes about swingers for an upcoming episode which will see dance partners switch, Holden was quickly bundled off the stage.
The performance, roundly criticised as creepy and bizarre, also attracted speculation that Holden had been drinking, an accusation he denied on radio on Wednesday morning.
On Melbourne radio station Mix101.1 Holden reassured listeners he wasn’t drunk.
“I wasn’t on the turps,” said Holden.
“That was sober Holden.”
He said the costume was supposed to be an homage to Bobo the Clown from his childhood but it went “terribly wrong”.
Also on Wednesday morning, Holden told Kiis FM radio that he had “no idea” what he had said the night before because “he was possessed by a clown”.
He said he wouldn’t ever watch the clip because it was a “Jekyll and Hyde thing” and he was in character.
“I was so deep into the clown that the clown possessed me,” said Holden.
He told the hosts he “never worked drunk” and that he was “deeply sorry for any offence the clown caused”.
Producers of the show “weren’t happy” with him, Holden admitted to SeaFM.
“They were all trying to shut me down. I should’ve shut up,” he said.
Holden promised that he would “go the full Putin” the next week.
