Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth. Hey, everyone,
Speaker 1: welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about
Speaker 1: the choices we make and where they lead us. My
Speaker 1: guests today are absolutely crushing it as dance partners on
Speaker 1: the current season of Dancing with the Stars. We will
Speaker 1: get to them in just a little bit. But I
Speaker 1: can't do this without thinking about my own journey on
Speaker 1: Dancing with the Stars. I was researching on my flight
Speaker 1: the other day. I was watching all of their dances
Speaker 1: back from the season so far so I could talk
Speaker 1: to them, and it got me thinking about my dances.
Speaker 1: So I started rewatching some of my dances on YouTube
Speaker 1: and just going down memory lane. And I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's just it got me thinking about my own I
Speaker 1: Choose Me moment decision back in two thousand and seven
Speaker 1: on season five to do the show. So I wanted
Speaker 1: to bring in my longtime man, mister showbiz Randy back
Speaker 1: onto the podcast. He was there with me and he
Speaker 1: knows he probably remembers it better than I do. So Hi, Randy,
Speaker 1: I will I'm thrilled to be back. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: can you believe that I did Dancing with the Stars
Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven. That was when Fiona was
Speaker 1: six months old and she's eighteen. Now.
Speaker 2: Well that's that's the crazy thing, because I've said this before.
Speaker 2: Nothing marks time like other people watching other people's children
Speaker 2: grow up. And the idea that Fiona's eighteen because I
Speaker 2: remember she was like a baby practically.
Speaker 1: Yeah, in my arms like that kind of bait.
Speaker 2: That's completely mind boggling to me.
Speaker 1: And of course this season Tory was on Dancing with Stars.
Speaker 1: She was eliminated very early, which was very upsetting because
Speaker 1: she had so much potential to grow so much. That
Speaker 1: was fun watching her.
Speaker 2: By the way, well, I'm so proud of her though,
Speaker 2: because oh my god, right, it was Yeah, for so
Speaker 2: many years she was so afraid to do this, and
Speaker 2: you know, she really overcame all of her fears to
Speaker 2: go on the show, and not just her.
Speaker 1: Fears but her physical limitations. You know, guy, she has
Speaker 1: had five children by cesarean section. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Five c sections will do something to your core strength.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was so proud of her.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it just really got me not only thinking
Speaker 1: about her and this couple, but also going down memory
Speaker 1: lane and thinking about my experience on Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 2: That was wild, amazing, amazing.
Speaker 3: How did it.
Speaker 1: Even come about? How did this opportunity to do the
Speaker 1: show even come about?
Speaker 2: For me?
Speaker 1: I don't remember.
Speaker 2: Well, the show hadn't been on that I mean, it
Speaker 2: had been on a few years and it was kind
Speaker 2: of just I think, hitting really hitting its stride of
Speaker 2: being a cultural phenomenon, and they reached out to me
Speaker 2: for you and you and I talked about it, and
Speaker 2: I think initially, I mean, you tell me, but my
Speaker 2: memory of it was that you we were both maybe
Speaker 2: a little bit on the fence about it because you were,
Speaker 2: you know, busy working as an actress, and you know,
Speaker 2: this just to do a reality show like this, We
Speaker 2: weren't sure, but we talked about it, and I think
Speaker 2: that you decided and I think I just we decided
Speaker 2: together that to look at this as a challenge. They
Speaker 2: took the producers at the time. I don't know if
Speaker 2: they do this anymore, but I don't know if you
Speaker 2: remember this, but the producers took us out to lunch
Speaker 2: before we committed to it. Conrad Green, who was the
Speaker 2: original executive producer, and Dina Katz took us to lunch
Speaker 2: and sort of walked us through everything, and we decided
Speaker 2: after that to go ahead and move forward with it.
Speaker 2: But I don't think you tell me. But I don't
Speaker 2: think you had any idea how physically challenging this was
Speaker 2: going to be. Is that really accurate?
Speaker 1: Yeah? First of all, I don't remember any of this.
Speaker 1: I don't remember this lunch you speak of. I don't
Speaker 1: think I thought it through it all, quite honestly, because
Speaker 1: I did. I had the three girls, and I was
Speaker 1: full time mom and working, and I did not think
Speaker 1: this through. I did not have any idea how much
Speaker 1: I would. You know, they kind of help told you, like,
Speaker 1: you will be rehearsing these days and taping these days.
Speaker 1: And I didn't know I'd be rehearsing for six or
Speaker 1: eight hours a day. And I only rehearsed that much
Speaker 1: because I really needed it, because I felt like I
Speaker 1: wasn't getting in, I wasn't prepared enough. And I remember
Speaker 1: when they introduced me to my dance partner, who was
Speaker 1: Derek Huff and that was his first season. He had
Speaker 1: literally gotten off a plane from London where he had
Speaker 1: been headlining like Footloose or something in London, and I
Speaker 1: only knew he was Julian's brother, and he had never
Speaker 1: done the show. That's all I knew about him. And
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, okay, And I didn't have the
Speaker 1: ability to like look him up or back in two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven, I couldn't just there was not a
Speaker 1: lot of things I could look up on the internet
Speaker 1: at that time, absolutely right, there was no social media
Speaker 1: or anything. Right. But yeah, when I remember meeting him
Speaker 1: and thinking, oh my god, he's so young. He is
Speaker 1: a baby boy, and I just felt like a towering,
Speaker 1: like oh mom next to him, Like there was just
Speaker 1: such a weird discrepancy between us in my mind that
Speaker 1: it was really hard to come together as like a
Speaker 1: team with him, you know, it felt really weird. What
Speaker 1: did you think when when Derek was my dance partner,
Speaker 1: when they told us.
Speaker 2: Well, do you remember the day that you met him
Speaker 2: and where you were in the whole circumstance.
Speaker 1: I remember he came to our house.
Speaker 2: Right, you came to the house. We were in the backyard,
Speaker 2: sitting out by the swimming pool, and he came out,
Speaker 2: and I had seen pictures of him, but I had
Speaker 2: the exact same reaction because when he walked out and
Speaker 2: it was walking. I remember him walking around the pool
Speaker 2: and my thought was, he's like a kid. He looks
Speaker 2: like a teenager.
Speaker 1: How's he gonna lift her up?
Speaker 2: Well, that's the other thing I wanted to bring up
Speaker 2: with you, because I don't know how many of the
Speaker 2: fans follow you on Instagram and have seen your exercise videos.
Speaker 2: And if you haven't, ladies, you absolutely check it out.
Speaker 2: But right now, fitness is a major part of your life.
Speaker 2: It is, and I follow you and I watch your
Speaker 2: your your routines and it's amazing. But at the time,
Speaker 2: safe to say, fitness was not a major priority for you,
Speaker 2: and I don't think you realized what a physical challenge
Speaker 2: this was going to be. And I'll tell you you
Speaker 2: you were not in bad shape, but I don't.
Speaker 1: Like, I don't right, you know, I can't stress that enough.
Speaker 2: No, absolutely, but I cannot believe how your body transformed
Speaker 2: during the course of Dancing with the Stars, because god right,
Speaker 2: you were literally, as you just said, rehearsing six to
Speaker 2: seven hours a day. Just think of the calorie burn
Speaker 2: alone from that, you know, And what I think happened
Speaker 2: with you is you had just made a decision that
Speaker 2: you were going to go for this and you decided
Speaker 2: to put everything into it. And I think people who
Speaker 2: go on this show they go one of two ways.
Speaker 2: They either rise to the occasion and rise to the challenge,
Speaker 2: or they decide I'm just going to go along for
Speaker 2: the ride and see what happens. But you definitely rose
Speaker 2: to the challenge and gave it everything you had and
Speaker 2: did really, really well on the show.
Speaker 1: I did not actually make the decision. The decision was
Speaker 1: sort of made for me, and especially not knowing what
Speaker 1: I was getting into, not really having had any live
Speaker 1: TV experience like to that extent, performing in front of
Speaker 1: the world. Basically, I was so out of my comfort
Speaker 1: zone I cannot even tell you. And I didn't know
Speaker 1: any other way to deal with it than to do
Speaker 1: my best to just jump in like you said, and
Speaker 1: like go for it because that was the only option
Speaker 1: for me, or look like an idiot on national television
Speaker 1: right now. You didn't want to do that.
Speaker 2: That's the thing about you. Anything that you've ever decided
Speaker 2: to put your mind to, you've given it one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: I mean, when you decided to become an actress, you
Speaker 2: gave it one hundred percent. That was not something you
Speaker 2: didn't grow up as a child actor, you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: and so you jumped into two classes and studying and
Speaker 2: all of that, and I think you took that same
Speaker 2: work ethic. Both your mother and your father had a
Speaker 2: great work ethic. They both worked their whole lives. And
Speaker 2: your father you grew up on a farm, and your
Speaker 2: father would go to work all day the for the
Speaker 2: at school and teaching and then come home and you know,
Speaker 2: go and work the back forty of the farm. So
Speaker 2: you grew up with two parents modeling a strong work
Speaker 2: ethic for you, and I think you've applied that to
Speaker 2: everything that you've done.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they just instilled in me like even if it's work,
Speaker 1: it's to be something that you're passionate about and that
Speaker 1: passion will drive you and actually make your work fun.
Speaker 1: Like he loved teaching and he loved being on the
Speaker 1: tractor just as much. And my mom's same, you know.
Speaker 1: So that I feel like anything I do, whether it's
Speaker 1: work or not considered work, if I put my passion
Speaker 1: into it, it's because I want to spend my time
Speaker 1: having fun and loving what I do. So yeah, that's
Speaker 1: why I choose to not do some things now as
Speaker 1: I've gotten older, and I realized, you know that you
Speaker 1: can say no to things. It's okay. I wonder if
Speaker 1: I would, like I always think, would I do Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars again? Would I do that now? Because
Speaker 1: people my age are doing it and older? If they
Speaker 1: came to me now and I had never done it before,
Speaker 1: when I do it now, what would would you recommend
Speaker 1: that I do it?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 2: I mean, had you not done it before right at
Speaker 2: this moment in time, I don't think I would, only
Speaker 2: because safe to say, I don't think you've ever been
Speaker 2: busier than you are right now, so it's pretty hard
Speaker 2: for you to even have time to, you know, go
Speaker 2: out to dinner. So the I don't know where we
Speaker 2: would fit it into your schedule.
Speaker 1: And not to mention the hips of it all, Well.
Speaker 2: That's true, that's true. But you know what I think,
Speaker 2: I think that you would. You would rise above that.
Speaker 2: So the good news is you've already done it.
Speaker 4: I don't have to do it.
Speaker 2: You don't have to do it again. You've crossed that
Speaker 2: off your bucket list. Let me ask you something, how many?
Speaker 2: Because you know, I think anybody who's a fan of
Speaker 2: yours now knows that you don't have the greatest memory.
Speaker 2: But how many of the couple of the stars from
Speaker 2: your season do you remember?
Speaker 1: Can I name?
Speaker 2: Can you name? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I can only do this because I saw some clips. Okay,
Speaker 1: my birthday Buddy, the Vegas Guy, amazing performer Wayne Newton,
Speaker 1: Jane Seymour right, the Cheetah Girl, Sabrina Bryant, Elio Castro
Speaker 1: Novez Lobby he was, but she was my friend, like
Speaker 1: we we bonded, we hung out. Yeah, I love Sabrina. Okay,
Speaker 1: Karen Matheson who also went on to work with me
Speaker 1: and be friends with me. Let's see, let's see, let's see.
Speaker 1: Uh oh uh Melby right, Harry Spice. I was scared
Speaker 1: of her at first, but I loved her and when
Speaker 1: I got to know her, hush is who else? My
Speaker 1: Marie Osmond?
Speaker 4: Did I say?
Speaker 2: Is that it?
Speaker 1: I don't. Oh wait wait the big guy on the
Speaker 1: on the Shark, the Shark guy.
Speaker 2: A Mark Cuban. Now that that blew my mind. When
Speaker 2: I went. I had to look it up myself before
Speaker 2: I came on, and I had forgot. How did I
Speaker 2: forget that Mark Cuban was on your season? I know
Speaker 2: that's wild?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just.
Speaker 1: Remember being like I made the semi finals, and I
Speaker 1: was so like just being the mom and trying to
Speaker 1: jugglell that and trying to keep my husband happy during
Speaker 1: that time, and you know, worrying about all all the things.
Speaker 1: When they call my name that night and told me
Speaker 1: that I was going home, I was like, thank god, Oh, seriously, curiously,
Speaker 1: I was so ready to go home. And I knew
Speaker 1: also that we were coming up into the finals where
Speaker 1: you had to do like all these crazy things.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So I was like, yes.
Speaker 2: Now, I wanted to ask you because at the time,
Speaker 2: you and Peter Batchinelli were married, and I actually was
Speaker 2: managing both of you at the time, and right, and
Speaker 2: I know that you know, a lot of couples when
Speaker 2: there's their spouse, husband or wife go on to the
Speaker 2: show's it's a little weird for if they don't come
Speaker 2: out of the dance community where that's a fairly normal thing.
Speaker 2: And I remember Peter was, especially when he saw young
Speaker 2: Derek kuff Strutton strutting past the pool in the backyard,
Speaker 2: he was a little like, Okay, I don't know about this.
Speaker 1: I mean, I can't imagine him being threatened by Derek
Speaker 1: Cuffey literally looked like a teenager.
Speaker 2: Well that's true. And by the way, Peter one of
Speaker 2: the most handsome men still in America, right, he had Yeah.
Speaker 1: He had seemingly great confidence too. Yes, yes, but I
Speaker 1: do remember me having to remind him the absurdity of
Speaker 1: any concerns that he would have, because I just felt
Speaker 1: like Derek was like a brother to me, Like he
Speaker 1: felt like my little brother, and so when anything would
Speaker 1: arise like that, I'd be like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: Like what? But yeah, there, I remember a couple of
Speaker 1: moments of seeing that confidence armor come down and him,
Speaker 1: you know, during heated argument, I remember him saying, you know, like,
Speaker 1: how do you think I feel with you spending all
Speaker 1: your time touching bodies with this guy? You know, like,
Speaker 1: I know it wasn't as easy for him as he
Speaker 1: wanted it to seem, but he covered it pretty well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because if you're not if you don't come out
Speaker 2: of the dance world that kind of intimacy. And by
Speaker 2: the way, plenty of dancers and their partners on that
Speaker 2: show have ended up together well yeah, a period of
Speaker 2: time or potentially forever, so you know, it's not completely
Speaker 2: completely unwarranted.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, can you imagine if I had left
Speaker 1: Peter and our marriage for Derek Cuff? That would have
Speaker 1: been weird in that moment that seven. Yeah, Robin the Cradle.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 1: Okay, oh my god, so much fun going down memory
Speaker 1: lane with you. Thank god you have. You have a
Speaker 1: really good memory, Randy for a guy your age, Oh
Speaker 1: my god. Okay, I'm just I'm really excited to dive
Speaker 1: into this interview. So I'm going to say goodbye to you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Watch, Okay, I'm looking forward to it, all right, okay, bye.
Speaker 1: Bye, Okay, So I'm so excited to get into this interview.
Speaker 1: Please welcome former Bachelor Joey Grazzida and pro dancer and
Speaker 1: mirror ball champion Jenna Johnson Schmerkovsky to the I Choose
Speaker 1: Me Podcast. I'm so excited to have you both on.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for taking time from your busy, busy,
Speaker 1: busy schedule. I know how busy you guys are right now.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you for having us. We're excited.
Speaker 1: It's today, a rehearsal day, a tape day. What's happening?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we already had rehearsal this morning for.
Speaker 1: How many hours? Four? Four hours I was rehearsing like
Speaker 1: six or eight hours a day because I needed it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think once it gets closer to the end,
Speaker 4: the hours will start increasing for sure.
Speaker 1: You guys are just absolutely crushing it on this season. Joey,
Speaker 1: It's like you came out of the gate swinging. You
Speaker 1: said that you've played the drums and that you've incorporated
Speaker 1: into a dance number. Amazing. You were a cheerleader, so
Speaker 1: you have that, like, you know, flip ability, which is
Speaker 1: working out for you. Did you have any dance experience
Speaker 1: prior to this.
Speaker 5: I didn't have any dance experience, and I always need
Speaker 5: to clear up the fact that I wasn't actually a
Speaker 5: cheerleader because it was so funny how that all came
Speaker 5: about I did. If you've ever heard of powderpuff cheerleading,
Speaker 5: it was really big at my high school where the
Speaker 5: girls played football and the guys learned how to be cheerleaders,
Speaker 5: and for us it was like a big pep rally thing.
Speaker 5: So that was the first time I ever started doing stunts,
Speaker 5: which is where I learned how to backflip and learning,
Speaker 5: I guess a little bit of choreography, nothing like what
Speaker 5: I'm doing with Jenna, So I guess that would be
Speaker 5: my past experience. It's definitely helped with doing some fun
Speaker 5: things on the show, but no, I really haven't had
Speaker 5: any like actual dance classes. I came in kind of
Speaker 5: a as new as I could be and just try
Speaker 5: to listen to Jenna and everything that everyone's seeing. The
Speaker 5: reason why it's looked good has really just been because
Speaker 5: of her and me trying to be a good student.
Speaker 1: I know you've got the best pro You're so lucky.
Speaker 3: I'm very aware.
Speaker 4: He definitely is a capable body. He's very athletic, he's
Speaker 4: very smart, and he's willing to try anything, which is
Speaker 4: which is really helpful in this process.
Speaker 1: You should add that to your resume, A capable body.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's a good title. I'll take that.
Speaker 1: Jenna, you're just such a talented, talented dancer. How old
Speaker 1: were you when you go into the dance world. I'm curious,
Speaker 1: must have been very young.
Speaker 4: Yes, I started actually when I was three, and I
Speaker 4: never stopped. I always knew that I loved it, but
Speaker 4: I started, you know, doing like the little kids ballet, jazz,
Speaker 4: tap classes, the little combo classes, and then I started
Speaker 4: learning ballroom when I was about eight, So that's where
Speaker 4: it all began for me.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. And this was in Utah, right, yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: So Utah is becoming like the it place now with
Speaker 1: Julienne and Derek are both from Utah.
Speaker 4: Uh huh. If you remember Chelsea high Tower who used
Speaker 4: to be on the show, she was also from Utah.
Speaker 4: Lindsay Whitney, Riley, Ezra Steffans.
Speaker 1: Such a dance scene coming out of there, It's wild.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I have to ask you with all these
Speaker 1: Utah TV shows popping up now, the Secret Lives of
Speaker 1: Mormon Wives and the Houselives Assault, like I just need
Speaker 1: to know is that accurate? Like you know Utah culture?
Speaker 5: Sure.
Speaker 4: I wish that I had time to watch all I knows.
Speaker 4: And it's interesting because I know a couple of girls
Speaker 4: that are on the new Secret Live show. I haven't
Speaker 4: had time because it aired while in season. I've heard
Speaker 4: there's a lot of tea, so I need to get
Speaker 4: caught up as soon as we're done with this show.
Speaker 4: But again, I can't speak on it because I haven't
Speaker 4: fully fully invested myself yet. But listen, I'm here to
Speaker 4: put Utah on the map, so let's keep the buzz alive.
Speaker 1: You're doing it, you're probably gonna see one of them,
Speaker 1: you know, next year in the cast. I would imagine.
Speaker 4: One was in the audience this past taping, So.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there comes, there comes. It's so intimidating to do
Speaker 1: this show. I know firsthand. And U Joe, did you
Speaker 1: realize what you were signing up for when you agree
Speaker 1: to do this?
Speaker 3: Yes? And no.
Speaker 5: I was lucky enough to know some people that were
Speaker 5: on the show, so I got to ask some questions.
Speaker 3: But it's the same with everything.
Speaker 5: You ask questions, but you don't really know the right
Speaker 5: questions to ask, And after doing it, I would have
Speaker 5: asked so many different questions coming in because you want
Speaker 5: to know about what the time commitment, You want to
Speaker 5: know kind of about how tough it could be on
Speaker 5: your body and all these things, but you don't think
Speaker 5: about until it gets to that crunch time of what
Speaker 5: it's like actually to go out there on stage, and
Speaker 5: you don't think about how much pressure you feel every
Speaker 5: week to keep delivering good dances and that, like I
Speaker 5: don't know the feeling that people forget that right before
Speaker 5: you get out there, you get these butterflies of like
Speaker 5: excitement but also nerves, and also you start questioning even
Speaker 5: how to walk, let alone dance, and just all these
Speaker 5: things start coming into your head. And that part was
Speaker 5: so much more intense than I could have imagined. And
Speaker 5: I'm addicted to that feeling, but I'm also terrified of it.
Speaker 3: Every week.
Speaker 5: It's a very interesting back and forth and all the
Speaker 5: mental that comes with this, I think is so hard
Speaker 5: to explain.
Speaker 3: You just kind of have to do it to understand
Speaker 3: what it's like.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I still I think I have PTSD from the
Speaker 1: announcer announcing a now dancing the jet cha and then
Speaker 1: they say your name. I swear every time I hear that,
Speaker 1: I kind of get the anxiety in my body, the feeling.
Speaker 3: That ten cow comes in quick.
Speaker 5: You hear ten nine, and all of a sudden, you
Speaker 5: start hearing your name. You're like, oh, to dance right now,
Speaker 5: let's do this, and you.
Speaker 1: Forget everything you've been taught that you just have to
Speaker 1: pray that it comes back to you.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 3: I said it to all my friends.
Speaker 5: I think I even said in some of the press
Speaker 5: stuff I did that tango we did, which I think
Speaker 5: has maybe been one of our strongest, if not our
Speaker 5: strongest dance yet was the first time I fully blacked out.
Speaker 5: I have no recollection of that entire dance. I came
Speaker 5: to right when I like threw Jenna through my legs.
Speaker 5: I was like, wait, was it good? I think I
Speaker 5: asked her when I.
Speaker 3: Pulled it up, like was it good?
Speaker 5: Because I just totally blanked But you do it so much,
Speaker 5: it just starts to be in your body.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the key. Maybe you should try that's your goal,
Speaker 1: blackout every time.
Speaker 3: I wish that would make it.
Speaker 1: Just like, you know, don't black out Jenna. You know
Speaker 1: everybody knows you're married to fellow pro dancer Val Yes,
Speaker 1: and he and his partner Phedra were voted out.
Speaker 4: Yes, very sad. Yes, so that you guys.
Speaker 1: Were rooting each other on obviously during the competition. I'm
Speaker 1: just curious, like, when you take your dance shoes off
Speaker 1: at night and you go home to your life, does
Speaker 1: talk shop.
Speaker 4: Yes and no. There's like a fine balance because obviously
Speaker 4: he knows what I'm feeling. I know what he's feeling,
Speaker 4: and it's hard not to bring that stress into our
Speaker 4: own personal life and at home. I think, especially now
Speaker 4: that we've become parents, we are way more strict about
Speaker 4: going home and just being ourselves and husband and wife
Speaker 4: and parents to our son. But yes, he's very invested
Speaker 4: in now that he's eliminated, he's been full throttle into
Speaker 4: what is going on with me and Joey, and he's like, listen,
Speaker 4: I want you guys to bring it. So I really
Speaker 4: love his support. But yeah, you know, it's hard to
Speaker 4: like try to separate and be like, oh, I'm not
Speaker 4: going to talk about dance, because we have so much
Speaker 4: dance in our life. It's crazy. Yeah, our whole world
Speaker 4: is danced, and so it's nice to kind of just
Speaker 4: like separate and just the humans for a second at home.
Speaker 4: But I then do have the luxury of being like, hey, babe,
Speaker 4: can you try this eight count with me? Can you
Speaker 4: see if this lift works? Can you see if this
Speaker 4: feels nice? So I feel really grateful in that aspect.
Speaker 1: That's that's good. That's good to have that kind of
Speaker 1: support and that kind of shared experience is so valuable.
Speaker 4: Yes it is. I mean I don't know if I
Speaker 4: would be able to do the show without him, and
Speaker 4: without him his knowledge, his expertise, and just his full support.
Speaker 4: It's incredible.
Speaker 1: I love that. Okay, so you be honest, is it
Speaker 1: ever uncomfortable for you guys to dance like sensually with
Speaker 1: one another when you're partners and the whole world are watching?
Speaker 1: Because I know that was super weird for me.
Speaker 4: I will let Joey answer because it's for me at all,
Speaker 4: because I've been doing this for my whole life and
Speaker 4: I'm you know, a plenty of partners where this is
Speaker 4: my work, this is what, this is my craft, this
Speaker 4: is my artistry. So it's not weird for me. But
Speaker 4: I definitely have like a level of respect for everybody
Speaker 4: that jumps into this process and is willing to throw
Speaker 4: themselves into fully accepting like the character each week. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I'll let Joey. Joey answer this one.
Speaker 5: I wouldn't say it's weird. I would say the word
Speaker 5: I always use is like hesitant. I think that when
Speaker 5: you come into it, it feels just odd to be
Speaker 5: like taking charge in a dance and being more physical
Speaker 5: and getting into someone's space, because if you've never done
Speaker 5: it before, you just like it just doesn't feel I
Speaker 5: guess right to do it right away, so it doesn't
Speaker 5: feel weird, especially now I've been doing it as long
Speaker 5: and how comfortable and Jen and I have gotten it's
Speaker 5: not as much a thing, but I do need reminders
Speaker 5: sometimes to be more closer and being in the space
Speaker 5: and listening to her when that's the time to do it,
Speaker 5: when you're supposed to be here, when.
Speaker 3: You're not supposed to be here.
Speaker 5: So at this point it's just like she I listened
Speaker 5: to direction, I go into it. But I do remember
Speaker 5: when you first start, you know you have to grab her,
Speaker 5: and it's like, wait, I wouldn't grab this like it's
Speaker 5: this physical and be this close to someone.
Speaker 3: It just doesn't feel right necessarily. So yeah, the word
Speaker 3: I would use is hesitant because it's new.
Speaker 5: But then once you learn what it's supposed to be
Speaker 5: and you start to feel what these moves are, then
Speaker 5: at the end of the day it just feels like.
Speaker 3: I'm listening to my coach and doing dance moves.
Speaker 5: So we're at the point where I wouldn't say it's
Speaker 5: as weird as it was in the beginning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that's so true what you say, because
Speaker 1: if you haven't danced like close contact, danced like that,
Speaker 1: it's not doesn't come naturally to people, like like you said,
Speaker 1: like I wouldn't just step right up and be so
Speaker 1: close body on body to somebody that you know. I
Speaker 1: don't know that well, so I totally get that.
Speaker 4: Also, if you're like not used to having to act
Speaker 4: or like play a role, trying to tell somebody to
Speaker 4: to like, I think this is a funny concept. I
Speaker 4: don't know if you've faced this or felt this at all,
Speaker 4: but like Joey, this week, you're going to be sexy,
Speaker 4: Like what is your sexy face? How do you tell
Speaker 4: someone like you know to put on this like performance
Speaker 4: or character. It's it's really hard to teach that. And
Speaker 4: I think that's something that joe is excelled in. Is
Speaker 4: he just naturally is a great performer. I don't know
Speaker 4: where it came from. I'm so grateful for it. But
Speaker 4: that is a funny concept as well of like, you know,
Speaker 4: we're doing the rumba, you've got to be like sensual
Speaker 4: and like what does that mean for your face? What
Speaker 4: does that mean for your performance? Unless you're really used
Speaker 4: to acting or a dance before. So that's something that
Speaker 4: I think is one of Joey's strengths this season.
Speaker 1: For sure, you have instincts, Joey, maybe you should be
Speaker 1: an actor next.
Speaker 3: I know who knows.
Speaker 5: I never thought i'd be here today talking to you
Speaker 5: and dance about national television.
Speaker 3: So I have no idea what's going to be next.
Speaker 5: But yeah, the performance part has surprisingly been one of
Speaker 5: my favorite things of Once you know the dance, you
Speaker 5: just get the ability to go out there and like
Speaker 5: act as you're supposed to. And I'm really excited for
Speaker 5: having that with Halloween this week, Like it's just going
Speaker 5: to be a new thing. So yeah, it's been surprising
Speaker 5: because it was one of the things I was the
Speaker 5: most nervous about, but as I've gotten more weeks under
Speaker 5: my belt, it's actually one of my things I look
Speaker 5: forward to the most. Is when I'm like, Okay, I
Speaker 5: know these steps. Now, I can start thinking about how
Speaker 5: I'm going to perform. And we usually don't hit those
Speaker 5: until like end of the day on Saturday or starting
Speaker 5: on Sunday, we start talking about that, and that's when
Speaker 5: I actually get the most excited about our dances, and
Speaker 5: when we start thinking about how we're going.
Speaker 1: To perform, it all comes together. Your fiance beautiful Kelsey.
Speaker 1: She addressed comments in the beginning of the season. You
Speaker 1: know how they are. She said that you gave her
Speaker 1: the security and the reassurance that she needs. How do
Speaker 1: you do that? How do you give that to your
Speaker 1: partner in this extraordinary experience that you're in.
Speaker 5: I don't know if there's an easy answer to that,
Speaker 5: because I'm still learning that every day. I think in general,
Speaker 5: partner you're trying to always make them feel reassured and
Speaker 5: secure in the relationship, and this is just one of
Speaker 5: those situations where it's so chaotic and I'm not to
Speaker 5: be with her as physically as much as I would
Speaker 5: like to because I'm always away with dance, and then
Speaker 5: on top of it, you add this element of outside
Speaker 5: noise and it's all new. But for me, what I
Speaker 5: continue to try to do is stay present when I
Speaker 5: am with her, really try to have a gauge on
Speaker 5: where her emotions are at so I can understand what
Speaker 5: I need to be doing.
Speaker 3: But I'm still learning that every day. And we actually
Speaker 3: had to talk.
Speaker 5: About this the other day, which was amazing to hear
Speaker 5: where her head's at with a lot of this. She
Speaker 5: gave me like a sweet message and said, I hope
Speaker 5: when you get these questions you start deflecting them, because
Speaker 5: I want this to be about you and your journey.
Speaker 3: I don't want this to be about how I'm handling
Speaker 3: and how we're handling all this, which is like so
Speaker 3: sweet that she's saying that, But at the same time
Speaker 3: I understand and Jenna understands, it does come with the territory.
Speaker 3: So to see where we've.
Speaker 5: Come from week one to now, I think has been
Speaker 5: amazing just because it is all new, but we're both
Speaker 5: still figuring it out because we're both still new to
Speaker 5: being in a public relationship. And we've actually leaned on
Speaker 5: Jenna and Bow and asked a lot of questions because
Speaker 5: they've been doing this a lot longer of what all
Speaker 5: that's like.
Speaker 3: But yeah, no easy answer that one. I'm figuring it
Speaker 3: out every day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm sure Jennifer, you you get tons of comments,
Speaker 1: like you know, you and your husband, it's got to
Speaker 1: be something that can weigh on you or can like
Speaker 1: just come into your experience and it's you don't need it.
Speaker 1: It's like unnecessary, like you said, Joey Noise. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you guys handle that well together, I'm assuming since you're
Speaker 1: both pros at this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we do our best, but yeah, I think you
Speaker 4: know it's it's not as abrace up to us because
Speaker 4: it is something that we do. We have experienced multiple times,
Speaker 4: and even more so when Val and I became a
Speaker 4: public couple that was very jolting for fans. They wanted
Speaker 4: him with every single partner that he was with and
Speaker 4: definitely not me. So we've experienced it. I now I
Speaker 4: don't have time for anymore. It doesn't bother me because again,
Speaker 4: I'm I'm used to it, but I'm also so secure
Speaker 4: in my relationship and what my job is as a
Speaker 4: pro on Dancing with the Stars. But it's it's sad
Speaker 4: that people have to go to those lengths to try
Speaker 4: to make people feel some type of way and can't
Speaker 4: just celebrate the beauty of like, this is such a
Speaker 4: beautiful journey that you're about to go on en a
Speaker 4: once in a lifetime opportunity that's only three months long.
Speaker 4: So I think in the beginning it was a little
Speaker 4: not defeeding, but it was a little sad that it
Speaker 4: just had to be those comments, especially targeted at Kelsey.
Speaker 4: But I feel like as soon as week one happened
Speaker 4: and week two, people are now just supportive, And I
Speaker 4: think it's you know that initial shock of like, oh,
Speaker 4: these two are next to each other and then now
Speaker 4: it's just been nothing but support. So I think it's
Speaker 4: that initial shock needed to wear off, and now fans
Speaker 4: have just been so beautiful and so supportive of our journey.
Speaker 1: I love that. Okay, doing the show is a major
Speaker 1: I Choose me moment because it it's a big decision
Speaker 1: and you have to go into it ultimately doing it
Speaker 1: for yourself. But it's also a choice to wake up
Speaker 1: every day and to choose to stay and work at relationships.
Speaker 1: And being that the show is in such an out
Speaker 1: of the normal environment, what choices are you both making
Speaker 1: on how to prioritize your partner even you know, with
Speaker 1: your busy schedules when you're off the dance floor, Because
Speaker 1: I know how busy your schedules are, and I know
Speaker 1: how long you're rehearsing, and I know how consuming all
Speaker 1: consuming this is for those three months, Like do you
Speaker 1: have to at the beginning of your day or your
Speaker 1: week like schedule in time with your partner. How do
Speaker 1: you keep you know your partner priority amidst all of this,
Speaker 1: because it's so important.
Speaker 4: For sure, I can just speak on behalf of myself.
Speaker 4: But I think leading up to the season val and
Speaker 4: I both kind of prep ourselves, like, all right, we
Speaker 4: know what storm is a to hit, let's prepare ourselves.
Speaker 4: So this season, we actually right before we started, we
Speaker 4: went on a family vacation, just the three of us,
Speaker 4: and it was so nice to just regroup and enjoy
Speaker 4: those moments of doing nothing. And then I think also
Speaker 4: during the season, like you said, it's so important to
Speaker 4: take time and be like we need a date night,
Speaker 4: or we need to just like snuggle for two hours uninterrupted,
Speaker 4: or we need to just like talk and catch up
Speaker 4: on life. And so I think prioritizing those moments and
Speaker 4: really reconnecting communication is huge and our relationship, and so
Speaker 4: I think the more that we're vocal and talking and
Speaker 4: just checking in with each other to see where we're at,
Speaker 4: the better I am just personally and then in our relationship.
Speaker 4: So I think just like those recheck in moments, and
Speaker 4: then also understanding that there is a finish line at.
Speaker 1: The end of the day, right for it's temporary.
Speaker 4: It's temporary. So just knowing that, like I can do anything,
Speaker 4: how many more weeks we have four something for four
Speaker 4: more weeks and put my heart soul into it. So
Speaker 4: I have no regrets at the end of this. That's
Speaker 4: kind of always my mentality going into the season, and
Speaker 4: especially when you have a good partner like Joey that'll
Speaker 4: understands like you need to give everything and you need
Speaker 4: to do this for you because next season, you don't
Speaker 4: know where you're going to be, you don't know what
Speaker 4: partner you're going to have, So I think having that
Speaker 4: mindset is important absolutely.
Speaker 5: Joey, Yeah, I would say mine's definitely a little different
Speaker 5: because we didn't.
Speaker 3: Know what it was going to be like exactly, and.
Speaker 5: We came off of a TV show where we had
Speaker 5: all the chaos for three months in a row before
Speaker 5: I did this, which was fun because we traveled around
Speaker 5: a lot and did a lot of things, but then
Speaker 5: we also didn't get as much time to actually, I
Speaker 5: don't know, stay in our own little bubble in our
Speaker 5: world maybe.
Speaker 3: As much as we'd like to.
Speaker 5: So we were actually excited for this too because it
Speaker 5: was the first time we got our own place to
Speaker 5: ourselves and the first time we've got to kind of start.
Speaker 3: I can't think of other way than just saying playing.
Speaker 5: House and starting to actually be a real couple in
Speaker 5: a spot that felt like ours, which was really exciting.
Speaker 5: But then what I try to do to help with
Speaker 5: all the chaos is have like a reset, because you
Speaker 5: come back from practice and you're drink, you're tired, and
Speaker 5: Kelsey is.
Speaker 3: So good at giving me.
Speaker 5: I usually ask for like five to ten minutes where
Speaker 5: I'll literally just pop my butt down on the couch
Speaker 5: and just sit there and do nothing and just like
Speaker 5: stare out into space. And then as soon as I
Speaker 5: feel and I have those five to ten minutes, I
Speaker 5: tell her all about my day. I ask how her
Speaker 5: day was, and we just have that open communication to
Speaker 5: see what I've missed, what she's missed, and I try
Speaker 5: to bring as much energy to that conversation as I
Speaker 5: did the entire time I was at Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 5: And when I do that well, it seems to really
Speaker 5: help with get us back on the same wavelength. And
Speaker 5: as you said, we schedule in as much dinners as
Speaker 5: we can. If she has family in town, if she
Speaker 5: has friends in town, I make sure I spend the
Speaker 5: time to go get dinner with her. We've kind of
Speaker 5: made Tuesday nights a ritual where sometimes we'll do stuff
Speaker 5: with Jenna and Val sometimes we'll do stuff with the
Speaker 5: people that are visiting, but we always get time to
Speaker 5: catch up and see each other then, And it's just
Speaker 5: the little things, as Jenna said, trying to when you
Speaker 5: do have that uninterrupted time, making the most of it.
Speaker 5: Whether it's snuggling on the couch, whether it's watching a
Speaker 5: TV show and just being next to each other, whether
Speaker 5: it's talking about our day. We just try to find
Speaker 5: those little moments in the chaos and do the best
Speaker 5: we can at it.
Speaker 1: You guys aren't just killing it on the show, You're
Speaker 1: killing it in real life with these relationship goals. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm inspired just listening to both of you have basically
Speaker 1: your shit together and know what it takes.
Speaker 3: And bake until you met it the deal right now.
Speaker 1: Well, whatever it takes, whatever it takes, so you sound
Speaker 1: wise beyond your years for those just the you know,
Speaker 1: I need five or ten minutes to get home and
Speaker 1: just stare at a wall because I need to come down.
Speaker 5: Yeah, because if I didn't, I would it would seem
Speaker 5: like I wasn't present in the conversation.
Speaker 3: And I just have been.
Speaker 5: Vocal about that, Like I literally am still thinking about
Speaker 5: the last eight count I did and how I messed
Speaker 5: up that last dance move, like I just need a
Speaker 5: second if I didn't get enough in the car, and
Speaker 5: then I give her as much as I can when
Speaker 5: I get that time, and that's helped a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know when I was on it, I had
Speaker 1: a six month old and three daughters at that time,
Speaker 1: and they were all super young, and I was married,
Speaker 1: and life was crazy enough before the show, and then yeah,
Speaker 1: it just got like indescribably hectic and so shutting off
Speaker 1: my mind coming home to the kids and like jumping
Speaker 1: right back into what's for dinner? And you know, did
Speaker 1: you do your homework? All the things a mom does,
Speaker 1: and then all the things that a wife needs to do.
Speaker 1: It's like, ah, there's not enough time in the day
Speaker 1: or enough bandwidth in my brain to manage it all.
Speaker 1: So kudos.
Speaker 3: I don't get to complain at all. If that's the
Speaker 3: what you came back to, Yes, exactly, I'll never complain
Speaker 3: once again. Is all that I just took from that.
Speaker 1: That's good. That's good. The show is such a sure
Speaker 1: cooker of emotions. I know it was for me, especially
Speaker 1: as the competition goes on. It's stressful. It's fun, but
Speaker 1: it's stressful. What are each of you doing to unwine
Speaker 1: or do as self care. Mm hmm, that Chuck will
Speaker 1: tell me a lot.
Speaker 4: No, I think you know. I love coming home. I
Speaker 4: love a bubble bath. Like if I have a night
Speaker 4: where I can just do a bubble bath and just
Speaker 4: lock everything out, that's when I'm at peace. Also just
Speaker 4: doing like for me, it's doing little things of being
Speaker 4: mom and having the time to do that. I feel
Speaker 4: like that brings me a lot of happiness. Although I
Speaker 4: do feel like I have to be on. I really
Speaker 4: feel I'm not at my best when I'm missing my
Speaker 4: son and when i feel avoid So this last this
Speaker 4: past week was really really chaotic with Disney Night. We
Speaker 4: had our individual dance, we had a team dance, we
Speaker 4: had an opening numbers pros. I think every day I
Speaker 4: started at five point forty five and was home at
Speaker 4: like seven, and I felt not myself and I realized
Speaker 4: I just was missing my son and I felt like
Speaker 4: part of my heart was gone all week. And so
Speaker 4: yesterday Valin I went to the pumpkin patch with Rome,
Speaker 4: our little boy, and I just like felt replenished. I
Speaker 4: felt my cup fully fill back up and then I'm reinspired.
Speaker 4: I have more energy. So it's doing those things that
Speaker 4: you know are going to bring you a lot of happiness,
Speaker 4: but bubble bath in some realm time.
Speaker 3: I could definitely do better at this.
Speaker 5: As she said, I think that sometimes I am so
Speaker 5: in this whole experience and putting so much energy towards it,
Speaker 5: and I forget to give myself some time and do
Speaker 5: things that I enjoy doing. But for me, it's really
Speaker 5: just getting some type of alone time. For me, I'm
Speaker 5: very simple in this regard. I've realized that when I
Speaker 5: give too much too people, when I give too much
Speaker 5: to things that I'm doing and I don't just give
Speaker 5: myself the ability to take it in and let my
Speaker 5: mind just kind of wander and actually think about what's
Speaker 5: going on in my head, I will always feel kind
Speaker 5: of jostled and all over the place. And she hit
Speaker 5: last week exactly kind of was how I felt too.
Speaker 5: I mean, we just had such a long week, and
Speaker 5: we had I had extra things like a photo shoot
Speaker 5: to go with Kelsey. I had to go to dinner
Speaker 5: one night with her and her family, and I say
Speaker 5: had to, like I wanted to go do this stuff,
Speaker 5: but I did all of it, and I realized I
Speaker 5: never gave myself that ability to give thirty minutes to
Speaker 5: maybe just have some time to yourself.
Speaker 3: I'm not a big meditation person.
Speaker 5: I just like to kind of have blank's time and
Speaker 5: blank space where I just let.
Speaker 3: My mind wander.
Speaker 5: So I did that a lot more these last couple
Speaker 5: of days, and I need to keep doing that more
Speaker 5: of just giving myself the ability to think about what's
Speaker 5: going on, be grateful for things, organize some stuff in
Speaker 5: my head, and then go back to the chaos right after.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I just I just try to carve out
Speaker 5: little pieces of time.
Speaker 3: I don't need to be doing much.
Speaker 5: I just need to be able to take it back
Speaker 5: for a second, and that usually helps a lot.
Speaker 1: I'm on board with both of you. Bubble baths are
Speaker 1: my sanctuary.
Speaker 3: They sound nice. I don't do them.
Speaker 2: You should.
Speaker 1: You gotta try it. Epsom salts is you need the
Speaker 1: Epsom salts bath while you're doing this, Joey curious. I
Speaker 1: also spend a lot of time in my head too,
Speaker 1: and I found, like when I'm so busy, if I'm
Speaker 1: driving somewhere, to just have silence and just be with
Speaker 1: myself in the car and let my mind do what
Speaker 1: you said, Like Rome and think things through that just
Speaker 1: needs to process. That was really helpful for me. So
Speaker 1: just turn the radio down, turn the music off, don't
Speaker 1: call anybody on your drive, just be with yourself. That helps, sure,
Speaker 1: for sure, for sure, you know you're deep in the competition. Now,
Speaker 1: it's not just about dance. It's about pushing yourself, It's
Speaker 1: about perseverance. What would you say that each of you
Speaker 1: have learned about yourselves through this experience, especially you, Joey,
Speaker 1: since this is your first time.
Speaker 3: I'm still learning a lot right now.
Speaker 5: I think the biggest thing that I've learned is that
Speaker 5: I definitely am a hard worker, which I've always really
Speaker 5: tried to hold on to. I know that I'm not
Speaker 5: going to give up and put everything I can to this.
Speaker 5: I hope Jenna feels that way, because I really do
Speaker 5: try every day even if I am not maybe doing
Speaker 5: the best of my steps or feel a little bit off.
Speaker 5: I don't ever want to like give up. I want
Speaker 5: to put everything into it. But I think the biggest
Speaker 5: thing I've learned about myself is this game time type
Speaker 5: mentality thing that is still so new for me, because
Speaker 5: you don't get put in that situation that much. Jenna
Speaker 5: can attest to sometimes where we're like about to go
Speaker 5: on stage and I am in my head, I am
Speaker 5: rethinking every single little detail. An example would be that
Speaker 5: tango night again, we did a drum fill and I
Speaker 5: did I had to do a fill and I had
Speaker 5: to match it up perfectly, and five seconds before showtime hit,
Speaker 5: Jenna asked me to do it.
Speaker 3: I did nothing close to what the actual beat was like.
Speaker 3: I was completely offbeat and I felt it. I felt
Speaker 3: her energy right behind me. She was like, Oh, no,
Speaker 3: this is gonna be bad. And then something.
Speaker 4: I didn't say anything, though, I just thought.
Speaker 5: I was like, you're like, oh, this is gonna be anything,
Speaker 5: and I don't know.
Speaker 3: Something.
Speaker 5: Again that night, the moment clicks, and I just have
Speaker 5: been able to bring something every time, and it's different
Speaker 5: every time, but I just have been able to deliver
Speaker 5: when it matters most.
Speaker 3: And something about that has given me a really.
Speaker 5: Great feeling, like, Okay, I guess in crunch time, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna come when I need to. So probably that and
Speaker 5: the ability of just how much effort you have to
Speaker 5: put in. I've been really happy with putting in the
Speaker 5: hard work. So I've learned that about myself.
Speaker 3: I guess.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: I think that's valuable information for you to know about
Speaker 1: yourself because you know that just doesn't pertain to this experience.
Speaker 1: Like in the rest of your life, you know, you
Speaker 1: can rely on your instincts and yourself when in those
Speaker 1: moments of high stress and high pressure and sort of
Speaker 1: alleviate some of that what we do to ourselves when
Speaker 1: we freak out, you know, all.
Speaker 5: The worry that isn't necessary. It's wasted energy if you
Speaker 5: really just trust in yourself. And that's what I'm trying
Speaker 5: to do better at each week, is not have that
Speaker 5: worry because there's a mix. You have to be caring
Speaker 5: enough and thinking about it, but then you can't have
Speaker 5: wasted energy if you trust in yourself at the same.
Speaker 1: Time, definitely, and you have to come prepared like you
Speaker 1: have to do the work, and then at just some
Speaker 1: point just give it.
Speaker 3: Up and trust it. Yeah, trust it.
Speaker 1: Yep, it's hard. It's so hard. Joe. You have opened
Speaker 1: up about your Jillbear syndrome, which affects your liver, and
Speaker 1: for those of us that don't know much about it,
Speaker 1: can you explain that and tell us kind of like
Speaker 1: when did you realize you had it? And how does
Speaker 1: it affect your life?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I probably should get more knowledgeable on this since
Speaker 5: I have it, but I will explain it the best
Speaker 5: that I can from what I was told and just
Speaker 5: things that I've been paying it to attention to.
Speaker 3: I found out when I was in high school.
Speaker 5: I was sick for a pretty long extended period of time,
Speaker 5: and I just remember telling my mom, like, I just
Speaker 5: feel off, like I feel very fatigued, Like it's just
Speaker 5: hard to be doing normal things right now. So she
Speaker 5: got to the point of saying, well, we should go
Speaker 5: to the hospital or like go to urgent care or
Speaker 5: the doctor and just like figure it out. So we
Speaker 5: didn't go to the emergency room. We went to the
Speaker 5: primary doctor and they recommended getting a blood test. And
Speaker 5: when I got my blood test, my Billy rubin count
Speaker 5: spiked very high, which usually scares people and think it's
Speaker 5: something along with hepatitis, something that could be wrong with
Speaker 5: your liver. So then I had to go to the
Speaker 5: hospital and get an ultrasound of my liver. I believe
Speaker 5: it's an ultrastounds is the correct way to say it,
Speaker 5: but again I'm no doctor. But they checked and there
Speaker 5: was no abnormalities to it, and then I went to
Speaker 5: a specialist who explained what it probably meant, and it
Speaker 5: was Jolbert syndrome, which from what they described it as
Speaker 5: is it's like a sponge in terms of your liver,
Speaker 5: and most people when they have water have any type
Speaker 5: of electrolytes or hydration come through their body. It soaks
Speaker 5: up very nicely and then lets it out very nicely.
Speaker 3: But what happens with.
Speaker 5: Mine is my sponges already ringed out and dry, so
Speaker 5: when it tries to have all this nice filtration, it
Speaker 5: doesn't work, and that affects the yellow of my eyes.
Speaker 5: When I get stressed, if I don't drink enough fluids,
Speaker 5: I can get very fatigued, I can be a little
Speaker 5: bit more on the tired side, and visually people can
Speaker 5: tell because again when I did the TV show, which
Speaker 5: is why I had to talk about it, when you
Speaker 5: get no sleep, when you're stressed about dating so many
Speaker 5: women and you have so much pressure on yourself.
Speaker 3: My eyes were very yellow on television.
Speaker 5: It was very obvious that something was off, and I
Speaker 5: just had to finally talk about it because I just
Speaker 5: was tired of seeing it be a comment every single day.
Speaker 5: And again, I want to go and get more knowledge
Speaker 5: on this. I haven't been able to do as much
Speaker 5: as I would like to because of how crazy schedules
Speaker 5: have been. But I would like to get more understanding
Speaker 5: because my sister just recently got tested and she has
Speaker 5: it too, and that was because of the fact that
Speaker 5: she was feeling similar things. So it's something in our family.
Speaker 5: You can live with it fully. It's not anything that's
Speaker 5: supposed to I guess stop me in any way.
Speaker 3: But I do need to be aware of my hydration.
Speaker 5: I literally am drinking Gatorade light right now because I
Speaker 5: felt a little fatigue coming back from practice to get
Speaker 5: some more electrolytes and just get more fluids in my system.
Speaker 3: And that's that's the history I know of it.
Speaker 1: Well, I didn't notice your eyes at all. I was
Speaker 1: so engrossed in your journey that I didn't really see it.
Speaker 1: So there you have it.
Speaker 3: You did, but a lot of other people did.
Speaker 5: Okay, I'm me, yeah, comment on every single thing I
Speaker 5: would do that was just like this.
Speaker 1: The whole time, So I didn't notice. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: what are you doing to yourself? You're in another highly
Speaker 1: stressful situation. You're probably losing sleep right now, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it's important you're seeing hydrated. I mean, are those the
Speaker 1: main things that you have to watch a specially in
Speaker 1: this kind of a physically strenuous, stressful job that you're doing.
Speaker 5: Right now, I can tell, like I've had it and
Speaker 5: dealt with it enough that i know when it's at
Speaker 5: a bad point, and it's at.
Speaker 3: All time bad right now, like it is very noticeable.
Speaker 5: I can tell that I'm just not taking enough fluids
Speaker 5: in and not doing as much as I can because
Speaker 5: it's almost impossible with how much we're doing.
Speaker 3: But I manage it.
Speaker 5: And I felt honestly great and fine the through this
Speaker 5: whole entire time. So it's just, yeah, I'm putting myself
Speaker 5: in a lot of high stress situations where I'm strenuous
Speaker 5: and doing a lot of stuff, but I'm as far
Speaker 5: as I know, I'm healthy.
Speaker 3: So I'm feeling what happens.
Speaker 1: When you don't when you notice it kind of is
Speaker 1: it a flare up? Or would you say or how
Speaker 1: do you notice that you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it happened more I would say on The Bachelor,
Speaker 5: and does right now because Jenna is great with giving
Speaker 5: me enough time to have rest and we get breaks
Speaker 5: and it's I feel like I've gotten in a really
Speaker 5: good routine with dancing. It's more, I would say the
Speaker 5: mental than the physical side that's been tough with this season,
Speaker 5: just because of how much it comes in with The Bachelor.
Speaker 5: It was more really really long nights and just a
Speaker 5: lot of conversations and actually physically draining of what you
Speaker 5: had to do for that show.
Speaker 3: And it's a very.
Speaker 5: High stress short pound of time. So it was like
Speaker 5: a two and a half month stretch where it was
Speaker 5: a full on sprint.
Speaker 3: Even though it was the length.
Speaker 5: Of a marathon, it felt like a sprint, and that
Speaker 5: one it was just they could tell there's just some
Speaker 5: days where I just I was yawning more. I felt very,
Speaker 5: very tired. They always were trying to pump me with
Speaker 5: more energy.
Speaker 3: They're like, maybe Joey needs a Celsius or maybe he
Speaker 3: needs this. I was like, maybe he needs a nap,
Speaker 3: like and maybe you need to give him a little break.
Speaker 5: But you don't get on that show because time isn't
Speaker 5: isn't available. And I'm glad I pushed through and I
Speaker 5: wouldn't have changed a thing about the whole experience, and
Speaker 5: I love everyone from that experience, but that.
Speaker 3: Was one of the first times in my life I
Speaker 3: was like, Okay, yeah, something is a little off.
Speaker 5: But I had a great handler that was on the
Speaker 5: show that gave me a concoction every morning, is what
Speaker 5: he called it.
Speaker 3: And he put.
Speaker 5: Collagen liquid IV and this huge thing of water and
Speaker 5: gave me fish oil, magnesium like he was just throwing
Speaker 5: me vitamins, just being like, we're gonna make sure you
Speaker 5: survive because he knew.
Speaker 1: No, we can't have our bachelor going down and.
Speaker 5: As much as I could so and we got through
Speaker 5: that just fine, and the show was always aware of it.
Speaker 5: But it's just no matter anyone that's been in that position.
Speaker 5: Energy is something that you want as much as possible.
Speaker 5: And I was in a position where I just didn't have.
Speaker 5: My body didn't help.
Speaker 3: Me a lot with that, but we made it through,
Speaker 3: So we're good.
Speaker 1: You made it through with flying colors. So kudos to you, Jenna,
Speaker 1: as a mother, relatively new mom, and a wife and
Speaker 1: a dancer. I'm sure as any busy parent and spouse
Speaker 1: that you have days where you feel like you're crushing
Speaker 1: it in some areas and dropping the ball in others.
Speaker 1: And I know I love that you've talked about the
Speaker 1: fact that you've done therapy and how beneficial it has
Speaker 1: been to you. So that is a very compelling I
Speaker 1: choose me sort of declaration by going get therapy and
Speaker 1: dealing because you're dealing with a lot. What has been
Speaker 1: your favorite mom moment of the week, like your biggest
Speaker 1: triumph and your biggest like, oh I could have done better?
Speaker 3: Hmmm.
Speaker 4: I feel like I can always do better.
Speaker 1: So that's how we always feel.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 4: No, I think last night, uh that was away, he
Speaker 4: was gone, and I just had a couple of hours
Speaker 4: one on one with Rome and we got to do
Speaker 4: our full our nighttime routine together, just the two of us,
Speaker 4: and it was so special and honestly I cried through
Speaker 4: the whole thing because it's been a second since I've
Speaker 4: been able to do that, just have that time together
Speaker 4: and feel like I was making a difference in his
Speaker 4: life and it was just so special and he just
Speaker 4: like snuggled me to I put him down. He said, Mama,
Speaker 4: love you, and I was just like, you know, those
Speaker 4: little moments are like, oh my gosh, he loves me.
Speaker 4: I'm doing something right. So I would say that of
Speaker 4: the week, that was my favorite, just getting that, like
Speaker 4: amazing one on one time with him. Feeling reconnected and
Speaker 4: having those special moments is Ammy and Son. I mean,
Speaker 4: he's just He's the best.
Speaker 1: Sam, It is the best. Do you ever get mom guilt.
Speaker 4: All the time? I think Joey's seen it, especially the
Speaker 4: long hours on like you know, we have our camera
Speaker 4: blocking day, which is a very very long day, and
Speaker 4: then the next day is a show day, So basically
Speaker 4: Monday Tuesday, I feel like I'm gone. Sometimes I see
Speaker 4: him and sometimes I don't. By the time I get back,
Speaker 4: he's already in bed. Those days are hard, and it's
Speaker 4: hard not to feel like, man, am I doing the
Speaker 4: right thing? Am I making a mistake by or selfish
Speaker 4: by not being here for these moments? But again, it's
Speaker 4: back to that thought of like, this is such a
Speaker 4: short amount of time in the grand scheme of things,
Speaker 4: and I know that I'm so passionate about dance and
Speaker 4: I have a shot this season with Joey, and I
Speaker 4: know that these moments don't come often, so I'm going
Speaker 4: to take advantage of it. And I've been so grateful
Speaker 4: for the patients of Joey. You know, when I do
Speaker 4: have those moments of like being a little bit down,
Speaker 4: just reminding me the like, oh no, you're good, or
Speaker 4: like talking about Rome just like bringing him up makes
Speaker 4: me feel a lot better too. So I definitely have
Speaker 4: mom guilt, but I guess it's just part of being
Speaker 4: a working mama. I think regardless of like what your
Speaker 4: craft is, you're always going to have those moments. I'm
Speaker 4: sure you're going to tell that I don't know how
Speaker 4: you did the show with three kids, like I'm surviving
Speaker 4: with one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the mom guilt thing was always a thing, but
Speaker 1: I mean I can look at it from the other
Speaker 1: side now and see how amazing my girls turned out
Speaker 1: despite the fact that I worked a lot and I
Speaker 1: did have passion for what things I was doing in
Speaker 1: my career for myself and knowing that by putting my
Speaker 1: energy on other things than them sometimes it showed them
Speaker 1: what it's like to have passion and how necessary that
Speaker 1: is in a person's life. And I think that that's
Speaker 1: something that invaluable that you're giving him, even though it
Speaker 1: doesn't feel right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and again we try our best, especially on show days.
Speaker 4: We'll have him come to set, and I think it's
Speaker 4: like what other tddler can say that their mom and
Speaker 4: dad were a Disney prince or princess this week on
Speaker 4: Dancing with the Stars, and he gets to like see
Speaker 4: the whole set and crew and me amazing people. So
Speaker 4: I do feel like there are so many benefits, and
Speaker 4: I'm grateful for the show that they do make it
Speaker 4: accessible for us to have our kids on set and
Speaker 4: to make that a priority. I'm really really grateful for that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's great. Do you and Val think that you'll
Speaker 1: have a little dancer on your hands?
Speaker 4: We will see. He you know what, he loves music.
Speaker 4: He's very musically inclined child. He loves to sing. So
Speaker 4: whether that's going to translate into dancing, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I will support whatever he wants to do. We have
Speaker 4: a lot of dance in our life in general, so
Speaker 4: it might be nice if he does something.
Speaker 1: How about soccer?
Speaker 4: How about sports? But yeah, we'll see. I think it
Speaker 4: would be crazy if he didn't fit into this world
Speaker 4: pretty naturally. But I don't want to push him into
Speaker 4: anything that he doesn't want to do, So we'll see.
Speaker 1: Yep, you can just support them, that's it. Yeah, Okay, Joey.
Speaker 1: I was crushed when Kelsey's dad got quoted off eliminated
Speaker 1: how do you get it unroased? I don't know what
Speaker 1: you say, but I was pretty upset about it. How's
Speaker 1: he doing? How's Mark doing?
Speaker 3: Mark's doing great?
Speaker 5: I think a lot of people were upset, but and
Speaker 5: I mean, I'll be the first two a bit.
Speaker 3: When we to news, we were upset too. We were
Speaker 3: really rooting for it from the beginning.
Speaker 1: I was like, he's the winner, He's the one.
Speaker 5: I mean, he's He's just such a lovable person. I
Speaker 5: think people got glimpses of that during my season on Hometown,
Speaker 5: but then to see more of him that obviously have
Speaker 5: all these interviews and having them be back on TV,
Speaker 5: people kind of figure out how special of a person
Speaker 5: he is.
Speaker 3: It's just he deserves so much.
Speaker 5: And I think the one thing that you can't always
Speaker 5: see that I can at least share, is he's one
Speaker 5: of those people that gives so much to other people.
Speaker 5: He is full force dad doing everything he can for
Speaker 5: Kelsey and all of their siblings, and you can just
Speaker 5: tell when you're around all of them how much he's
Speaker 5: thinking of them before he thinks of himself, which is,
Speaker 5: I mean, the best thing a dad can do. But
Speaker 5: I was so excited for this season, and I'm still
Speaker 5: so excited for the fact that it's what the show brings.
Speaker 3: It gives them ability.
Speaker 5: To put themselves first and try to do something for
Speaker 5: them to meet all these other guys. He said it
Speaker 5: was the experience of a lifetime. He said it was
Speaker 5: better than therapy. You can look in his eyes and
Speaker 5: he say it, and you know that he means it.
Speaker 5: So I'm just so happy that he gained so much
Speaker 5: from this experience. And I have no idea what's going
Speaker 5: to be next for him, but I have no doubt
Speaker 5: that he didn't regret one thing, and he's just so
Speaker 5: grateful and for that, I'm just very happy for him.
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll do a Golden Paradise, you know, he can
Speaker 1: be on that. I would be for it.
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm sure they would enjoy jumping in the pool.
Speaker 5: They were in the entire time. They'd be in the pool,
Speaker 5: drinking and having a good time.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's one of the best things about watching it is,
Speaker 1: like just especially with the Golden is that you see
Speaker 1: this group of people come together and support one another,
Speaker 1: and like especially the men, they are around other men
Speaker 1: that are dealing with their feelings and all the things
Speaker 1: are coming up for everybody and then they talk about it.
Speaker 1: It just must be such just like group therapy every day.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it happens, even from the show when I was
Speaker 5: on about your h It's very amazing the things that
Speaker 5: can happen when you take away all distractions and just
Speaker 5: put them out there. But there's something different about the
Speaker 5: Golden crowd because it's even more special and it's more
Speaker 5: fulfilling to watch. We are still figuring out so much
Speaker 5: about life and don't have all these experiences bring into play,
Speaker 5: so it's more of an eye opening experience for us.
Speaker 3: But I think on the flip side, the Golden it's
Speaker 3: more of.
Speaker 5: An appreciation and a I don't even know it just
Speaker 5: there's something about it that feels so wholesome that they
Speaker 5: accept each other and uplift each other to this point
Speaker 5: you just you can't help but be like, we.
Speaker 3: Want all of you to be happy. It's not the same.
Speaker 5: Case when it's the young group, because you're like this
Speaker 5: person still figuring out exactly who they are and they
Speaker 5: got a lot of work to do, but it's at
Speaker 5: least nice that they're starting the process. It's for the
Speaker 5: Golden side, and it's it's special it's really fun to watch,
Speaker 5: and all those guys that've met have been amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can tell, I can tell. Okay, before I
Speaker 1: let you go, Joey and Jenna, what was your last
Speaker 1: I choose me moment?
Speaker 4: I'll let you go first?
Speaker 3: I was trying to say, you go first, I'll go first.
Speaker 3: What was my last I choose me moment?
Speaker 1: It can be like you said, Jenna, bubble bath, but
Speaker 1: it might be extra hard right now because.
Speaker 5: That's the truth is is I feel like I feel
Speaker 5: like I've been choosing myself a lot with like doing
Speaker 5: dancing wasn't I choose me moment? But I want to
Speaker 5: do something outside of that because tell your truth. I
Speaker 5: did it because Kelsey was pushing me to do it,
Speaker 5: and I was like, you know, why not. It was
Speaker 5: kind of one of those things that I was I
Speaker 5: was a little on the fence about. I don't know
Speaker 5: if I did it fully for me right away, but say,
Speaker 5: I guess what I'll say, is I choose me?
Speaker 3: Is I'm fully doing it for me now? Like there
Speaker 3: are moments in every.
Speaker 5: Day where I'm just I am doing really well, leaving
Speaker 5: everything at the door, and I am choosing myself of
Speaker 5: being fully in this. So I would even just say
Speaker 5: an exam being today, Like we got into practice, I
Speaker 5: had some stuff going on with personal things and things
Speaker 5: I was thinking about, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 5: I'm going to leave it at the door. I'm going
Speaker 5: to choose to be here and just fully be invested
Speaker 5: in this. And I'm trying to have that mindset every
Speaker 5: day I walk into the studio.
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's a good one, but it's
Speaker 3: just the best I.
Speaker 5: Can do right now because sadly, dancing is all that's
Speaker 5: on my mind because I'm really trying to dive.
Speaker 4: Into this perfect Yeah, it's weird because I kind of
Speaker 4: want to say similarly, you know, choosing to do this
Speaker 4: season as a mom is a big I choose me
Speaker 4: moment in itself, and I think I am putting a
Speaker 4: lot of pressure on myself this season because I was
Speaker 4: pregnant two seasons ago, so I missed out on a
Speaker 4: whole season. And as much as I needed that for
Speaker 4: myself and I needed a second to step away, it
Speaker 4: was such an eye opening experience because I realized how
Speaker 4: much I do love the show and how much I
Speaker 4: love to create and choreograph and dance and how much
Speaker 4: I love watching Somebody's journey the show. So I had that,
Speaker 4: and then last season I got eliminated very early on,
Speaker 4: and so I feel like there's been this like buyer
Speaker 4: inside of me for the past two years that has
Speaker 4: wanted to come back and have a chance, a shot
Speaker 4: to like dance my face off with my partner and
Speaker 4: create some epic routines. And I feel like Joey and
Speaker 4: I are having that this season, and so in a
Speaker 4: weird way, this is my like choose me moment, and
Speaker 4: I'm so grateful for that.
Speaker 1: I get it. I'm so happy for both of you,
Speaker 1: and I'm here with my daughters. We're all rooting for you,
Speaker 1: just like we were for you Joey on The Bachelor.
Speaker 1: So I just wish you both the best and thank
Speaker 1: you so much for coming on and go dance, Go dance.
Speaker 1: Come on, you gotta practice.
Speaker 3: We're gonna keep dancing.
Speaker 5: I love I love that both of our I choose
Speaker 5: me as we're also choosing each other and being in this.
Speaker 5: So that makes me happy. I think we both want
Speaker 5: this bad and we're gonna keep doing it. We appreciate
Speaker 5: the support.
Speaker 1: Yeah you got it, mate, Yeah high vibe from everybody.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thank you guys. That was such
Speaker 1: a good combo with Joey and Jenna and just reliving
Speaker 1: all the memories I had from when I was back
Speaker 1: on the show rooting for them in this competition. For sure,
Speaker 1: as we continue to choose ourselves each week, I want
Speaker 1: you to do something fun after listening to this podcast.
Speaker 1: I want you to dance. Dancing cannot only be a
Speaker 1: great exercise, but it can also release endorphins and bring
Speaker 1: up our moods. So this is your reminder. Feeling stressed,
Speaker 1: feeling sad, feeling anxious about something, choose yourself. Put on
Speaker 1: that I Choose Me playlist that we made, and take
Speaker 1: a ten minute dance break. I promise you will feel
Speaker 1: better once you let go and bust a move like
Speaker 1: no one is watching. And you, guys, do me a favor.
Speaker 1: If you're loving the podcast, follow us on Instagram and
Speaker 1: also I would love it if you would go on
Speaker 1: to our show notes and rate us and review us
Speaker 1: because we love seeing that. My bosses love seeing that,
Speaker 1: and it's just cool to read what you guys are
Speaker 1: thinking and saying. And remember to use the hashtag I
Speaker 1: Choose Me. I will be here next week. I hope
Speaker 1: you choose to be here too,