Roderick puts on his dancing shoes

It took two seasons before Roderick Paulate agreed to join ABC 5’s Shall We Dance? The Celebrity Dance Challenge. When he finally decided to accept the invitation, he didn’t let the show’s production team down as he had given his all in his every performance and made sure to have fun, too.

"First season pa lang, Shall We Dance invited me to join," said Roderick. "I didn’t say yes before because I don’t like joining in any competition, much more a ballroom dance contest at that. Yes, I danced in some of my previous shows and TV guestings but everybody knows I’m first and foremost an actor. Plus, for me it would be really very stressful to join the contest."

His friends Mayor Vilma Santos and Richard Gomez, husband of Shall We Dance host Lucy Torres, encouraged Roderick to join the top-rated show.

"It was during a party of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada when Vi and Richard approached me. They said it was fun, that I should join and just have fun. And those were the magic words I guess, because the next scene I was rehearsing for my first dance routine," Roderick recalled.

Well, Kuya Dick did just that. He made sure he enjoyed all his performances in the show. Recently, he got his bonus when Kuya Dick and dance partner Shirley Basan won the grand champion title, besting three equally strong competitors (Tuesday Vargas and partner Richard Obong, Sheree and partner Efren Ibo and Emilio Garcia and partner Olivia Cui). They also took home the half a million pesos at stake.

When Lucy along with co-hosts Dominic Ochoa and Arnell Ignacio announced the winner, Kuya Dick looked surprised. He couldn’t even utter a word. He thanked all his supporters like friends Vilma and Maricel Soriano, who greeted him in the VTR. He was also grateful for the support he received from the Vilmanians.

Only recently the show applied its new rule for scoring (in the grand finals) – 50 percent of the total score comes from the text votes while the other 50 percent comes from the judges’ scores.

After their dance of choice, samba, Kuya Dick and Shirley got a standing ovation from judge Audie Gemora. Blackpool champion and judge Edna Ledesma followed it up by saying, "Perfect!" All the judges agreed, Roderick and Shirley’s dance routine, their jive and paso doble in the dance-off were executed smoothly and very polished.

Meanwhile, Shall We Dance associate producer Nelson Alindogan said, "Kuya Dick is really super nice. He’s friendly and professional. I remember one time, during the semi-monthly finals when Kuya Dick was sick and all, we never heard him complain. He still did their routine despite the fact that he was having a hard time. Nakakabilib ang pagiging super professional niya."

Will he continue to dance ballroom after his stint in Shall We Dance?

"I guess so. If there are offers to dance ballroom for guestings why not, but not in a competition kind of way. Tama na yung sa Shall We Dance," he revealed.

Shall We Dance was lucky. Roderick saved his first and probably the last (competition) dance for the show.