But on June 14 Vas will cast those childhood doubts aside and take to the dancefloor for one of her favourite charities, The Cancer Council.

Nineteen-year-old Vas and dance partner Peter Kaluder are among 11 couples in this year’s Celebrity Dance for Cancer, and after a slightly rocky start to her practice sessions, she thinks it’s finally starting to come together.

“It’s been hard – lots of falls, drops, me tripping over in the beginning ... but I think it’s starting to click,” she said.

Vas didn’t need a lot of encouragement to get involved, withher grandmother providing the inspiration for her charity efforts.

“I think everyone knows someone who’s passed away from cancer, and for me it was my nan a few years ago,” she said.

Her fundraising efforts have included everything from holding up a sign on the side of the road, to the offer of working for a Tamworth business for a day, based on how many charity dollars they put on the table.

Vas has been in Tamworth for six months, moving from community radio in Adelaide to the hosting chair at 92.9FM for its 2pm to 6pm program.

She says she loves Tamworth and while her voice may be familiar to many now in her adopted hometown, come Saturday week her face will also be a lot more well known.

Despite an inauspicious beginning to her dance career, she said she’s always wanted to learn ballroom dancing and this event 

presented the perfect opportunity. She and Kaluder will be spinning around the floor in a Viennese waltz “with a touch of samba”, Vas laughingly suggesting that even knowing the names of some classic ballroom dances was a sign of her progress.