Speaker 1: Hello, Welcome to Danielle with the Stars. I am Danielle Fischl,
Speaker 1: a TV director, a podcaster.
Speaker 2: Forever to Panga, and a mom of two.
Speaker 1: Currently, though I am learning how to ballroom dance one step.
Speaker 2: At a time.
Speaker 1: I'm training for Season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 1: premiering September sixteenth on ABC and Disney Plus. And I'm
Speaker 1: going to be recording this podcast chronicling my journey, giving
Speaker 1: you the inside story of one celebrities quest for a
Speaker 1: Mirror Ball Trophy. And right now I am engulfed in rehearsals.
Speaker 1: I'm practicing every single day, and I figured the best
Speaker 1: way for me to prep for a victory, because my
Speaker 1: goal is victory, is to talk to those who have
Speaker 1: competed before me, and today I am chatting to someone
Speaker 1: from within the pod meets World Extended Universe. A celebrity
Speaker 1: dancer who participated in not just one season of Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars, but two. She first competed in season
Speaker 1: five back in two thousand and seven with partner Mark
Speaker 1: Ballas and finished seventh place, a result often considered the
Speaker 1: most shocking and unfair in the show's history.
Speaker 2: AOL users settled.
Speaker 1: Down everyone remember it's the year two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: even voted it as the most shocking TV moment of
Speaker 1: the year, and to right the wrong. She would return
Speaker 1: for season fifteen in twenty twelve, the only all Star
Speaker 1: incarnation to date, now paired with Louis van Amstell, and
Speaker 1: she placed eighth eliminated exactly five years to the date
Speaker 1: she controversially exited back in two thousand and seven, and
Speaker 1: in between the two appearances, she even went on the
Speaker 1: road for Dancing with the Stars Live. So if I
Speaker 1: am going to get advice from anyone, I think I'm
Speaker 1: starting in the right place. Today on Danielle with the Stars,
Speaker 1: I am paired with the iconic Cheetah Girl and the
Speaker 1: co host of the magical rewind podcast. It's Sabrina Brian. Sabrina,
Speaker 1: I am so happy that you are here to talk
Speaker 1: with me and help me through this process.
Speaker 2: I am gonna be honest, I feel.
Speaker 1: In slightly over my head, So your expert advice is
Speaker 1: greatly appreciated.
Speaker 2: I know the feeling. It's it's a bit of an unknown, right, Like,
Speaker 2: I mean, you've done live TV, so that's not a thing,
Speaker 2: but it it's you're learning something New Right, and it's
Speaker 2: like it's really nerve racking. But I will tell you
Speaker 2: that the pros on this show, they are they're just
Speaker 2: they're exactly that they're pros, and they will hold your
Speaker 2: hand and take you through this journey and it's just you.
Speaker 3: You just have to get ready that.
Speaker 2: This is gonna be one of the most exciting things
Speaker 2: you've ever done. It's so different, and you're gonna be
Speaker 2: hooked like you're gonna always want to be in the audience.
Speaker 2: You are gonna be obsessed with spray tnds. It is
Speaker 2: like everything like you just will get hooked in this
Speaker 2: entire world.
Speaker 3: Believe me, I swear you all.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: I mean you were very kind to give me credit
Speaker 1: that I have done live TV, which means I have
Speaker 1: held a microphone and spoken during live TV. I have
Speaker 1: never really had to perform on live TV. So that
Speaker 1: kind of brings me to my next question for you,
Speaker 1: and I might have a feeling I regret this, but
Speaker 1: what is your background in dance before you agreed to
Speaker 1: the show.
Speaker 2: Okay, so I grew up dancing hip hop, tap okay,
Speaker 2: ballet jazz from the time you were a little girl.
Speaker 2: I start or what's actually considered pretty late. I started
Speaker 2: at seven, Oh, that wasn't too late, but it's it
Speaker 2: actually now that my daughter is in the world, It's like,
Speaker 2: if you don't have classes starting at two, with like
Speaker 2: those mommy and me classes, you're kind of like tested
Speaker 2: it out, and then if you're wanting to be like
Speaker 2: a competitive dancer, you really got to get your kids
Speaker 2: in like going hard around like four or five, which
Speaker 2: is wow.
Speaker 1: That do you think forty four is too late?
Speaker 2: Not at all okay, because I mean, listen, this show
Speaker 2: isn't I think what's great is you're entering it during
Speaker 2: a time where the show has seen all kinds of
Speaker 2: celebrities come on. When I did my first season, there
Speaker 2: wasn't a lot of quote unquote dancers that would do it,
Speaker 2: and so I got actually a lot of flak for
Speaker 2: the dance background I had because I had been on
Speaker 2: The Cheetah Girls. They knew already I could dance, and
Speaker 2: they that was actually a little bit of a backlash
Speaker 2: at that time during the show, because it was like, well,
Speaker 2: this isn't even fair. She can dance, and it's like
Speaker 2: I can dance, but my habits. First of all, I
Speaker 2: had never danced with like a partner like this, like
Speaker 2: learning for someone to lead me.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: I know the choreography? Why am I gonna you know?
Speaker 2: Why where are you doing anything? Yeah? Yeah, it's it's
Speaker 2: like it's one of those things where being hooked to
Speaker 2: somebody and having them steer you into the direction and
Speaker 2: waiting for them, because that's part of the technique of
Speaker 2: learning ballroom in Latin is being as a woman and
Speaker 2: being in the man's frame. You're supposed to be led
Speaker 2: by them. And that was really difficult for me to
Speaker 2: lean into because I just was used to being on
Speaker 2: my own. I mean, yeah, I would maybe grab a hand,
Speaker 2: do a spin in something, but like never like this
Speaker 2: where the entire time you are locked like hand in hand, right,
Speaker 2: And that was really hard for me for timing. I mean,
Speaker 2: I had Mark Ballast my first season, and what was
Speaker 2: awesome with Mark is it was his first season, so
Speaker 2: we were both kind of just lost. I hardly know
Speaker 2: what in regards with the show, but he was so
Speaker 2: vibrant and so he had already like what he came from.
Speaker 2: When he was in London. He was teaching a lot,
Speaker 2: which I think makes a big difference because it gives
Speaker 2: you a bit of an understanding of somebody brand new
Speaker 2: and also giving the level of patients.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how to communicate what he's trying to get out
Speaker 1: of you. He's already had practice of that with kids too,
Speaker 1: which is great.
Speaker 2: You're like, talk to me like I'm for There's.
Speaker 3: Nothing that gives you more patience than handling kids.
Speaker 2: Yes, So that was really amazing, and he was really
Speaker 2: good on teaching me the steps he saw that I
Speaker 2: needed to learn choreography, then timing, then how he wants
Speaker 2: to push me into being where I need to be
Speaker 2: on that timing.
Speaker 3: So it was just it. But you'll see everyone has
Speaker 3: their own journey.
Speaker 2: But you'll see regardless, everyone's journey involves creating a relationship
Speaker 2: with your partner, learning to trust them. And like I said,
Speaker 2: now where we're at with Dancing with the Stars forty
Speaker 2: five years after I've done it, it is like the
Speaker 2: pros have it locked in. So all you gotta do
Speaker 2: is listen to your pro and you are going to
Speaker 2: be golden.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned you were in one of the earlier seasons.
Speaker 1: You were originally on the fifth season of the show
Speaker 1: back in two thousand and seven, So what season are
Speaker 1: we already four? I know nothing will make you feel
Speaker 1: older than hearing that for sure. Do you think having
Speaker 1: had experience with other styles of dance helped you or
Speaker 1: hurt you with learning the choreography?
Speaker 2: I think for learning helped me. I there's something I
Speaker 2: think this is what is great with athletes that joined
Speaker 2: the show as well as there's a way in your
Speaker 2: brain that is, it's a training process of learning to
Speaker 2: be able to see see movement, do movement, and have
Speaker 2: it sink into your body and then remembering it. And
Speaker 2: that memory aspect is what I think people who don't
Speaker 2: come with any kind of training in that sense, whether
Speaker 2: it's you know, a football player, an ice hockey or
Speaker 2: what you know, a figure skater, that ability to remember
Speaker 2: movement is what helped me. What didn't help me was
Speaker 2: my movement was like heavy and I was not elegant
Speaker 2: in any sense. And when I say I trained in ballet,
Speaker 2: it was like I did the bitter minimum classes they
Speaker 2: made me do. I didn't like being like this elegant ballerina.
Speaker 2: That was kind of my cousin's role. She was a
Speaker 2: dancer and she was bury into balleta so that elegance
Speaker 2: that happens within the ballroom side was probably the hardest
Speaker 2: for me to really lock in.
Speaker 3: I could get into.
Speaker 2: The fears cha cha and the fun you know, passo
Speaker 2: and all of that, but when it came to ballroom
Speaker 2: and I had to be this like elegant, like princess vibe.
Speaker 2: That's just not man.
Speaker 1: That is I'm so glad you said that. That is
Speaker 1: my achilles heel too. Like I have been watching videos
Speaker 1: of ballroom dancing just to like get just just visual.
Speaker 1: Like you said, part of my training for myself is
Speaker 1: like I want to watch as much of it as
Speaker 1: I can so that I know what I'm trying to emulate. Yes,
Speaker 1: I am gonna break my neck. I'm gonna break my neck.
Speaker 2: How do they leave?
Speaker 1: Far back?
Speaker 2: And now? And I'm sore. I'm just sore.
Speaker 1: I've been practicing and okay, I'm akey.
Speaker 2: It hurts, it all hurts. Oh well, it's gonna get
Speaker 2: a whole lot worse before it gets better. But you're
Speaker 2: gonna love it because you're What's great too about the
Speaker 2: show and like doing something like this, you have video
Speaker 2: from the start to the end, and you're gonna see your.
Speaker 3: Progression and you're really I think.
Speaker 2: You know, there's only a few people that I think
Speaker 2: come off the show and aren't like proud, But I
Speaker 2: think ninety eight percent of the people. No matter how
Speaker 2: far you make it in the competition, you look back
Speaker 2: at that first package they put together, when it's the
Speaker 2: first day, the first couple of weeks before the audience
Speaker 2: ever gets to see you, and then your first dance,
Speaker 2: and you're going, even in that short amount of time,
Speaker 2: look at me, I really, really, I really learned something
Speaker 2: like a whole routine. You're not learning a couple of steps,
Speaker 2: you're learning a whole routine. Yeah. So I think you're
Speaker 2: going to really enjoy the process, and it's something so magical.
Speaker 2: I would do it again in a heartbeat, even though
Speaker 2: it's so I know how much work it comes into.
Speaker 2: I know the kind of criticism you get while you're
Speaker 2: on the show. You know, the viewers now are professionals themselves,
Speaker 2: right so you know, I mean my parents are included.
Speaker 2: They used to watch the show. They're not as avid anymore.
Speaker 2: But the reason why I did the show is for
Speaker 2: my mom. I walked into their house one day. I
Speaker 2: was living up in la and I came down to
Speaker 2: visit and it was on a Monday night and I
Speaker 2: walk in and they each have their own little tablets
Speaker 2: of paper and they're writing down notes and giving their
Speaker 2: own scores to see how they match up to the judges.
Speaker 2: I mean these the audience. You can't really ask for
Speaker 2: a better Dancing the Stars audience. They are invested, right
Speaker 2: They they love it?
Speaker 3: Yes, they do.
Speaker 2: Oh. I can't wait to get to know them too. Yes.
Speaker 1: So had you you said you did it for your mom?
Speaker 1: Your mom was obviously a fan. Had you watched the
Speaker 1: earlier seasons before you get on the show?
Speaker 2: No, I it was this was back when the show
Speaker 2: did two seasons a year. Yeah. And it was around
Speaker 2: Mother's Day and it popped in my head, you know
Speaker 2: what would be really cool. I'm going to call my
Speaker 2: agent and see if I can get my mom and
Speaker 2: I at the live show for Mother's Day like a
Speaker 2: Mother's Day present. And I called my agent, Julie, and she.
Speaker 3: Was like, are you being serious right now?
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, I have watched the show, but my
Speaker 2: mom loves it, and she goes I literally just got
Speaker 2: off the phone with cast scene and they're interested in
Speaker 2: you coming in and we're gonna ask for you to
Speaker 2: come watch and see if you'd be interested. And I
Speaker 2: was like, well tell them yes, I am.
Speaker 1: Oh that's so great.
Speaker 2: It's just kind of I mean, just one of those
Speaker 2: things that happened, like the timing couldn't have been perfect.
Speaker 1: Oh that's so, that's so amazing, what a great feeling. Okay,
Speaker 1: what was your rehearsal process?
Speaker 2: Like I've heard it changed a little bit, and it
Speaker 2: changed from and I think it's just again the show progressing.
Speaker 2: It changed from my season five to my All Star season.
Speaker 2: So season five we had I think a max of
Speaker 2: eight hours a day to be in the rehearsal studio. Okay,
Speaker 2: just a max.
Speaker 1: Just a max of eight physical activity.
Speaker 2: And I think a lot of that had to do
Speaker 2: with they had to schedule other celebrities within that studio.
Speaker 2: Back then, we were sprinkled out throughout LA so there
Speaker 2: was you know one off of Ventura, one in in
Speaker 2: you know, North Hollywood. There was all different dance studios
Speaker 2: that they were renting from, Okay, and so we had
Speaker 2: they had to kind of you know schedule all of
Speaker 2: everyone getting their time in to have room space. Then
Speaker 2: I went back for my All Star season and they
Speaker 2: had built this Dancing with the Stars like complex where
Speaker 2: there's multiple rooms in this big building, which was really
Speaker 2: fun because the first season, the only time you really
Speaker 2: saw the other celebrities was if you maybe pass them
Speaker 2: they were coming into your room while you were leaving.
Speaker 2: But the complex made it to where like you could be,
Speaker 2: you know, hitting up the water station and you know,
Speaker 2: you're hanging out with EMMITTT. Smith. Okay, you know. I
Speaker 2: was always so like enamored with everyone I was on
Speaker 2: my season with, so it was really fun. So that
Speaker 2: rehearsal process, I really didn't know anyone until that first
Speaker 2: show day and so that's when you kind of met
Speaker 2: everyone on the set. I then though with I think
Speaker 2: more so my first season than the second season. We
Speaker 2: did and I think it was maybe against the rules.
Speaker 2: I don't know, but what can they do now? I mean,
Speaker 2: if my Miraball trophy, i'd ever won one. So we did,
Speaker 2: Mark and I did. We would park like we both
Speaker 2: lived at the same like complex because I was I
Speaker 2: moved into like an apartment situation. He had moved into
Speaker 2: one down the street, and we would be in the
Speaker 2: parking garage and going over. I specifically remember my quick
Speaker 2: step because we needed a lot of space. We were
Speaker 2: like going over or we'd be yeah, in the parking lot,
Speaker 2: like when no cars were there. We were just going
Speaker 2: through our quick step, you know, and we were working
Speaker 2: on it outside because him and I both knew, I mean,
Speaker 2: I was a cheated girl, but that was not at
Speaker 2: all the demo of Dancing with the Stars. So I
Speaker 2: knew I was going into this like I had to
Speaker 2: come full throttle to prove my you know, legitimacy, because
Speaker 2: I wasn't really like I mean, I was going to
Speaker 2: guesst like Wayne Newton, how do you? How do you?
Speaker 2: It's way noon? Everyone knows him right and Melby a
Speaker 2: spice girl like you know. So I we really took
Speaker 2: our rehearsal like as much as we can. But what's
Speaker 2: on the opposite end and why you start burning the
Speaker 2: candle at both sticks? And I think they're better at
Speaker 2: this this time with the rehearsal. Amount of time you
Speaker 2: are all allotted is because you're doing so much press.
Speaker 2: You are going to like every premiere, or you're doing
Speaker 2: you know, morning shows, or you know, you're doing so
Speaker 2: much all within your rehearsal, your fittings, your second fittings,
Speaker 2: your tapings of for just the crew so they can
Speaker 2: get their their schedule of like what they're going to
Speaker 2: do with the cameras, and then whatever you're working on.
Speaker 2: I was working on the Cheetah Girls. We had actually
Speaker 2: put out our own album, oh aside from the soundtrack,
Speaker 2: so you know, Mark was flying with me to New
Speaker 2: York to do Good Morning America. And then straight from
Speaker 2: when I was done with that, we were in a
Speaker 2: studio rehearsing, you know. And so you kind of also
Speaker 2: have to like Bob and weave with your own work schedule,
Speaker 2: right mate, as you I'm sure, no, you're so busy
Speaker 2: to make this job also make sense. Oh my gosh, well,
Speaker 2: you definitely showed your legitimacy. Let's jump into the season.
Speaker 1: You scored a twenty six out of thirty in week one,
Speaker 1: which is the highest score from a contestant during week
Speaker 1: one in the show's history at the time, so still
Speaker 1: to this day, I don't know about to this day,
Speaker 1: at the time, it's still the highest.
Speaker 2: I'm like, there's been so many people there's I know,
Speaker 2: but I don't know.
Speaker 1: That is a good question, because I have seen several
Speaker 1: weak ones in part of my prep and process. It's like,
Speaker 1: what do people look like during week one? I haven't
Speaker 1: seen a twenty six. I haven't seen that high. But listen,
Speaker 1: that's anecdotally, that's not facts. But you did a chat
Speaker 1: shop to the song Don't You by the Pussycat Dolls. Yes,
Speaker 1: getting a twenty six out of thirty must have been
Speaker 1: an incredibly great feeling.
Speaker 2: It really was. I mean, I especially after we ended
Speaker 2: the routine. You know, there's nothing like I mean, we're
Speaker 2: gonna get We're talking about live music. Yeah, you see
Speaker 2: your package is the first time you see it is
Speaker 2: when you're sitting on the stage waiting for the package
Speaker 2: to be done in your oh my gosh, should be on.
Speaker 2: And I just knew at that point, you know, it'd
Speaker 2: been a couple of weeks, I'd really started to feel
Speaker 2: like I got to know Mark, and I just knew
Speaker 2: how much he was really wanting to make such a
Speaker 2: big entrance into this. This is gonna be so huge
Speaker 2: for his career, you know, and what he wanted to
Speaker 2: do with Dancing with the Stars. So there was that,
Speaker 2: and then when I feel like I nailed every single
Speaker 2: footwork and as much of the technique as I could
Speaker 2: really like hold on to and just the explosion in
Speaker 2: the room was like, it's just a moment. I don't
Speaker 2: think I'll ever forget. When people ask, like, what was
Speaker 2: your favorite dance, I always say it was the Chacha
Speaker 2: because it just was a moment that just it was
Speaker 2: just so epic for me, you know, it just was
Speaker 2: and looking over at my mom and dad that were
Speaker 2: just like, you know again.
Speaker 1: Probably tears streaming down my mom just bawling.
Speaker 2: My dad just given his big woo woo, you know,
Speaker 2: the way you used to do when I was up
Speaker 2: on the stage or on the soccer field as he
Speaker 2: was coaching me. It was like that was like it
Speaker 2: brought back just and to have them there on the
Speaker 2: floor with me was just so magical. And then to
Speaker 2: look at Mark and for him to be so proud
Speaker 2: was just like it was just such a great moment.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I have full body chills. I truly I
Speaker 1: have full chills.
Speaker 2: At that point. Sometimes you know, when you get into
Speaker 2: the season, it doesn't matter to you. But at that
Speaker 2: point the scores, because I really again I hadn't watched
Speaker 2: it a lot, so I didn't know what a good
Speaker 2: score was, you know, I mean I knew the max
Speaker 2: was thirty, but I didn't know what a good score
Speaker 2: would be for us, and so I mean when it
Speaker 2: was mainly what happened in the ballroom that you're just
Speaker 2: like I think I remember hearing some of the things
Speaker 2: that judges said, but really I was just in like
Speaker 2: a total bubble of like, yeah, it is amazing this show.
Speaker 2: I never want to get off that. I just remember
Speaker 2: saying that we have to make it to the end.
Speaker 2: I mean the first episode, Are you kidding? Nobody should
Speaker 2: ever have that expectation. Just get to the next week.
Speaker 2: Just just get to the next week.
Speaker 1: As someone who then obviously did conquer those first week jitters,
Speaker 1: what is your advice for me when I feel them?
Speaker 2: Okay, I will say, first, focus on what you're going
Speaker 2: to do, Focus on your dan scene, focus on your partner.
Speaker 2: I think I think it's really good to stay close,
Speaker 2: continue to talk, looking at each other's eyes, try not
Speaker 2: to get distracted, and don't watch your package. You just
Speaker 2: never know when they're gonna again, remember it's alive. You
Speaker 2: know it's a reality show as well, and you never
Speaker 2: really know when they're gonna pull from something that happened
Speaker 2: in rehearsal that like you're not really so stoked about like,
Speaker 2: you know, we had I remember, see uh the third
Speaker 2: week mark and I had an argument about and when
Speaker 2: I say argument, it was just like we talked about
Speaker 2: it about something a disagreement about something you wanted me
Speaker 2: to do on our jive and I really just didn't
Speaker 2: feel comfortable for me. He did. He didn't come from
Speaker 2: where I came from, where it was Disney, and like
Speaker 2: for me, it wasn't like malicious, And I know that's
Speaker 2: why he felt a little bit like I was maybe
Speaker 2: thinking too hard into it, which I probably was, because
Speaker 2: I'm a Disney kid and everything I did at that
Speaker 2: point was looked at, you know, was it disney esque?
Speaker 2: And it was a little bit of a jab at
Speaker 2: one of the other contestants, and I just kind of
Speaker 2: didn't feel right about it, and I voiced that opinion,
Speaker 2: and then you know, of course we kind of went
Speaker 2: back and forth because he was he's the creative, right
Speaker 2: and at the end of the day, he's the pro
Speaker 2: he's the one that's choreographing. But you still have to
Speaker 2: advocate for like what feels good for you, of course,
Speaker 2: and that sort of in the magic of producing turned
Speaker 2: into a little bit more like we had this all
Speaker 2: out me disagreeing in it being this big thing, and
Speaker 2: that totally got in my head right before I'm trying
Speaker 2: to do a routine that I'd only done for less
Speaker 2: than you know, five days, and I just remember going,
Speaker 2: I'm not watching those packages ever again, and so I
Speaker 2: just needed to focus because it.
Speaker 3: Could have it turned out fine. Our jive looked.
Speaker 2: Great, but it could have been it could have been
Speaker 2: a downfall, and why would I want that to be
Speaker 2: the reason why I have a misstep that maybe ends
Speaker 2: up taking me on off the show after you know, totally, well,
Speaker 2: that is really good advice, and.
Speaker 3: There's also going to be emotional weeks too.
Speaker 2: That one. Really I don't know if you can get
Speaker 2: like earplugs or what, because that really gets you in
Speaker 2: the fields too. There's a lot of things that they
Speaker 2: do and people don't. I think contestants don't necessarily think
Speaker 2: about that part, you know, until it hits them and
Speaker 2: you're going, oh my gosh, now I'm like all like
Speaker 2: thinking about this this package and just thinking about my routine.
Speaker 2: So it's good to and your pro I'm sure will
Speaker 2: walk you through that, right they'll just keep you close.
Speaker 2: I've been to the taping since and you just see
Speaker 2: you know that that's why the pros really keep them
Speaker 2: in because it's like they're also used to competing, but
Speaker 2: you know, and all the craziness that happens in the
Speaker 2: Latin world, you know, on the right before they hit
Speaker 2: the floor. So they're really good about keeping you guys close,
Speaker 2: keeping your chemistry good, keeping you focused to do what
Speaker 2: you you've worked so hard to do all week. Okay, good?
Speaker 2: When did you know that Mark was your partner? When
Speaker 2: did you find that out? On August? I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2: They want to be losing Dayton time.
Speaker 1: I meant howling early in the process. I think we worked.
Speaker 2: I want to say it was three weeks before the premiere. Okay, okay?
Speaker 1: And they did they film you finding out Mark was
Speaker 1: your partner?
Speaker 2: They did? And again, I only this is gonna sound terrible.
Speaker 2: The only partner I partners I knew of was more
Speaker 2: of the women partners. Those are the ones I was watching, right,
Speaker 2: So Cheryl Burke, Juliana Off and then the only one
Speaker 2: that I knew of male wise was Max and Louis
Speaker 2: van Am Still. Okay, I don't even know why I
Speaker 2: knew of them, but they must have had good partners
Speaker 2: the season before or something. But those are the only two.
Speaker 2: So he walked in and he was just like a
Speaker 2: brand new person. I had never seen him before. He
Speaker 2: could have walked right by me, right, So he was new.
Speaker 2: But it was cool because he was young, and I
Speaker 2: liked that. I wasn't gonna it wasn't gonna feel like
Speaker 2: too much of a like an age gap, you know,
Speaker 2: because again I didn't know how how old that any
Speaker 2: of the pros were, you know, right, So it was
Speaker 2: right there, you know, first meeting, and I wore everyone
Speaker 2: else in my season was like dressed ready to like
Speaker 2: start dancing. I wore like an outfit. And then I
Speaker 2: was like, oh, nice to meet you. Oh I probably
Speaker 2: should go change because he started teaching you all. I'm
Speaker 2: in like jeans and heels, and I'm.
Speaker 3: Like, I'm gonna go get I did bring dance.
Speaker 2: Clothes, so I'm gonna go change.
Speaker 1: My gosh, dance clothes. What even our dance clothes?
Speaker 2: When I am gonna send you some with you to
Speaker 2: start your rehearsal process, you have a dance okay, yes, yes.
Speaker 3: Some cute awesome stuff.
Speaker 2: It feels good, it feels sexy. So when you get
Speaker 2: into that, you need to get into that like gral
Speaker 2: part of the cha cha oh gosh, you know all
Speaker 2: of that. It's gonna give you just that little bit
Speaker 2: of an umph. So I'll get you some sobery apparel. Absolutely, Okay,
Speaker 2: thank you. I'm gonna send him, thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay, looking back, now, what do you think made Mark? Like,
Speaker 1: what are some specific qualities that made Mark such a
Speaker 1: good partner? And what are some qualities you had that
Speaker 1: made you a good partner?
Speaker 2: Oh, there's so many to talk about Marx creative. I
Speaker 2: feel really lucky because it was his first season, so
Speaker 2: he was kind of just really staying in the realm
Speaker 2: of Latin dancing. So when you on the floor that
Speaker 2: they do, I don't think it happens as often, but
Speaker 2: there's like in ballroom, you can only go through the
Speaker 2: outside perimeter of the ballroom and to cut through you
Speaker 2: have to hit the center and then can go to
Speaker 2: the side.
Speaker 3: There's all these rules.
Speaker 2: So he was so I mean, Mark's parents are very
Speaker 2: His mom specifically is like one of the most well
Speaker 2: known Latin ballroom instructors, like across the world, So he
Speaker 2: was just everything. He was so detailed, and he even
Speaker 2: was teaching me where the chacha comes from started in Cuba,
Speaker 2: Like I was learning like everything, Like I was learning
Speaker 2: all this stuff that I probably didn't need, but it
Speaker 2: was great to know it. So he was so informative.
Speaker 2: He had so much energy and the desire to just
Speaker 2: make this the most epic season, you know, for me
Speaker 2: and for both of us. And so he was really
Speaker 2: great with that. And I loved his level of creativity.
Speaker 2: And now since he's broken out of maybe the box
Speaker 2: of what he thought he had to be in the
Speaker 2: first couple seasons, he went on to do some of
Speaker 2: the most incredible routines on the show that I just
Speaker 2: think the show has ever seen. So it was great
Speaker 2: and awesome to be like there on his first begins
Speaker 2: and then later on watch his journey just like explode.
Speaker 2: So his creativity I think is one of the great.
Speaker 2: And then there you'll notice, like if you ever dance
Speaker 2: with like forever whatever reason, maybe in a group dance
Speaker 2: or something, and you get paired with someone else, yeah,
Speaker 2: to do a couple of eight counts or whatever. I
Speaker 2: really loved how he was able to lead me some
Speaker 2: dancers and I've danced I've had a chance because I
Speaker 2: did so much with dancing with the stars in Vegas,
Speaker 2: on cruise ships and everything that I've danced with a
Speaker 2: lot of them and some of them tend to like
Speaker 2: fling you, or some of them are are so strong
Speaker 2: that you feel like you're just being like grunted to
Speaker 2: a place. He was just the perfect for me as
Speaker 2: far as getting me where I needed to go, having
Speaker 2: the power behind it, but it not ever feeling like
Speaker 2: it was overwhelming me. Okay good, which I would have
Speaker 2: never known that hit the first season because he was
Speaker 2: the only one I danced with. It's like you get
Speaker 2: you know, right, like having a first kid, you just
Speaker 2: kind of you would just go with it, yeah, and
Speaker 2: then the second time you're like, oh, I've been through
Speaker 2: this before. Yeah yeah, and then oh I and then
Speaker 2: you start seeing the differences. But those were my things
Speaker 2: for me. I think the ability for me to really
Speaker 2: lock in during rehearsals, like I was not somebody that
Speaker 2: you'll see I've seen on the show partners that tend
Speaker 2: to you know, even though I had so much going on,
Speaker 2: I wasn't somebody who would get like distracted, like oh
Speaker 2: my phone, or or if I was tired, that wouldn't
Speaker 2: make me want to go like oh can I use
Speaker 2: the restroom and you're like you just did five minutes ago,
Speaker 2: or or water breaks or anything like I was. I
Speaker 2: feel like for him, it was great that he had
Speaker 2: my full attention. I was hitting him right at that
Speaker 2: halfway mark and ready to go as long as we
Speaker 2: had to do what we needed to do to get
Speaker 2: it right, and we really melded that way. That was
Speaker 2: like good for him to not have someone who he
Speaker 2: was like pulling teeth, like can you please care about
Speaker 2: this exactly? You don't have the choreography, Let's do it again.
Speaker 2: He never had to do that with me. I was like,
Speaker 2: he's like, you want to do it again? And I
Speaker 2: was like yes, dood yeah. It was always you know,
Speaker 2: and not just because I was trained, because I actually
Speaker 2: really really wanted to. I also wanted it to be
Speaker 2: as perfect as possible. Well, I want to jump ahead.
Speaker 2: Speaking of perfect, I want to jump to week four.
Speaker 1: You had been safe from elimination every week, never scoring
Speaker 1: below that twenty six, and then it happened. It's pasa
Speaker 1: doblay you spin me right round.
Speaker 2: You get the.
Speaker 1: Shows first ever perfect thirty. I'm sure you must have
Speaker 1: felt good rehearsing that one throughout the week, like you
Speaker 1: just knew. Oh, I'm I'm locked in on this. But
Speaker 1: did you ever think a perfect thirty was possible?
Speaker 2: No, no, that it was. At that point, I just
Speaker 2: was so scared if my again, because I didn't have
Speaker 2: the fan base that so many I mean Marie Osmond,
Speaker 2: think about how much it wouldn't have maybe mattered what
Speaker 2: she did out there. Her fans are avid, they were
Speaker 2: going to keep her on the show as long as
Speaker 2: they could, right, So mine was just wanting it to
Speaker 2: be as good as possible so that my score would
Speaker 2: be high enough that no matter like hopefully that the
Speaker 2: votes that did come in would just keep me going.
Speaker 2: I knew my fan base wasn't anywhere near pretty much
Speaker 2: the majority of the team like the cast I was on,
Speaker 2: if not everyone, if I was not actually the lowest
Speaker 2: fan base on the on the show, but we actually
Speaker 2: funny story, I don't think I've ever told this, There
Speaker 2: was a point where I think passa dobly might have
Speaker 2: been that week I had to go to New York
Speaker 2: because I do remember rehearsing that Dad in New York.
Speaker 2: And I remember at one point, because you know Mark
Speaker 2: would film or whatever, he came in and was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm scratching like that, and I'm like, like, would what
Speaker 2: does that mean? He was like from this point like
Speaker 2: I like the beginning and I like the end, but
Speaker 2: like all this in the middle, we're gonna we're gonna
Speaker 2: rework it.
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh my gosh, you're out of town,
Speaker 1: you're working on something else, and now you have to
Speaker 1: relearn brand new choreography for the middle of a dance.
Speaker 2: And the thing is, I do know he wouldn't have
Speaker 2: done that if I was a partner that he didn't
Speaker 2: think couldn't take that on. So I do. It's not
Speaker 2: that he didn't trust. It was like, and that's that's
Speaker 2: what I was gonna say, is is I fully trusted him.
Speaker 2: If he knew if he thought I could do it,
Speaker 2: then I was pretty convinced I could. At this point,
Speaker 2: we had known each other for like almost two months,
Speaker 2: and he knew my work ethic, he knew the abilities
Speaker 2: of things that I could and couldn't do. So if
Speaker 2: he felt like he could do this, and it was
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, gonna make it better.
Speaker 2: I was like, I, let's do it. I'm exhausted, but
Speaker 2: let's go, you know. And so it was pretty awesome,
Speaker 2: I you know, the whole. I loved that song. It
Speaker 2: was a song that I don't know if anyone really knows.
Speaker 2: And I have you put yours in? You get to
Speaker 2: put in like song requests, Yes, yeah, a list, right,
Speaker 2: I put in maybe forty songs. I then find out
Speaker 2: Joey Fatone, who's you know, I got to know him
Speaker 2: later on through the Dancing with the Stars world, he
Speaker 2: put in like two hundred and fifty songs. I put
Speaker 2: in like forty songs, just forty of my favorite songs,
Speaker 2: forty songs that I thought were great. Knowing absolutely nothing
Speaker 2: about Latin ballroom, knowing that a chacha has to have
Speaker 2: a certain kind of thing, a mambo, a salsa, all
Speaker 2: of those dances have to have certain like specifics within
Speaker 2: their their musicality. So but I put in and this
Speaker 2: happened to be one of the songs that I put in.
Speaker 2: It's been a song, a favorite song of mine. So
Speaker 2: I loved it, and it was awesome to learn choreography
Speaker 2: to it. But yeah, that week, actually during the rehearsal.
Speaker 2: They used to let you do what Latin and ballroom
Speaker 2: dancers do at a real competition, where your walkout isn't
Speaker 2: just walk walk walk, and you get in your first position,
Speaker 2: you do like a spin and a drop and this
Speaker 2: and that and at this and that and that and
Speaker 2: then it's like this whole thing you do, Like it
Speaker 2: was like a two eight count thing that we would
Speaker 2: learn to walk out, and it wasn't ever filmed. They
Speaker 2: never showed on the camera, but uh, it was something
Speaker 2: that we would do. He wanted to do for the audience,
Speaker 2: and so him and Derek both did these things.
Speaker 3: Like I remember Jenny going, why do.
Speaker 2: I have to learn extra stuff that I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: No one's gonna see. What's even gonna saw? The audience
Speaker 2: is gonna see the ballroom. This is how we're set
Speaker 2: in the stage for what we're about to do. Okay.
Speaker 2: So I loved it because it was so dramatic and
Speaker 2: totally what I love. But there was one part and
Speaker 2: I don't remember if it was in that that thing
Speaker 2: or if it was at the end, but I like,
Speaker 2: did this thing and I, oh it's at the end.
Speaker 3: I slide through.
Speaker 2: His legs and I'm like like literally like wrapping around
Speaker 2: and I'm like it's like a little snake going through
Speaker 2: his legs and then I landed on the ground. Well
Speaker 2: in the rehearsal, you know, you do the whole show,
Speaker 2: the the what is it dressed camera blocking? Yeah, the
Speaker 2: camera blocking, and I like, my, I mean to the
Speaker 2: point where my whole face mad because I had gobs
Speaker 2: and gobs of makeup like you do on the show,
Speaker 2: was on his leg like he I hit it so
Speaker 2: hard and I remember being so mad at him because
Speaker 2: him and Derek could not stop laughing. And meanwhile, my
Speaker 2: eyes are watering. I I might have a broken nose,
Speaker 2: but they are cracking up because I'm like, you know,
Speaker 2: not so much pain. I knew it wasn't broken, but it, yeah,
Speaker 2: like not comfortable.
Speaker 3: It knocked me silly a little bit.
Speaker 2: And him and Derek are just just laughing so hard,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, this is it funny? I was like
Speaker 2: totally like a toddler, like my toddler, now, like my,
Speaker 2: it's not funny, And he just could not get him
Speaker 2: sell together and him and Derek together have this ridiculous
Speaker 2: laugh that just they keep themselves laughing, and I remember that.
Speaker 2: So I'm thinking I'm not all I'm worried about pretty
Speaker 2: much that whole routine is not smacking my face on
Speaker 2: his inner thigh.
Speaker 3: Have that happen on live TV?
Speaker 2: Please? God, don't let that happen, please please. So I
Speaker 2: think at the end of it, I was just happy
Speaker 2: that I made it through and I didn't get my
Speaker 2: face mask put on his inner thigh at that point?
Speaker 3: What would the like rumors be at that point?
Speaker 1: So that was during a camera blocking. Did you ever
Speaker 1: have during a life taping any sort of wardrobe malfunction
Speaker 1: or the music stopped playing, any sort of thing that
Speaker 1: maybe the audience wouldn't notice, but that you noticed.
Speaker 2: I did my second time on this show. I had
Speaker 2: during the all Stone, I could feel I had to
Speaker 2: stop wearing. They put these pads in your top, yeah,
Speaker 2: and your cleavage and you it's on the side right, okay, so,
Speaker 2: which looks really nice, but when you have if you're
Speaker 2: more busty than the average actress, which you and I
Speaker 2: both are, I had to ask them to stop putting
Speaker 2: those in because, you know, the it was just it
Speaker 2: was too scary. It felt like they were out. But
Speaker 2: then I feel like there's one. It was actually my
Speaker 2: passo the second time, which is funny. We're talking about
Speaker 2: where I had a spaghetti strap and my my strap
Speaker 2: went down and I could feel like I had to
Speaker 2: like quickly get it, and you can't really see it
Speaker 2: from the camera angles. But I came back and I
Speaker 2: was pretty sure I was gonna I had a nip slip.
Speaker 2: And I came back to Tom Bergern and I was like, whoop, uh, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that was really fun, Like, oh my gosh, I felt
Speaker 2: so exposed because it's not just the people in the room,
Speaker 2: it's millions wive TV and I, you know, so that
Speaker 2: I think from then on there, I was like, again, guys,
Speaker 2: I think we put these, you know, because a lot
Speaker 2: of times your Mike packs in there too. Yeah. Right.
Speaker 1: It also feels like maybe we could just also double
Speaker 1: stick everything so that if a strap does break.
Speaker 3: At least you are double stickware.
Speaker 1: And it doesn't matter if strap breaks.
Speaker 2: You're moving and grooving. You're going so fast, it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, and and the girls sometimes just do what
Speaker 2: they want. Yeah, there's no controlling them, but what we're
Speaker 2: gonna do, you know, come on, they wanted their moment
Speaker 2: in the spotlight. What are we gonna say, I guess
Speaker 2: so they're like, you didn't show us first season, so
Speaker 2: here we go.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you, because there's always been just
Speaker 1: such a buzz around Dancing with the Stars and relationships
Speaker 1: people I know, were there any relationships during your first
Speaker 1: season or your second season for that matter, that you
Speaker 1: were away?
Speaker 2: No? Okay, no, if anything. Honestly, again, season five, everyone
Speaker 2: was really kind of cessing out. So I'm not saying
Speaker 2: that there wasn't things happening, but like an actual, full blown,
Speaker 2: blown relationship. No, but it was definitely a cast that
Speaker 2: was very young. We were not after we were done
Speaker 2: rehearsing than going to whatever, you know, industry party or whatever.
Speaker 2: We were all hitting up the same club, we were
Speaker 2: all going back to the same house, and we were
Speaker 2: just literally having the time of our lives, knowing like
Speaker 2: this was such a cool experience. So we were all
Speaker 2: hanging out and it was just fun everything about it.
Speaker 2: I mean for me to be able to say, for
Speaker 2: however many weeks straight, I hung out at Melby, a
Speaker 2: spice girl's house, after we went to hide and had
Speaker 2: fun and hung I mean, it was match the time
Speaker 2: of your life. I was twenty three. Yeah, there was
Speaker 2: no better time, Like that was just the best, most
Speaker 2: exciting to you. What that is how I feel now
Speaker 2: at forty four when I'm in bed by nine pm
Speaker 2: and I'd taken a melatonin and I know I don't
Speaker 2: have to wake up until five am.
Speaker 1: Oh I can't wait.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But again, different climate. I mean, I think the
Speaker 2: show has just become so much different now, and I think,
Speaker 2: you know, not that not that everyone's not having fun.
Speaker 2: I just oh, yeah, it's just like evolved into so
Speaker 2: much of a different situation, totally totally.
Speaker 1: You were also, like you said, you were twenty three
Speaker 1: at the time. You were probably single at the time.
Speaker 1: It's a little different when you're a forty four year
Speaker 1: old married mother.
Speaker 2: Of two, you know, joining the show.
Speaker 1: So it's it's all just I think back to that
Speaker 1: time for you, and I think I remember what it
Speaker 1: was like to be twenty three and just gosh, to
Speaker 1: have that experience at that age, what a time will
Speaker 1: be alive.
Speaker 3: Five years later.
Speaker 2: Even me just having like in a relationship my boyfriend
Speaker 2: and he was up there living with me while I
Speaker 2: was on this show, that was a different experience. Now
Speaker 2: being married and having two kids like that would have
Speaker 2: been on the show now would be a totally different
Speaker 2: for me. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to get to the elimination heard around
Speaker 1: the world. It's week six and you get your lowest score,
Speaker 1: which is a twenty five.
Speaker 2: Damn that twenty five, and boom you're gone.
Speaker 1: Can I before I ask you what your thoughts are
Speaker 1: on why it happened, can I tell you.
Speaker 2: My theory here?
Speaker 1: Sure?
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: My theory is that people watching had seen you kill
Speaker 1: it week after week and just totally assumed there was
Speaker 1: no reason they had to vote for you because you
Speaker 1: were gonna be safe for sure. I know you probably
Speaker 1: also feel like because you feel like you had maybe
Speaker 1: a smaller fan base than the Wayne Newton's and the
Speaker 1: Marie Osmond's and maybe everybody else on the show. I
Speaker 1: just think it's the fact that you were so darn
Speaker 1: good they figured you were safe no matter what.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that that would. I mean, that's kind
Speaker 2: of the mindset that that I have, that they were,
Speaker 2: you know, because at that point of the show, you know,
Speaker 2: as always, someone's got to go, and so there I
Speaker 2: feel like their votes were going towards somebody they were
Speaker 2: a little bit more worried about with a lower score
Speaker 2: that they were more worried about, you know, saving versus
Speaker 2: thinking they had to for me. But that just goes
Speaker 2: to show like that's how the show works. You have
Speaker 2: to vote for who you want to see that next week, right,
Speaker 2: not necessarily vote for who you're trying to save.
Speaker 1: Right, don't don't try to outsmart the system. Just vote
Speaker 1: for who you want to see the next week. Yes,
Speaker 1: and and you know and again too. I mean that again,
Speaker 1: that was why my mindset was I had to have
Speaker 1: those high scores to hopefully help me, because even if
Speaker 1: I had everyone voting for me, how big was my
Speaker 1: vote level compared to everyone else. But I will say,
Speaker 1: I mean what I was told by my publicists at
Speaker 1: the time was like listen because you know, she let
Speaker 1: me have my I mean.
Speaker 2: Mark and I were devastated. I was gonna say, you
Speaker 2: had to have been crushed. I was devastated for Mark
Speaker 2: because I felt like I let him down. You know,
Speaker 2: this was a season that he could have come in
Speaker 2: and made it to the finals his first season as
Speaker 2: a pro, and how big would that be? You know,
Speaker 2: I think Juliane Huff had just done it the season
Speaker 2: before with Apollo and they actually won, and so I
Speaker 2: felt really bad for him. I obviously really wanted it,
Speaker 2: but for me it was like I was leaving there
Speaker 2: and then in a couple of months going to India
Speaker 2: to do to do Cheetah Girls three. I had my
Speaker 2: my career was moving, you know, and I felt bad
Speaker 2: because this was the start of his and I knew
Speaker 2: he needed to really make a big splash to get
Speaker 2: all the things that his music and everything, and our
Speaker 2: time coming to an end, like thinking like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: like this is this is done. I loved being on
Speaker 2: the show. I loved my rehearsal schedule. I am a
Speaker 2: person that loves being busy, psychotically busy.
Speaker 3: I love that, you know.
Speaker 2: And so it was just like, wow, I had other
Speaker 2: stuff to do with the Cheeta Girls. Like I said,
Speaker 2: we had just released our album, so there was lots
Speaker 2: to do. But I was getting to dance and I
Speaker 2: really fell in love with ballroom and Latin dancing. I
Speaker 2: just did. And so it was like we were working
Speaker 2: our next routine. That week was when we were going
Speaker 2: to start doing two of them, and I had already
Speaker 2: picked out my costume for the next week, not because Okay,
Speaker 2: let me give a prep. Guys, don't come at me.
Speaker 2: Not because I thought I was gonna make it. That's
Speaker 2: just what you do while you're working on one routine.
Speaker 2: As you're entering the end of that week and you're
Speaker 2: getting to the the taping and the actual show, they
Speaker 2: start having you look at material, start designing your costumes.
Speaker 1: The crew has a lot of work to do to
Speaker 1: get everything.
Speaker 2: This wasn't me being like, oh, I decided no because
Speaker 2: I because I'll make it. It wasn't that. It was
Speaker 2: that's the course of the scheduling, and so I had
Speaker 2: already picked out my costume. I had already known what
Speaker 2: the design was going to be. I remember it was
Speaker 2: going to be like, uh, was it Christian do or
Speaker 2: it was some kind of like designer material that they
Speaker 2: were getting me, And it was beautiful. I knew my
Speaker 2: dance song, Mark was my dance song. It was for
Speaker 2: a mambo. I was going to do a mambo, which
Speaker 2: I really wanted to do because I wanted to learn
Speaker 2: botchakata is so bad and I still am obsessed with them.
Speaker 2: You don't know what. I don't know what about chakata is.
Speaker 2: I can't explain it because I don't really hundred percent
Speaker 2: know it, but I really wanted to learn those and
Speaker 2: the like where you like they go like they circle
Speaker 2: in and then they move out, and then you circle
Speaker 2: in and then you move out, like that whole thing.
Speaker 2: I wanted to learn all of that. I was really
Speaker 2: excited about the mombo choreography, and then we also had
Speaker 2: an Argentine tango coming up, so those were two styles
Speaker 2: I was dying to learn.
Speaker 3: And so that was a disappointment.
Speaker 2: You know, just your whole life is like swept up
Speaker 2: in this just big, awesome experience and then when you
Speaker 2: realize and it's and trying to hold it together on
Speaker 2: camera too, which luckily I've got the Disney training of
Speaker 2: like keeping it like just because I want. If I
Speaker 2: could have, I would have just instantly cried, but I
Speaker 2: just kind of held it together and tried to be
Speaker 2: as gracious as possible for the for the journey and
Speaker 2: the experience that I did have. You know what, it
Speaker 2: felt like, what a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Speaker 3: And so it was.
Speaker 2: It was sad, and we, I mean Mark and I bawled.
Speaker 2: We were the last to leave the trailers that night.
Speaker 2: On week six, tom berdrown when he was hosting, would
Speaker 2: do this big party where everyone he invites all the
Speaker 2: cast members to come to this big mid season party.
Speaker 3: We pulled our together.
Speaker 2: To that party and then you get, you know, to
Speaker 2: be embraced by Melby and Max and you know, Elio
Speaker 2: and everyone that was on the show and all the pros,
Speaker 2: Cheryl Burke, everyone being embraced. Being like I, they were
Speaker 2: just as shocked as I think the rest of who
Speaker 2: was watching was that was.
Speaker 3: A that was a really hard day.
Speaker 2: And then you go, you know, on a red eye
Speaker 2: to Good Morning America and you gotta just like save
Speaker 2: face and feel, you know, do the interview and that's
Speaker 2: your exit interview and then it's done, and you know,
Speaker 2: but then luckily I had this. The fans created a petition.
Speaker 2: They try these fans they were called at that point,
Speaker 2: they had they were nicknamed Team Sabrina had caught petitioned
Speaker 2: a whole They had a whole thing going around getting
Speaker 2: signatures and they got tons of them to get me
Speaker 2: back on the show. They thought they could like convince ABC,
Speaker 2: Oh no, just just just put her back, shout it,
Speaker 2: just put her back in and know. But what was
Speaker 2: great was we had already had talks about Mark and
Speaker 2: I joining the tour. So that was nice to know that, like,
Speaker 2: this wasn't one hundred percent the end of our Dancing
Speaker 2: with the Stars journey. Okay, that at least is a
Speaker 2: little bit of a consolation.
Speaker 3: Yes, Yeah, and we.
Speaker 2: Then we got to go back and do a routine
Speaker 2: with Avril Levine to promote the we did. We performed
Speaker 2: with Avril Levine, who I was a giant fan of.
Speaker 3: Of course it was Mark.
Speaker 2: She was singing while we were dancing, and it was
Speaker 2: all to promote the tour. I ended up getting a
Speaker 2: really great, you know, all around awesome thing. And I
Speaker 2: honestly think I got more press out of that elimination
Speaker 2: than I would have than anyone would have ever cared
Speaker 2: if I actually got to the finals and or won, Like,
Speaker 2: no one really cared as much as my elimination bothered them,
Speaker 2: Your negativity was better.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, Team Sabrina may not have been able to
Speaker 1: get their way and get you reinstated on the show
Speaker 1: the following week, but they did bring you back for
Speaker 1: season fifteen, the only All Star season they've ever done
Speaker 1: with some of their favorites returning. Was that an immediate
Speaker 1: yes from you well.
Speaker 2: It was yes. I mean I was doing Dancing with
Speaker 2: the Stars live in Las Vegas with Joey Fatone, Kyle Massey,
Speaker 2: and Carson Kresley. We were doing a show at the Tropicana,
Speaker 2: which I feel so honored now because it's gone, I know,
Speaker 2: And we did a whole ninety minute Dancing with the
Speaker 2: Stars show with a ton of amazing pros, and you
Speaker 2: know they would have like Kim Johnson, some people would
Speaker 2: come in and out and do like little stays for
Speaker 2: like a week, and so we were all there together.
Speaker 2: Joey gets the call to do All Star seasons. So
Speaker 2: then now I'm waiting by my phone, not praying more
Speaker 2: than I probably ever had for any other job for
Speaker 2: my phone call to happen. And then as we're like
Speaker 2: like kind of finishing up our stay, I get a
Speaker 2: call from the talent coordinator there and she says, how
Speaker 2: would you feel about joining the All Star team? And
Speaker 2: I was like, yes, yes, I've been waiting for this call. Yes, absolutely,
Speaker 2: and she goes, well, hold on, this is this is
Speaker 2: what we're doing that's going to be special. We're going
Speaker 2: to put three of.
Speaker 3: Our Dancing with the Stars faves up.
Speaker 2: And the audience and the our fans are going to
Speaker 2: be able to vote in which of the three of
Speaker 2: you they want to compete.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it's not even a guaranteed. Yes, you're
Speaker 1: not back to being voted on.
Speaker 2: It's against my three people that haven't gotten the call
Speaker 2: in Vegas. It's against Kyle Massey and Carson Kresley and me.
Speaker 2: So then they come up. We do this whole different
Speaker 2: kind of video campaign. Mine looked very presidential. I had
Speaker 2: my glasses on and we did like a whole fun
Speaker 2: campaign to get votes to happen, and they were commercials
Speaker 2: and everything on the website and just it was kind
Speaker 2: of fun to do. Is an extra thing. And then
Speaker 2: she called me when I got home, so we didn't know.
Speaker 2: After we left, we finished our time out in Vegas,
Speaker 2: and then when I got home, like that first week,
Speaker 2: she called me and they had a film crew there
Speaker 2: filming me. They never showed it, but they had a
Speaker 2: film crew there filming me, you know, getting the call,
Speaker 2: and I'm going, I gotta like be super excited or
Speaker 2: you know, I understand congratulations, that a whole respectful and
Speaker 2: luckily she said, you you know, the votes were they
Speaker 2: were in and they were.
Speaker 3: We were not expecting them to be this overwhelm.
Speaker 2: It was so great for us to know that the
Speaker 2: fan base is still dying for you to be back
Speaker 2: on the show. Will you do it? And I was
Speaker 2: like one hundred times, yes, I will be there today
Speaker 2: is rehearsal today. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 1: Well you had a new partner, you were with Louis
Speaker 1: van Amstell that time, and yet again you got a
Speaker 1: perfect thirty during week six and you were atop the
Speaker 1: leaderboard for two weeks. Did it feel like you were
Speaker 1: finally getting a fair shake this time or not so much?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, first of all, everyone on the cast
Speaker 2: pretty much had made at least the final, if not
Speaker 2: won their season. There wasn't very many of us that
Speaker 2: went out like I did. But it was just exciting,
Speaker 2: Like it was just again, it was different. I was
Speaker 2: now in a relationship. I was five years older. I was,
Speaker 2: you know, twenty seven at this time, and I feel
Speaker 2: like I just really took in everything so much more.
Speaker 2: I took I was a much sure way of looking
Speaker 2: at it. It was I had Louie, who again is
Speaker 2: an extreme I mean in the world of ballroom he
Speaker 2: is like the top notch Louie was just I've just
Speaker 2: felt so lucky I got. I mean, all of the
Speaker 2: pros are so good, but you know, when you get
Speaker 2: to really look into the background of your own pro
Speaker 2: you just have so much respect for them. And I
Speaker 2: will say his teaching methods were different than than Mark.
Speaker 3: They were equally amazing, but they were different. So it
Speaker 3: was cool, yeah, to be.
Speaker 2: Taught by someone different who comes from a different like
Speaker 2: background of how he trains. But our last routine, our rumba,
Speaker 2: was actually his routine that he competed his last season
Speaker 2: of competing with his partner. It was like his last
Speaker 2: goodbye dance type thing, that rumba. And when he told
Speaker 2: me he wanted me to do it, I just was like,
Speaker 2: are you that seems like a really big deal.
Speaker 3: Are you sure?
Speaker 2: And He's like, I wouldn't trust this routine with anyone
Speaker 2: else besides you and my other partner. And it was
Speaker 2: like I remember crying and being so you know, and
Speaker 2: it just that made that dance a lot more special.
Speaker 2: The package was its own kind of emotional situation. But
Speaker 2: this for Louie, for me to him to give this
Speaker 2: and trust me with that was crazy for me, and
Speaker 2: I even my dress was even very similar to what
Speaker 2: she wore when she would compete, So it's kind of
Speaker 2: like a like an homage to her from him. So
Speaker 2: it was very cool, beautiful. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, finally, Sabrina, you have already given me so much
Speaker 1: amazing advice so that I am so happy that I
Speaker 1: now have. But now that I am just weeks away
Speaker 1: from ballroom dancing for the first time in front of
Speaker 1: millions of people, if you could just tell me one
Speaker 1: thing doesn't have to be deep or meaningful, If you
Speaker 1: could just tell me one thing that, like you think
Speaker 1: is the most important thing to take into going into
Speaker 1: the season of Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 2: What would it be? Oh? Man, I think soak it in,
Speaker 2: you know, because the unknown is so huge. I don't
Speaker 2: and you I don't even know if you know how
Speaker 2: the show's gonna work out as far as the first week.
Speaker 2: Sometimes everyone goes through the second week. Sometimes they have
Speaker 2: eliminations first week, right, You just really it's a show
Speaker 2: that you really don't know what the next week is.
Speaker 2: Take it from me. At that point, I was feeling
Speaker 2: pretty good that we were gonna have a chance, a
Speaker 2: bigger chance than than the week. That next week, and
Speaker 2: then I got eliminated. And it's like, don't let yourself
Speaker 2: get comfortable every time you step out on that stage.
Speaker 2: Stay focused with your partner, but take a minute to
Speaker 2: scan that that vision, that full blown just like mental
Speaker 2: picture of what that's like, because it just when it
Speaker 2: is done, whether you go through vinyls and you win it,
Speaker 2: it's still just something you cannot recreate, you know, So
Speaker 2: just take it in and enjoy it and the like, Listen,
Speaker 2: the bumps are gonna go. You're gonna possibly, you know,
Speaker 2: disagree or just have a bad day. I mean listen,
Speaker 2: you're a mom. That could happen, and that could happen
Speaker 2: on the car ride there, you know, so you're gonna
Speaker 2: have give yourself grace because that is you're human and
Speaker 2: that's what happens. But take it in because it was
Speaker 2: really such an incredible experience and it's something you're gonna
Speaker 2: look back and like I said, you're gonna have video
Speaker 2: of it. You're gonna have so much well I don't
Speaker 2: know how much they let you take, but it looks
Speaker 2: like on Instagram you can really have your phone freely
Speaker 2: taking video and doing fun stuff. Do all of it.
Speaker 2: Whatever the do all of the fun stuff. Get into
Speaker 2: I know you're not as big like well, I know,
Speaker 2: I guess I'm thinking will but like get into the
Speaker 2: tiktoks with the kids, like with the young, the young
Speaker 2: and thes. Yes, if I were to go on it now,
Speaker 2: if they asked me to do anything, Sabrina slide down
Speaker 2: the band's fair Okay, ok here, like do it all
Speaker 2: because it's just so fun and like I said, they
Speaker 2: have and make it the best experience.
Speaker 3: And take hot baths that night.
Speaker 2: Okay hot, Okay, thank you? I like that one too
Speaker 2: insulted and all the things. And you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: those dancers know how to take care of their body.
Speaker 2: So if your pro has like a a tip, take it.
Speaker 2: Take it will give you the longevity you need and
Speaker 2: I'll see you at the finals. I love it. I
Speaker 2: have to come watch you. This is I'm begging you.
Speaker 2: Please please come anyway.
Speaker 1: I have to any week, and do it earlier than later,
Speaker 1: because you never know how long I'm going to be there,
Speaker 1: so please please come.
Speaker 2: Well, the first week I probably won't because there's every
Speaker 2: single contestant has like eight people in the audience, so
Speaker 2: there's like no place but hotfully By like week two
Speaker 2: or three, I can hop in and and come see you,
Speaker 2: and oh, I'm just so excited for you, girl.
Speaker 3: This is gonna be so magical, it really is.
Speaker 2: And just thank you.
Speaker 3: Lean in and enjoy it. It's gonna be so fun.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I want everyone to know you are a dance coach. Now,
Speaker 1: So if I ever have a last minute question or
Speaker 1: a concern about where I'm supposed to put my hands,
Speaker 1: if I call.
Speaker 2: You, will you please pick up the phone. Absolutely. We've
Speaker 2: now are able to do sessions over zoom, so I
Speaker 2: could even honestly, if you're having a hard time memory,
Speaker 2: which I think is one of the hardest things, I
Speaker 2: will sit there and I've got patients like crazy of
Speaker 2: We'll do it four counts at a time. We'll do
Speaker 2: it four counts, and we'll add and add and add,
Speaker 2: and we can just drill it that way, so you know,
Speaker 2: next time you see your partner, you've got your actual
Speaker 2: steps in. I love this.
Speaker 1: Okay, I might be hiring you as my my pro
Speaker 1: beyond the pro I really.
Speaker 2: Like to know. I'm not a pro. I just could
Speaker 2: I have memory. I have a good aspect of memory,
Speaker 2: not necessarily technique. That will be your pro, but I
Speaker 2: can help you remember just get it like muscle memory.
Speaker 2: I love that. And where how can people find your
Speaker 2: dance clothing line as well? It's at sobriofficial dot com
Speaker 2: s A b r I right, s A b r I,
Speaker 2: and we're on Instagram that there you can kind of
Speaker 2: see everything, and that's at sobre Dance Underscore Official. Well Sabrina,
Speaker 2: I am so grateful and so appreciative that you came
Speaker 2: on and just thank you so much.
Speaker 1: I feel better after talking to you, and I'm going
Speaker 1: to embrace all the aspects of it, all the craziness,
Speaker 1: and just do my best to soak it in.
Speaker 2: So thank you.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, and best of luck.
Speaker 1: Break a lash girl, break a lash and I'll see
Speaker 1: you in the audience in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3: Absolutely say yeah, by bye.