REBECCA GIBNEY ‘ZAC HELPED ME THROUGH’

The beloved Kiwi star's son is her biggest supporter

- Nicky Pellegrino

She exudes confidence in the characters she portrays but, behind the facade, actress Rebecca Gibney admits she's long battled debilitating panic attacks that have threatened to derail her career.

The New Zealand-born star cited her chronic people-pleasing tendencies and a “not-normal” brain with what she calls the darkest chapter in her life. Rebecca's stint on Dancing With The Stars, which came to a highly emotional end on Sunday with her shock elimination, also took more of a mental toll on her than she anticipated, stirring up feelings of insecurity that have haunted her for decades.

"I've got too many drop-down tabs going in my head," she told The Daily Telegraph. "I can hyper focus on one thing and then I get panicked because I've let the other thing slide.

"I suffered from panic attacks from the age of 14 until well into my 30s. If I could change one thing, I wish my brain was a bit more normal." Taking to the dance floor to be judged each week was confronting to say the least.

"It was absolute sheer terror," she said. "I had moments where I resorted back to a 12-year-old being judged... it was really bizarre. You feel like you've let yourself down. You've let everyone else down."

Along with husband of 23 years Richard Bell, Rebecca's biggest cheerleader, her son Zac, was by her side every step of the way.

"We had four to five hours of training a day and I was in pain the whole time," the 60-year-old tells