WEBVTT - Conversations with... Val Chmerkovskiy 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:06.880 This is Conversations with Olivia Jade in My Heart Radio podcast. 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:24.440 Did a break up the leg fellow, We literally just 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:32.000 started recording and the chair balance sitting and completely broke. Everybody, 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.560 please welcome. You want to switch? No, I'll be fine. 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:43.479 Are you balancing weird? Now? No? Yes, let's just try it. 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.600 Let's let's just go okay. Um, hello everybody, welcome back 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:53.000 to another episode of Conversations today. I have somebody very 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.040 very close to me and somebody you guys have probably 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.800 seen a lot of on my social media this last 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:05.680 eight weeks. We've got val my coach mentor bestie on 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:12.760 Dancing with the Starts. I don't want like noise, applause everything. Editors, 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.760 whoever is editing this year? Cool, We're going to get that, 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.880 and then maybe you can make a jingle. Yeah, okay, 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:28.840 cool and Conversations with Olivia j It's soundly that perfect. Okay, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.520 but just get somebody more talented to sing it. Okay, 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:35.600 um wow, let's just dive right in. Let's do it. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.720 Thank you for having met so, of course, this is 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.800 probably gonna be my favorite episode of all time. Don't 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.240 put so much pressure on it. I'll try not to. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.840 But I think I already stop it. I hate that 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:53.040 noise so much. Vow. Okay. So I know a lot 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.880 about you, obviously from hanging out with you almost every 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.480 day for the last two months, but I don't know 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.800 if my audience knows so much about you. So I'm 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:07.360 going to kind of pass it off to you. And yeah, 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:09.440 I'm want to let you introduce yourself, but I want 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.840 to hear you know, before we get into the details 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.720 about how you came into dancing and all that stuff, 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.000 like where you're from, you have a brother, all that 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:23.119 good stuff. So you take it away, cool, Allow myself 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:29.639 to introduce myself. Uh, my name is Val Tchmankowski. I 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.480 was born in Ukraine, which is a small country next 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:37.680 to Russia. I'm a Russian Ukrainian ida Ukraine in particular, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.160 it's a city on the Black Seat. The reason why 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.639 that particular detail is important to me because it is 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.920 a very specific city that has a lot of music, 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.760 arts culture. It's kind of known as the New Orleans 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.680 of the Soviet Union, which is back when I was born, 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.560 still what Ukraine and Russia were a part of it 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:03.600 was a different country called the Soviet Union. I gave 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.880 you this history lesson, I got this one, guys, and um. Anyway, 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.160 so I was born in that small coastal city. I 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.280 started playing the violin when I was five, and then 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.600 I had an older brother, Max, who at that time 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.240 was already dancing, so I kind of tagged along. And 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:25.640 then I, you know, shortly after starting to dance, my 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:29.280 family immigrated to Brooklyn, New York. So I just kind 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.320 of like, you know, let's say I danced for maybe 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.600 half a year, the most basic stuff. I was like 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.160 six years old, seven years old, and then I moved 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.680 to Brooklyn, New York as a family. So it was 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.960 my parents, my brother, and myself just as two of you, right, Max, 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.400 when you were eight, I moved. I was eight, he 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.320 was fourteen. We moved to Coney Island area. For those 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:55.240 that are familiar with Brooklyn, New York, it's not familiar 0:03:55.280 --> 0:04:00.960 with Brooklyn West Coast. K all Right said, yeah, Brooklyn, 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.400 New York. We we immigrated. It was a Russian community 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:05.200 that we moved into, but it was also like a 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.120 really dynamic could collect the community, right, So it was black, 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:14.680 Puerto Rican Italians, Jews, Russians, you know, it was like everybody, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.479 and it was overwhelming and I didn't speak English when 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.920 we moved here. None of my family spoke English. So 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.920 you know, you embark on this kind of challenge as 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:28.240 a family, and uh there were a lot of challenges, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.120 uh financially and just in general. You know, it's just 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:40.760 kind of that cliche immigrants family story. And then um, yeah, 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:42.760 I kind of, you know, to to kind of get 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:44.760 me out of trouble, my parents put me into the 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.760 activities that they already introduced me to. So it was violin. 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.080 They found me a violent teacher. I used to go 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:55.360 in Brooklyn, New York a woman that was also from 0:04:55.480 --> 0:05:01.320 Ukraine that was an incredible musician, uh her entire life 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.000 and then also immigrated to America and was now teaching 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.920 private out of her little apartment in in the projects 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.440 pretty much. So I would go to her apartment and 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.080 I would learn, you know, take violin with her for 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.800 an hour and a half and then you dance. All 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.599 the other hours you have school, I would go to school, 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.440 you know, so what is that nine to three? Then 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:30.080 from school I probably grab you know, grab food real 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:34.200 quick and then go to violin. And then after violin, 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:36.839 I'd go to dance, and then I would come home 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.160 around like nine pm and do my homework real quick 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:42.640 and then go to sleep and then pretty much repeat 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.679 that every day of my life since I was like 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.760 eight years old. That's insane. I kind of knew a 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:52.960 little bit of that. Did they put you guys in dance, 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.480 you and Max just for reasons of like they don't 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.320 want you guys to get into too much trouble? Or 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:01.040 was that because when you guys lived in you train? Yeah, 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.159 it was a sup to get you guys to move 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:08.080 to America. Like you know, dance was just an after 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:13.960 school extracurriculum activity, right, And it's like, again, I'm just 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.920 familiar with my family, but I could I could attest 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.240 too many families in the Eastern European community. It's like 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.119 free time is is the enemy for for their kids, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.800 you know. And so it's like to be a good 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.119 parent in that community, it's to occupy your your child 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.880 with as many activities and as many things, uh, you know, 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.960 to keep them busy as possible. And then along the way, 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.600 you see where they excel and you try to support 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:45.360 that and and you know, and that's what happened with us. 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.160 No one thought in a million years that my career 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:52.640 would would be you know, dance. They just supported their 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:56.920 kids in a you know, dance in particular in our 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.960 community is not taboo. It's not weak. You know, it's 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:04.359 not soft. It's not like weird for boys to dance. 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:08.960 You know, men dance, Men play sports, they wrestled, they 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.680 write poetry, they paint, and they dance. You know that 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.520 that's a complete kind of image of a of a man. 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:20.440 I always imagine a renaissance man, you know, not just 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.440 one dimensional human, but someone that has interested in many 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:28.280 different things. And then you know, I was then fortunate 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:32.720 enough throughout my life too create a life where I 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.200 then pursued those things that I was passionate about. But 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.680 I could have gone into medicine or law. You know, 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:42.440 I really loved law. I want to diagnose my strep 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.680 throat exactly before I even knew I had strapped, so 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.560 points to the medicine side. You were into law. No, 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.680 I went to UM. I just loved the Bates, you know. 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.760 And so in high school, even though I was competing 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.880 worldwide and you could say kind of like semi professional 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:04.440 in ballroom dance, and was you know, playing in a 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.880 youth orchestra that played in Carnegie Hall in Lincoln Center 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:11.760 in New York City. So that that sounds like these 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:15.760 these big achievements that you know, someone that potentially can 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.360 is just doing that would do. And and for me, again, 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.320 I was very fortunate with great teachers and a little 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.680 bit of talent and parents that supported me where I 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:29.680 was able to accomplish pretty high standards and all of 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:33.559 those things. And even in school, you know, I I 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.000 enjoyed school, That's what I mean. I didn't make a 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:40.960 choice to pursue something until maybe around n years old, 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:44.400 when I was already in college. I actually don't know 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:47.319 how you got started on Dancing with the Stars. I 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:51.840 don't think I've ever asked you that. So again, my 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:56.000 brother Max was recruited by Dancing with the Stars before 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.640 I was. How do they recruit people? They find them 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.640 through these competitions. Yeah, so they tapped into the world 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:07.160 of competitive ballroom dancing, which was a very small, niche 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:13.360 world that no one, nobody knew and and they, yeah, 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:17.040 they picked out some of the more talented ones. A 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:19.000 lot of that, you know, a lot of the top 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.720 couples said note to the project, you know, because they 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.080 didn't know what it was. And then on paper you know, 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.520 someone comes to you and they say, you know, it's 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.199 like going to the same Bolt right and going like, yo, 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.160 we got this project for you where it's called Racing 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.360 with the Stars. So it's like you partnered out with 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:37.959 you know you same bowl would be like, bro, I'm 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.520 not doing that. Yeah, you know that sounds crazy a 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:42.720 reality TV show where I get you know, I have 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.880 to teach a celebrity like even that in itself is 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.200 already like oh god, I'm not putting up with that. 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:54.080 Um So first season came out and and but some 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.160 some really talented pros said let's do it, you know, 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:01.160 and so you had that first see eason and the 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:05.360 entire dance world was watching a Vander Holyfield do a 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:12.320 fox shot, I think his first dance, and instantly I 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:17.360 went from you know, what do you do too? Oh 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:19.880 you do that thing that I just saw on TV? 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.600 You know, oh you're you know? So I immediately kind 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:27.560 of validated my my choices, and overnight, you know, it 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.400 went from like this weird thing that you know, my 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.160 entire life. People looked at me and said, why are 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:37.320 you spending so much of your time, effort, and energy 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.480 and money into that? Looked at my parents like they 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:44.280 were crazy, you know, these two young men and you're 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.400 pushing them to not pushing them, but you're you know, 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:51.840 you know, you're allowing them to pursue ballroom dance. It's 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.240 like yeah, yeah and yeah. And then overnight, you know, 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:57.040 a project like this put it, you know, made in 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.199 mainstream and we became you know, and then season who 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:02.440 my brother was like, all right, let me try this, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.439 so Max said, was he invited on season one? See 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:10.959 what he was invited? And then season two rolled around 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:17.040 and here yeah, And I was like, listen, go do that. 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:21.520 Because I'm nineteen at the time. My brother um in school. 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:26.000 I was at Pace University in New York City for business, 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.160 not for dance, not for violent. So at nineteen, you 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.559 didn't even know for sure if dance was going to 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:35.640 be like an end career move right at nineteen, it was. 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.440 I never think anything is an end career anything. I 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.360 think like, I'm always changing, you know, right now I'm 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:45.960 on Dancing with the Stars. I you know, I am 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:51.320 not against stopping everything that I'm doing and applying that 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:55.960 same hustle too, Like I said, trying to get into 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.480 law school and spending the next six years pursuing that 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.080 and then go went into a career in law, like 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.480 that's not something that is so far fetched to me. 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:08.760 So at nineteen I was fully committed. At twelve, I 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.840 was fully committed. At eight, I was already taught again 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.680 by my my dad to be fully committed into everything 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.040 that I'm doing. And so if today I'm doing this, 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.480 then I'm trying to be the best this has ever seen, 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.959 you know. So at nineteen, I was pursuing competitive form dancing. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.400 I was trying to become a world champion and again, 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:33.880 and my brother wasn't. My brother was a studio owner, 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:39.040 working sixty hours a week, grinding, you know, in a 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:43.960 really kind of down moment in his life. And so 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.640 when Dancing with the Stars once again came back season two, 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.080 it was all of us. He was still very proud 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.439 and still didn't want to go, and all of us 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.280 were like, bro, you have to go do this for 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.480 all of us, because again, this is television at that 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:05.040 time to see when the Stars was getting I mean million, yeah, yeah, 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.640 when it started. When it started, it because it was 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.240 a huge phenomena. First of all, there was no streaming yet, 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:16.080 you know, and so you tuned in and and and 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:19.120 talking about you know, social media. There was no social media, 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.400 so so you went on chat rooms or boardrooms on 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:26.559 the ABC Dancing with the Star's website, and you just saw, 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.560 you know when my brothers. After his first episode or 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:33.080 his premier, you know, he instantly became this kind of 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:38.080 notorious personality that kind of just said whatever was on 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:44.080 his mind, which was very yeah, very Schmikowsky. And and 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:49.200 people fell in love or really didn't like him. You know, 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.360 he was that type of personality. And I would go 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.880 on these chat rooms where they would be like, Max 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.960 is so cocky, Max is so arrogant. I can't believe 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.560 he allows us some let's just say things like that. 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.200 I would go and I'd make like I would comment, hey, 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.160 well he's actually really really fun. You know, he's actually 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.599 really nice, like i'd make you know, I'd make that 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.200 oh yeah, I had his back, and I like and 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.240 I would make multiple accounts like I would be his 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:22.280 super fan, low key making accounts that talk positive about him. 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.720 That's so cute. Can you do that for me because 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.800 I could use it. That's very sweet though, So but 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:33.520 again it was it was a family affair. You know, 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:35.040 he came out here and it was kind of like 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.960 that show Entourage. You know, he immediately made money he 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:45.520 never seen before. Ah, he went from you know this 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.160 whatever this this kind of this kid from from Brooklyn 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.680 to stud in Hollywood. Really yeah and so and I 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.200 would come out and visit him and I would be 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.880 I mean, it was just surreal. It was really really cool. 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.840 It was your first partner when you joined, um and so. 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.320 But but but yeah, just on that like so when 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.960 he joined, he couldn't help himself but be like, yo, 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.520 by the way, I got this younger brother that is fire. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.200 So you know he's not he's not gonna do this yet. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.320 He's not gonna sell out Hollywood just yet. He's still 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.760 gotta win things. Uh. And I was, you know, and 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.080 I kind of enjoyed it vicariously through him. But they 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.920 always had me on their radar from that moment. And 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:52.880 then I came on and did a few performances. I 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:54.880 performed on the show a couple of times, and they 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.160 were like, listen, whenever you're ready, we would love to 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.920 have you. And then yeah, that five years old. So 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.480 six years later I was like, yeah, I'm ready, let's 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.680 do it. Oh wow, So you have this kind of 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.440 brewing for a minute, and then yeah, for me, it 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.800 was I had a I had a bank full of pride, 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.760 you know. I I saw my brother was becoming this 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.280 huge star, and then I saw a lot of my peers, 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:24.640 you know, Derek Mark, and these are these are kids 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.960 I grew up with. We competed against each other, right, 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.160 because again, this is such a unique show. The pool 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.080 of talent for this show is very small. It's not 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.760 it's not a reality show on basketball where millions of 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.760 people are playing worldwide. This is a very small world 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:46.280 that exploded into this project. So you know, the talent 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.600 that you're choosing from most likely knows each other for 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:52.560 a really long time. And we knew each other for 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:54.680 a really long time. And so to see these kids 0:16:54.720 --> 0:17:00.960 stop competing, going to Hollywood and become superstars, and you know, 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.760 seeing that from the side, I'm proud of myself. I'm 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:08.840 proud that I pursued the goals competitively that I still 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.719 wanted to have even though I had this temptation already 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.240 one foot in Hollywood. And the really the turning point 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:19.560 for me was several things. But really I was in 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.639 the midst of competing one time, and I was on 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.400 the dance floor and I was in motion and I 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.440 was able to think about like what am I doing here? 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.479 And as soon as I had that moment, I was like, 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.000 I'm I gotta be out. And then the other thing 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:41.680 was financial. You know, in our world, you know you're 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.520 not making a lot of money. You know, I'm not. 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.800 I'm I could be a world champion, but I'm not 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:50.639 making Lebron James money even close. But the sacrifice is 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.000 the same, so you really have to be doing it 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.000 because you love it, because you're passionate about it. And 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.760 so then yeah, and the twenty five I was like, 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.119 what's the difference between, you know, a hobby and a profession. 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.000 The passion is in the difference. You can be passionate 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.000 about a hobby, but really it's at the end of 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:11.320 the day, it's your paycheck. And so so if I 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.440 want to be a professional at this, I gotta learn 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.560 how to earn money with this write talent and passion. 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.159 And that's when I was like, yo, I gotta go 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.920 and try to earn some money. And let's say I 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:29.280 did it. Um wow, back to my original question. Also, 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:34.800 first partner, favorite partner, better saying me my first partner 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:43.360 was ELIZABETHA Canales. She was Italian model and she had 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:48.280 just gotten out of a very public relationship with George Clooney. 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.000 Did you get any of the tea? I got plenty 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:56.720 of the tea. Won't like, I'm not a snitch, so 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:58.960 I could. It's not like I'm I'm sharing any of 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.560 the tea. And um, I'm just there to teach dance. 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:05.240 And I was so intense and I was such a 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:09.280 rook and we were second to get eliminated. Yeah, so 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:14.720 imagine this kind of like ego and pride and like energy. 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:18.680 I just stopped competing. I, you know, like this big 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.080 recruit and I'm like, oh, I'm about to go in 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.240 here and just whoop on everybody. I'm telling my brother, 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.760 my brother is still on the show. Every everybody, all 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.960 the big guns, you know, and I'm like, what's the 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:35.159 school all of these? An I was out and I 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:40.320 wasn't deserved. Was terrible. Um, I was bummed. Yeah, I 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:42.680 was humbled, you know I was. I moved my entire 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.720 life here also, by the way, not just joined the show. 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:50.240 I moved from New York City to Los Angeles and 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:55.160 like ready to work. And I'm like eliminated seconds, So 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:57.199 then I'm just chilling in the city. But I'm like, 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.280 I'm I'm here, you know, and it might as well. 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:01.560 I gotta make it work, and that's it. I just 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.480 kind of paid attention and learned and studied Derek and 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:08.640 Mark and Max and Tony everybody on the show. Yeah, 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:10.879 because I'm like, if they give me another chance, I 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:14.360 gotta I gotta be ready. Did you want to come 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:16.880 back season three then, just to prove yourself a little 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:23.800 or whatever it was seasons? So did I want to 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:26.680 come back the next season? Yes? Yes, yes I did. 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.359 I did because I'm like, this is embarrassing. I gotta 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.159 can't be your lasting impression. And that's why I'm grateful 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:36.280 to the show. They believed in me and they gave 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:45.320 me another chance. And I got eliminated third I was like, 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:47.000 all right, I gotta be a little better than that. 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.760 So we've made it pretty far. Yeah, I mean, you know, 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:54.920 on the third try, I went to the finals, so twist, 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.120 and then I kept going on the finals, so there's pressure. 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:00.600 Were you scared when you found out that I was 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:04.560 your partner? Are you like, oh no, not this girl, 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:09.240 or were you like, of course, I was like, oh no, 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.600 not this girl. Why would I be like, Yay, I 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:16.240 got this girl because maybe you I had no idea 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:18.879 who you are. You know, I only know who you 0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:22.080 are based on what I'm I've been told, yeah, and 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.159 nothing beyond that, you know. So for me, the first thing, 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:29.320 I was like, Okay, did she have a work ethic? 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:36.240 You know? Is she entitled? And I quickly saw that 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:40.040 that wasn't the case, you know, so that so immediately 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:42.359 once I saw that, and you feel that in the 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:46.639 first like two minutes of talking to you, I was like, okay, cool, Like, 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:49.760 let me see how Caucasian she really is. These Latin 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:55.399 dances and I was quite caucas which we had so 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.399 sad I've never danced before, and my hips looked like 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:03.000 I was extremely white, which again is a beautiful thing, 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:05.920 and we figured out a way to move those hips. 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:09.760 But yeah, seeing that you were coordinated still and had 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.800 some soul to you, I was like, look, yeah, she's 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.479 not a ringer, but I I'm excited to teach her. 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:19.159 I'm excited. And then seeing how happy it made you 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:23.680 to learn something or actually get it, that's everything you 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:26.520 know as as a teacher, and I've I am proud 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:29.520 to say I teach a lot. I that's it's my 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:31.639 pride and joy to be able to teach dance and 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:35.359 share that with people. UM. To be able to share 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:41.040 with a young, talented, hard working, cool last chick is 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.520 a huge privilege for me because we just talked about, 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:48.680 like tomorrow the show is going to be gone. I 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:52.280 don't want my style of dance to go with it. 0:22:53.119 --> 0:22:58.320 And it will live on with you, with Zendea, with Normandy, 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:01.119 with Lori Amandez, with you know, with with all the 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:04.119 amazing partners that I got a chance to share this 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:07.800 passion with, Rumor Willis, Um, it will live on with 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:12.040 them because you know, hopefully you will remember this experience 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:14.520 and be like and and be really proud of it. 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:17.240 For sure. I already am really proud of it. And 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:20.879 it's still kind of early on in it. Um. Do 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:24.120 you still keep in touch with any former partners? All 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:26.040 of them? Okay? Cool? Because I was going to say, 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:27.920 if you think you're getting rid of me after this, 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:37.560 you are crazy. Um. Yeah, it's it's it's a thing. 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:41.160 It's definitely a thing. You know, you spend every day together. Yeah. 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:43.399 I feel like somebody asked me once they were like, 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:46.520 what why do you guys think that you know, all 0:23:46.600 --> 0:23:49.240 these partners get so close some interview or was I 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:52.119 think after one of the shows, and U, I mean 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:55.040 it's so true. You literally spend every single day with 0:23:55.200 --> 0:23:57.680 the same person on repeat. And then I think there's 0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:01.240 also something special because you're learning something from somebody that 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:05.560 I think the bond just grows really quickly, right, I 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:12.400 mean it's coach, player, student, teacher, teammates, you know. That's 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:15.560 the other thing is like, well, yeah, because it's it's 0:24:15.600 --> 0:24:17.480 a weird thing. I teach you, I teach you, I 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:19.399 teach you, and then I partner you a part and 0:24:19.440 --> 0:24:24.160 then where we go into the performance as partners. Um, 0:24:25.240 --> 0:24:29.080 so yeah, I mean those emotions of camaraderie and familiarity, 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:31.920 familiarity even you know, and so yeah, so we're going 0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:37.240 through this as well. But also there's a you know, 0:24:37.440 --> 0:24:40.320 in such a close proximity too, So we're in each 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.800 other's space, being comfortable in each other's space every single day. 0:24:43.800 --> 0:24:45.720 Because if you're not comfortable in each othersman, then you 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:50.399 can't dance any of this stuff, you know, So that 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:57.600 with again having that, you know, having that focus and 0:24:57.680 --> 0:25:02.000 purpose together common ground create in common ground every week. Yeah, 0:25:02.320 --> 0:25:04.960 it creates a really strong bond in a relationship. And 0:25:05.480 --> 0:25:09.639 you know, again, I bring up someone like Normandy for instance, right, 0:25:09.760 --> 0:25:14.480