Lauren Drinkwater had a bit of Dutch courage.
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She'd just watched her then NBN colleague Samantha Long dance up a storm at the Stars of Central Coast event last year.
"Watching her, I got so emotional. I was so proud," she said.
"On the way home from seeing Sam, I was a bit tipsy. I thought 'I've got to act on this now, otherwise I'll lose all my courage'."
She texted NBN colleague Jane Goldsmith, asking "Please put my name forward for next year".
"She put my name forward and they contacted me."
They were the organisers of Stars of Newcastle, a dancing competition held on Saturday at Wests City to raise money for Cancer Council NSW.
Lauren, an NBN camerawoman, felt she could make a difference with the backing of the Cancer Council and NBN.
"I wanted to have this platform, which I wouldn't get any other way, to raise a good amount of money," she said.
"If I tried to do this on my own, I wouldn't have been able to raise this amount of money."
Lauren was a joint winner of the dance contest, performing a Broadway jazz number with dance instructor Katrina Lentfer, of Newcastle Dance Academy.
Lauren was also named top fundraiser, having raised about $27,000.
"I definitely threw everything I had into it," she said.
After her performance, she was interviewed on stage.
She said it was the "best night of my life" and "the best feeling I've ever had".
Her fiance Callan was in the crowd. They get married in six weeks.
"He was like, 'Wow, I've got to try and top that'."
Before training for 12 weeks for the event, Lauren wasn't exactly known for her dancing skills.
"I'm really clumsy. I get told I dance with my elbows and shoulders usually," she said.
She was glad to have taken part.
"It was so out of my comfort zone. I learnt so much - not only dance skills, but about myself. I gained so much confidence with the whole experience and all the fundraising. I had to do so much public speaking. I've taken a lot out of this, actually."
The event's other joint winner was The Movement Collective's Jeni Steep.
Jeni performed a modern contemporary dance with teacher Jessica Miller.
Jeni was inspired to perform, having watched her partner Rod Cooper - of The Movement Collective - win last year's event.
She said the event gave her a "big appreciation for people who do fundraising".
As for the dance, she said "I was really nervous just before I went on stage".
"Once I got on stage and heard people cheering for me, there was so much energy. It made it easier."
The event raised $162,000 for Cancer Council NSW.