Speaker 1: This is Conversations with Olivia Jade in My Heart Radio podcast.
Speaker 1: Did a break up the leg fellow, We literally just
Speaker 1: started recording and the chair balance sitting and completely broke. Everybody,
Speaker 1: please welcome. You want to switch? No, I'll be fine.
Speaker 1: Are you balancing weird? Now? No? Yes, let's just try it.
Speaker 1: Let's let's just go okay. Um, hello everybody, welcome back
Speaker 1: to another episode of Conversations today. I have somebody very
Speaker 1: very close to me and somebody you guys have probably
Speaker 1: seen a lot of on my social media this last
Speaker 1: eight weeks. We've got val my coach mentor bestie on
Speaker 1: Dancing with the Starts. I don't want like noise, applause everything. Editors,
Speaker 1: whoever is editing this year? Cool, We're going to get that,
Speaker 1: and then maybe you can make a jingle. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: cool and Conversations with Olivia j It's soundly that perfect. Okay,
Speaker 1: but just get somebody more talented to sing it. Okay,
Speaker 1: um wow, let's just dive right in. Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Thank you for having met so, of course, this is
Speaker 1: probably gonna be my favorite episode of all time. Don't
Speaker 1: put so much pressure on it. I'll try not to.
Speaker 1: But I think I already stop it. I hate that
Speaker 1: noise so much. Vow. Okay. So I know a lot
Speaker 1: about you, obviously from hanging out with you almost every
Speaker 1: day for the last two months, but I don't know
Speaker 1: if my audience knows so much about you. So I'm
Speaker 1: going to kind of pass it off to you. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm want to let you introduce yourself, but I want
Speaker 1: to hear you know, before we get into the details
Speaker 1: about how you came into dancing and all that stuff,
Speaker 1: like where you're from, you have a brother, all that
Speaker 1: good stuff. So you take it away, cool, Allow myself
Speaker 1: to introduce myself. Uh, my name is Val Tchmankowski. I
Speaker 1: was born in Ukraine, which is a small country next
Speaker 1: to Russia. I'm a Russian Ukrainian ida Ukraine in particular,
Speaker 1: it's a city on the Black Seat. The reason why
Speaker 1: that particular detail is important to me because it is
Speaker 1: a very specific city that has a lot of music,
Speaker 1: arts culture. It's kind of known as the New Orleans
Speaker 1: of the Soviet Union, which is back when I was born,
Speaker 1: still what Ukraine and Russia were a part of it
Speaker 1: was a different country called the Soviet Union. I gave
Speaker 1: you this history lesson, I got this one, guys, and um. Anyway,
Speaker 1: so I was born in that small coastal city. I
Speaker 1: started playing the violin when I was five, and then
Speaker 1: I had an older brother, Max, who at that time
Speaker 1: was already dancing, so I kind of tagged along. And
Speaker 1: then I, you know, shortly after starting to dance, my
Speaker 1: family immigrated to Brooklyn, New York. So I just kind
Speaker 1: of like, you know, let's say I danced for maybe
Speaker 1: half a year, the most basic stuff. I was like
Speaker 1: six years old, seven years old, and then I moved
Speaker 1: to Brooklyn, New York as a family. So it was
Speaker 1: my parents, my brother, and myself just as two of you, right, Max,
Speaker 1: when you were eight, I moved. I was eight, he
Speaker 1: was fourteen. We moved to Coney Island area. For those
Speaker 1: that are familiar with Brooklyn, New York, it's not familiar
Speaker 1: with Brooklyn West Coast. K all Right said, yeah, Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: New York. We we immigrated. It was a Russian community
Speaker 1: that we moved into, but it was also like a
Speaker 1: really dynamic could collect the community, right, So it was black,
Speaker 1: Puerto Rican Italians, Jews, Russians, you know, it was like everybody,
Speaker 1: and it was overwhelming and I didn't speak English when
Speaker 1: we moved here. None of my family spoke English. So
Speaker 1: you know, you embark on this kind of challenge as
Speaker 1: a family, and uh there were a lot of challenges,
Speaker 1: uh financially and just in general. You know, it's just
Speaker 1: kind of that cliche immigrants family story. And then um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I kind of, you know, to to kind of get
Speaker 1: me out of trouble, my parents put me into the
Speaker 1: activities that they already introduced me to. So it was violin.
Speaker 1: They found me a violent teacher. I used to go
Speaker 1: in Brooklyn, New York a woman that was also from
Speaker 1: Ukraine that was an incredible musician, uh her entire life
Speaker 1: and then also immigrated to America and was now teaching
Speaker 1: private out of her little apartment in in the projects
Speaker 1: pretty much. So I would go to her apartment and
Speaker 1: I would learn, you know, take violin with her for
Speaker 1: an hour and a half and then you dance. All
Speaker 1: the other hours you have school, I would go to school,
Speaker 1: you know, so what is that nine to three? Then
Speaker 1: from school I probably grab you know, grab food real
Speaker 1: quick and then go to violin. And then after violin,
Speaker 1: I'd go to dance, and then I would come home
Speaker 1: around like nine pm and do my homework real quick
Speaker 1: and then go to sleep and then pretty much repeat
Speaker 1: that every day of my life since I was like
Speaker 1: eight years old. That's insane. I kind of knew a
Speaker 1: little bit of that. Did they put you guys in dance,
Speaker 1: you and Max just for reasons of like they don't
Speaker 1: want you guys to get into too much trouble? Or
Speaker 1: was that because when you guys lived in you train? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a sup to get you guys to move
Speaker 1: to America. Like you know, dance was just an after
Speaker 1: school extracurriculum activity, right, And it's like, again, I'm just
Speaker 1: familiar with my family, but I could I could attest
Speaker 1: too many families in the Eastern European community. It's like
Speaker 1: free time is is the enemy for for their kids,
Speaker 1: you know. And so it's like to be a good
Speaker 1: parent in that community, it's to occupy your your child
Speaker 1: with as many activities and as many things, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: to keep them busy as possible. And then along the way,
Speaker 1: you see where they excel and you try to support
Speaker 1: that and and you know, and that's what happened with us.
Speaker 1: No one thought in a million years that my career
Speaker 1: would would be you know, dance. They just supported their
Speaker 1: kids in a you know, dance in particular in our
Speaker 1: community is not taboo. It's not weak. You know, it's
Speaker 1: not soft. It's not like weird for boys to dance.
Speaker 1: You know, men dance, Men play sports, they wrestled, they
Speaker 1: write poetry, they paint, and they dance. You know that
Speaker 1: that's a complete kind of image of a of a man.
Speaker 1: I always imagine a renaissance man, you know, not just
Speaker 1: one dimensional human, but someone that has interested in many
Speaker 1: different things. And then you know, I was then fortunate
Speaker 1: enough throughout my life too create a life where I
Speaker 1: then pursued those things that I was passionate about. But
Speaker 1: I could have gone into medicine or law. You know,
Speaker 1: I really loved law. I want to diagnose my strep
Speaker 1: throat exactly before I even knew I had strapped, so
Speaker 1: points to the medicine side. You were into law. No,
Speaker 1: I went to UM. I just loved the Bates, you know.
Speaker 1: And so in high school, even though I was competing
Speaker 1: worldwide and you could say kind of like semi professional
Speaker 1: in ballroom dance, and was you know, playing in a
Speaker 1: youth orchestra that played in Carnegie Hall in Lincoln Center
Speaker 1: in New York City. So that that sounds like these
Speaker 1: these big achievements that you know, someone that potentially can
Speaker 1: is just doing that would do. And and for me, again,
Speaker 1: I was very fortunate with great teachers and a little
Speaker 1: bit of talent and parents that supported me where I
Speaker 1: was able to accomplish pretty high standards and all of
Speaker 1: those things. And even in school, you know, I I
Speaker 1: enjoyed school, That's what I mean. I didn't make a
Speaker 1: choice to pursue something until maybe around n years old,
Speaker 1: when I was already in college. I actually don't know
Speaker 1: how you got started on Dancing with the Stars. I
Speaker 1: don't think I've ever asked you that. So again, my
Speaker 1: brother Max was recruited by Dancing with the Stars before
Speaker 1: I was. How do they recruit people? They find them
Speaker 1: through these competitions. Yeah, so they tapped into the world
Speaker 1: of competitive ballroom dancing, which was a very small, niche
Speaker 1: world that no one, nobody knew and and they, yeah,
Speaker 1: they picked out some of the more talented ones. A
Speaker 1: lot of that, you know, a lot of the top
Speaker 1: couples said note to the project, you know, because they
Speaker 1: didn't know what it was. And then on paper you know,
Speaker 1: someone comes to you and they say, you know, it's
Speaker 1: like going to the same Bolt right and going like, yo,
Speaker 1: we got this project for you where it's called Racing
Speaker 1: with the Stars. So it's like you partnered out with
Speaker 1: you know you same bowl would be like, bro, I'm
Speaker 1: not doing that. Yeah, you know that sounds crazy a
Speaker 1: reality TV show where I get you know, I have
Speaker 1: to teach a celebrity like even that in itself is
Speaker 1: already like oh god, I'm not putting up with that.
Speaker 1: Um So first season came out and and but some
Speaker 1: some really talented pros said let's do it, you know,
Speaker 1: and so you had that first see eason and the
Speaker 1: entire dance world was watching a Vander Holyfield do a
Speaker 1: fox shot, I think his first dance, and instantly I
Speaker 1: went from you know, what do you do too? Oh
Speaker 1: you do that thing that I just saw on TV?
Speaker 1: You know, oh you're you know? So I immediately kind
Speaker 1: of validated my my choices, and overnight, you know, it
Speaker 1: went from like this weird thing that you know, my
Speaker 1: entire life. People looked at me and said, why are
Speaker 1: you spending so much of your time, effort, and energy
Speaker 1: and money into that? Looked at my parents like they
Speaker 1: were crazy, you know, these two young men and you're
Speaker 1: pushing them to not pushing them, but you're you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you're allowing them to pursue ballroom dance. It's
Speaker 1: like yeah, yeah and yeah. And then overnight, you know,
Speaker 1: a project like this put it, you know, made in
Speaker 1: mainstream and we became you know, and then season who
Speaker 1: my brother was like, all right, let me try this,
Speaker 1: so Max said, was he invited on season one? See
Speaker 1: what he was invited? And then season two rolled around
Speaker 1: and here yeah, And I was like, listen, go do that.
Speaker 1: Because I'm nineteen at the time. My brother um in school.
Speaker 1: I was at Pace University in New York City for business,
Speaker 1: not for dance, not for violent. So at nineteen, you
Speaker 1: didn't even know for sure if dance was going to
Speaker 1: be like an end career move right at nineteen, it was.
Speaker 1: I never think anything is an end career anything. I
Speaker 1: think like, I'm always changing, you know, right now I'm
Speaker 1: on Dancing with the Stars. I you know, I am
Speaker 1: not against stopping everything that I'm doing and applying that
Speaker 1: same hustle too, Like I said, trying to get into
Speaker 1: law school and spending the next six years pursuing that
Speaker 1: and then go went into a career in law, like
Speaker 1: that's not something that is so far fetched to me.
Speaker 1: So at nineteen I was fully committed. At twelve, I
Speaker 1: was fully committed. At eight, I was already taught again
Speaker 1: by my my dad to be fully committed into everything
Speaker 1: that I'm doing. And so if today I'm doing this,
Speaker 1: then I'm trying to be the best this has ever seen,
Speaker 1: you know. So at nineteen, I was pursuing competitive form dancing.
Speaker 1: I was trying to become a world champion and again,
Speaker 1: and my brother wasn't. My brother was a studio owner,
Speaker 1: working sixty hours a week, grinding, you know, in a
Speaker 1: really kind of down moment in his life. And so
Speaker 1: when Dancing with the Stars once again came back season two,
Speaker 1: it was all of us. He was still very proud
Speaker 1: and still didn't want to go, and all of us
Speaker 1: were like, bro, you have to go do this for
Speaker 1: all of us, because again, this is television at that
Speaker 1: time to see when the Stars was getting I mean million, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: when it started. When it started, it because it was
Speaker 1: a huge phenomena. First of all, there was no streaming yet,
Speaker 1: you know, and so you tuned in and and and
Speaker 1: talking about you know, social media. There was no social media,
Speaker 1: so so you went on chat rooms or boardrooms on
Speaker 1: the ABC Dancing with the Star's website, and you just saw,
Speaker 1: you know when my brothers. After his first episode or
Speaker 1: his premier, you know, he instantly became this kind of
Speaker 1: notorious personality that kind of just said whatever was on
Speaker 1: his mind, which was very yeah, very Schmikowsky. And and
Speaker 1: people fell in love or really didn't like him. You know,
Speaker 1: he was that type of personality. And I would go
Speaker 1: on these chat rooms where they would be like, Max
Speaker 1: is so cocky, Max is so arrogant. I can't believe
Speaker 1: he allows us some let's just say things like that.
Speaker 1: I would go and I'd make like I would comment, hey,
Speaker 1: well he's actually really really fun. You know, he's actually
Speaker 1: really nice, like i'd make you know, I'd make that
Speaker 1: oh yeah, I had his back, and I like and
Speaker 1: I would make multiple accounts like I would be his
Speaker 1: super fan, low key making accounts that talk positive about him.
Speaker 1: That's so cute. Can you do that for me because
Speaker 1: I could use it. That's very sweet though, So but
Speaker 1: again it was it was a family affair. You know,
Speaker 1: he came out here and it was kind of like
Speaker 1: that show Entourage. You know, he immediately made money he
Speaker 1: never seen before. Ah, he went from you know this
Speaker 1: whatever this this kind of this kid from from Brooklyn
Speaker 1: to stud in Hollywood. Really yeah and so and I
Speaker 1: would come out and visit him and I would be
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just surreal. It was really really cool.
Speaker 1: It was your first partner when you joined, um and so.
Speaker 1: But but but yeah, just on that like so when
Speaker 1: he joined, he couldn't help himself but be like, yo,
Speaker 1: by the way, I got this younger brother that is fire.
Speaker 1: So you know he's not he's not gonna do this yet.
Speaker 1: He's not gonna sell out Hollywood just yet. He's still
Speaker 1: gotta win things. Uh. And I was, you know, and
Speaker 1: I kind of enjoyed it vicariously through him. But they
Speaker 1: always had me on their radar from that moment. And
Speaker 1: then I came on and did a few performances. I
Speaker 1: performed on the show a couple of times, and they
Speaker 1: were like, listen, whenever you're ready, we would love to
Speaker 1: have you. And then yeah, that five years old. So
Speaker 1: six years later I was like, yeah, I'm ready, let's
Speaker 1: do it. Oh wow, So you have this kind of
Speaker 1: brewing for a minute, and then yeah, for me, it
Speaker 1: was I had a I had a bank full of pride,
Speaker 1: you know. I I saw my brother was becoming this
Speaker 1: huge star, and then I saw a lot of my peers,
Speaker 1: you know, Derek Mark, and these are these are kids
Speaker 1: I grew up with. We competed against each other, right,
Speaker 1: because again, this is such a unique show. The pool
Speaker 1: of talent for this show is very small. It's not
Speaker 1: it's not a reality show on basketball where millions of
Speaker 1: people are playing worldwide. This is a very small world
Speaker 1: that exploded into this project. So you know, the talent
Speaker 1: that you're choosing from most likely knows each other for
Speaker 1: a really long time. And we knew each other for
Speaker 1: a really long time. And so to see these kids
Speaker 1: stop competing, going to Hollywood and become superstars, and you know,
Speaker 1: seeing that from the side, I'm proud of myself. I'm
Speaker 1: proud that I pursued the goals competitively that I still
Speaker 1: wanted to have even though I had this temptation already
Speaker 1: one foot in Hollywood. And the really the turning point
Speaker 1: for me was several things. But really I was in
Speaker 1: the midst of competing one time, and I was on
Speaker 1: the dance floor and I was in motion and I
Speaker 1: was able to think about like what am I doing here?
Speaker 1: And as soon as I had that moment, I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm I gotta be out. And then the other thing
Speaker 1: was financial. You know, in our world, you know you're
Speaker 1: not making a lot of money. You know, I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm I could be a world champion, but I'm not
Speaker 1: making Lebron James money even close. But the sacrifice is
Speaker 1: the same, so you really have to be doing it
Speaker 1: because you love it, because you're passionate about it. And
Speaker 1: so then yeah, and the twenty five I was like,
Speaker 1: what's the difference between, you know, a hobby and a profession.
Speaker 1: The passion is in the difference. You can be passionate
Speaker 1: about a hobby, but really it's at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, it's your paycheck. And so so if I
Speaker 1: want to be a professional at this, I gotta learn
Speaker 1: how to earn money with this write talent and passion.
Speaker 1: And that's when I was like, yo, I gotta go
Speaker 1: and try to earn some money. And let's say I
Speaker 1: did it. Um wow, back to my original question. Also,
Speaker 1: first partner, favorite partner, better saying me my first partner
Speaker 1: was ELIZABETHA Canales. She was Italian model and she had
Speaker 1: just gotten out of a very public relationship with George Clooney.
Speaker 1: Did you get any of the tea? I got plenty
Speaker 1: of the tea. Won't like, I'm not a snitch, so
Speaker 1: I could. It's not like I'm I'm sharing any of
Speaker 1: the tea. And um, I'm just there to teach dance.
Speaker 1: And I was so intense and I was such a
Speaker 1: rook and we were second to get eliminated. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: imagine this kind of like ego and pride and like energy.
Speaker 1: I just stopped competing. I, you know, like this big
Speaker 1: recruit and I'm like, oh, I'm about to go in
Speaker 1: here and just whoop on everybody. I'm telling my brother,
Speaker 1: my brother is still on the show. Every everybody, all
Speaker 1: the big guns, you know, and I'm like, what's the
Speaker 1: school all of these? An I was out and I
Speaker 1: wasn't deserved. Was terrible. Um, I was bummed. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was humbled, you know I was. I moved my entire
Speaker 1: life here also, by the way, not just joined the show.
Speaker 1: I moved from New York City to Los Angeles and
Speaker 1: like ready to work. And I'm like eliminated seconds, So
Speaker 1: then I'm just chilling in the city. But I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm here, you know, and it might as well.
Speaker 1: I gotta make it work, and that's it. I just
Speaker 1: kind of paid attention and learned and studied Derek and
Speaker 1: Mark and Max and Tony everybody on the show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I'm like, if they give me another chance, I
Speaker 1: gotta I gotta be ready. Did you want to come
Speaker 1: back season three then, just to prove yourself a little
Speaker 1: or whatever it was seasons? So did I want to
Speaker 1: come back the next season? Yes? Yes, yes I did.
Speaker 1: I did because I'm like, this is embarrassing. I gotta
Speaker 1: can't be your lasting impression. And that's why I'm grateful
Speaker 1: to the show. They believed in me and they gave
Speaker 1: me another chance. And I got eliminated third I was like,
Speaker 1: all right, I gotta be a little better than that.
Speaker 1: So we've made it pretty far. Yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: on the third try, I went to the finals, so twist,
Speaker 1: and then I kept going on the finals, so there's pressure.
Speaker 1: Were you scared when you found out that I was
Speaker 1: your partner? Are you like, oh no, not this girl,
Speaker 1: or were you like, of course, I was like, oh no,
Speaker 1: not this girl. Why would I be like, Yay, I
Speaker 1: got this girl because maybe you I had no idea
Speaker 1: who you are. You know, I only know who you
Speaker 1: are based on what I'm I've been told, yeah, and
Speaker 1: nothing beyond that, you know. So for me, the first thing,
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, did she have a work ethic?
Speaker 1: You know? Is she entitled? And I quickly saw that
Speaker 1: that wasn't the case, you know, so that so immediately
Speaker 1: once I saw that, and you feel that in the
Speaker 1: first like two minutes of talking to you, I was like, okay, cool, Like,
Speaker 1: let me see how Caucasian she really is. These Latin
Speaker 1: dances and I was quite caucas which we had so
Speaker 1: sad I've never danced before, and my hips looked like
Speaker 1: I was extremely white, which again is a beautiful thing,
Speaker 1: and we figured out a way to move those hips.
Speaker 1: But yeah, seeing that you were coordinated still and had
Speaker 1: some soul to you, I was like, look, yeah, she's
Speaker 1: not a ringer, but I I'm excited to teach her.
Speaker 1: I'm excited. And then seeing how happy it made you
Speaker 1: to learn something or actually get it, that's everything you
Speaker 1: know as as a teacher, and I've I am proud
Speaker 1: to say I teach a lot. I that's it's my
Speaker 1: pride and joy to be able to teach dance and
Speaker 1: share that with people. UM. To be able to share
Speaker 1: with a young, talented, hard working, cool last chick is
Speaker 1: a huge privilege for me because we just talked about,
Speaker 1: like tomorrow the show is going to be gone. I
Speaker 1: don't want my style of dance to go with it.
Speaker 1: And it will live on with you, with Zendea, with Normandy,
Speaker 1: with Lori Amandez, with you know, with with all the
Speaker 1: amazing partners that I got a chance to share this
Speaker 1: passion with, Rumor Willis, Um, it will live on with
Speaker 1: them because you know, hopefully you will remember this experience
Speaker 1: and be like and and be really proud of it.
Speaker 1: For sure. I already am really proud of it. And
Speaker 1: it's still kind of early on in it. Um. Do
Speaker 1: you still keep in touch with any former partners? All
Speaker 1: of them? Okay? Cool? Because I was going to say,
Speaker 1: if you think you're getting rid of me after this,
Speaker 1: you are crazy. Um. Yeah, it's it's it's a thing.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a thing. You know, you spend every day together. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I feel like somebody asked me once they were like,
Speaker 1: what why do you guys think that you know, all
Speaker 1: these partners get so close some interview or was I
Speaker 1: think after one of the shows, and U, I mean
Speaker 1: it's so true. You literally spend every single day with
Speaker 1: the same person on repeat. And then I think there's
Speaker 1: also something special because you're learning something from somebody that
Speaker 1: I think the bond just grows really quickly, right, I
Speaker 1: mean it's coach, player, student, teacher, teammates, you know. That's
Speaker 1: the other thing is like, well, yeah, because it's it's
Speaker 1: a weird thing. I teach you, I teach you, I
Speaker 1: teach you, and then I partner you a part and
Speaker 1: then where we go into the performance as partners. Um,
Speaker 1: so yeah, I mean those emotions of camaraderie and familiarity,
Speaker 1: familiarity even you know, and so yeah, so we're going
Speaker 1: through this as well. But also there's a you know,
Speaker 1: in such a close proximity too, So we're in each
Speaker 1: other's space, being comfortable in each other's space every single day.
Speaker 1: Because if you're not comfortable in each othersman, then you
Speaker 1: can't dance any of this stuff, you know, So that
Speaker 1: with again having that, you know, having that focus and
Speaker 1: purpose together common ground create in common ground every week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it creates a really strong bond in a relationship. And
Speaker 1: you know, again, I bring up someone like Normandy for instance, right,
Speaker 1: seeing her go from the show and then blossom into
Speaker 1: an individual that's kind of like, you know, seeing her
Speaker 1: career take off. I am forever now her fan, forever
Speaker 1: her friend. I'm for you know, I'm proud to see
Speaker 1: her sore, you know. And and it's not a matter
Speaker 1: of me having any credit for that at all, but
Speaker 1: just being you know, a pit stop two in her journey,
Speaker 1: you know. And and and she'll talk about what dancing
Speaker 1: when the stars meant to her. Yeah, I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: I can't speak on her behalf, but I can say
Speaker 1: anything I do moving forward from now. Maybe because I
Speaker 1: came from a different, like starting point, I would say,
Speaker 1: like coming on the show, I think it like really
Speaker 1: did bring out a different side to me and gave
Speaker 1: me a little bit more confidence that I didn't know
Speaker 1: I had. So, yeah, I want to talk to you.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you a question. Okay, what Yeah,
Speaker 1: when you say you know you've gained some confidence in
Speaker 1: what way, well, I think for me, um, I like
Speaker 1: still answer questions like I'm in an interview, and I
Speaker 1: have to remember that this is my podcast and I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to be like open and honest. Um. No, I
Speaker 1: think that before I did Dancing with the Stars, just
Speaker 1: because I've given everything that was happening in the media
Speaker 1: with my family, I was just really embarrassed to like
Speaker 1: be associated with that, to go out in public when
Speaker 1: I would even just go to the mall with friends.
Speaker 1: If somebody was looking at me, they could have been
Speaker 1: looking at me for nothing. Maybe I had sparkly ass
Speaker 1: shoes on, like I don't know what it was, but
Speaker 1: I would get so insecure, and I think that's like
Speaker 1: one of the defining differences I can say after doing
Speaker 1: this show, I just feel like I'm proud of something
Speaker 1: I'm doing and then I'm working towards something and it's
Speaker 1: not just like being handed to me, and that I
Speaker 1: actually can go out in the world and feel like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm doing this and somebody's looking at me. I'm not
Speaker 1: automatically thinking, oh, they've probably read some terrible headline about me.
Speaker 1: Like I don't know what the reason would be, but
Speaker 1: maybe on the off chance it's like they've seen us
Speaker 1: on Dancing with the stars, they're like, I think it
Speaker 1: just shifted my brain a little bit, gave me some
Speaker 1: more purpose. I mean, that's so amazing. So that was
Speaker 1: a huge motivator for me too. So to answer your question,
Speaker 1: when I found out that you're my partner, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: want any other partner on this roster. And I love
Speaker 1: I love the females that are on the show this season,
Speaker 1: a lot of great dancers, a lot of great people.
Speaker 1: But I I, yeah, I just felt connected to your
Speaker 1: story and you as a person, and as soon as
Speaker 1: I've found out that you're not that human, I was
Speaker 1: excited for the opportunity to showcase that, right, you know,
Speaker 1: the the element of surprise and the element of giving
Speaker 1: someone a chance to realize that confidence like that is
Speaker 1: such a great gift to me. Yeah. Yeah, It's definitely
Speaker 1: changed my perspective on a lot for sure. And I
Speaker 1: feel like also now going forward in life, I just
Speaker 1: feel a lot It sounds so cheesy, but I just
Speaker 1: feel genuinely happier, Like I think before. I think also
Speaker 1: when you're sitting out and this can go for anybody
Speaker 1: in any situation, when you're sitting at home and you're
Speaker 1: kind of like dwelling on a situation. You're not actively
Speaker 1: trying to come out of something. You're just going to
Speaker 1: get further and further in this hole. And that's kind
Speaker 1: of what I was doing to myself without realizing. And
Speaker 1: I would just stay home because my job was basically
Speaker 1: just YouTube, but also I was taking a step back
Speaker 1: from it. So it's very easy to just sit around
Speaker 1: and like not do much. And so I think if
Speaker 1: anybody is in a rut, easier said than done, But
Speaker 1: I would encourage you get out there and then take
Speaker 1: a dance class. Take a damn dance class. I preach
Speaker 1: the gospel of dance, So I'm gonna I'm gonna be biased. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree that you should. I'll tell you why. Because
Speaker 1: you know you're moving, So you're moving, your sweating, you're
Speaker 1: you're your but you're also thinking. You know you're you're
Speaker 1: You have to learn patterns and it keeps your brain stimulated,
Speaker 1: and then you're also congregating with people. You buy yourself
Speaker 1: for a year and a half. You don't get out
Speaker 1: there and be amongst other human beings to amazing music,
Speaker 1: your life will be better. Even if you're not going
Speaker 1: to pursue dance on a professional level, your life will
Speaker 1: be better. It's very therapeutic. Even the easiest thing, Like
Speaker 1: sometimes I notice if I start my morning blasting music
Speaker 1: or something and just dancing around while I make a
Speaker 1: coffee or whatever, it is like if you don't have
Speaker 1: the access right away to get into like a studio,
Speaker 1: there are little ways you can just you know, I
Speaker 1: think music is a a huge cure for a lot
Speaker 1: of things. Yeah, for sure. But again on that note,
Speaker 1: like it's also self serving, Like yes, it's you know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm excited for for your growth this season and
Speaker 1: seeing you blossom into a person that you're happy with
Speaker 1: has been incredibly rewarding. But on my end, I also
Speaker 1: get a chance to dance dance, which I haven't done
Speaker 1: on the show in a few years, just because I'm
Speaker 1: younger and can like run around. Let's not get crazy.
Speaker 1: Uma is also killing it. It's not about age, it's
Speaker 1: about yeah, just your enthusiasm, your spirit and your joy
Speaker 1: is at the center of what is creating so much
Speaker 1: awesome dance from us, you know, and performance from us.
Speaker 1: Because if you would have moved this exact in the
Speaker 1: same way, but it was so in your head and
Speaker 1: so miserable and so insecure and too you know, it
Speaker 1: would be very tough to make this work like me today,
Speaker 1: trying to get that step like you today. You know,
Speaker 1: but we'll get through today, and I know that tomorrow
Speaker 1: you will come back with this new spirit and and
Speaker 1: that is the key that you come back better every
Speaker 1: single day. Yeah, for sure, what's after this for you?
Speaker 1: Is this your final season or a we got more?
Speaker 1: And that little dancing body, Um, you don't know or
Speaker 1: you don't have to discluss, No, I'm I'm definitely gonna
Speaker 1: keep dancing for Oh yeah, No, I didn't question that.
Speaker 1: I just mean on Dancing with the Stars. Do you
Speaker 1: want to it's tv D because like you're I think
Speaker 1: you're my eighteenth partner, jeez, and I'm you know, and
Speaker 1: I build the relationships with all of them, but you
Speaker 1: know it's you're my favorite, but you're my favorite to
Speaker 1: hear you definitely. I'll tell you this. You definitely are
Speaker 1: the biggest surprise for me. You definitely exceeded my expectations
Speaker 1: out of everybody like that. There was people that came
Speaker 1: in and turned out to be just such a wonderful season,
Speaker 1: a winning season. But I I kind of you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that they were ringers, but they had
Speaker 1: potential coming in like it was mine to Ruin, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like they was mine to ruin.
Speaker 1: No money was mine to Ruin. Like they were amazing already,
Speaker 1: and I just made some good choices for them, you know,
Speaker 1: and then just got out of their way whatever, you know.
Speaker 1: But with with you, it's like it's it's not that easy.
Speaker 1: And this season is very competitive, so you know, it
Speaker 1: just means more. Like I told you the heart of
Speaker 1: the journey, the more the more it means to you,
Speaker 1: and like this one means a lot to me. So
Speaker 1: how many of these meaningful journeys can I emotionally go through?
Speaker 1: You know, It's a lot. And you will understand what
Speaker 1: I'm saying when when this is over, because you'll be like,
Speaker 1: you know, you'll have this huge void in your life
Speaker 1: that you're gonna have to fill with podcasts. No, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna come knocking at you and Jenna's story like, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: which one of you who wants to teach me how
Speaker 1: to dance today? You know, how to be able to
Speaker 1: partner you? So yeah, exactly, Okay, Well, I guess we
Speaker 1: can wrap it up kind of soon. We've really dove
Speaker 1: into the dance world here. But I do want to
Speaker 1: know what is No. No, this is I love talking
Speaker 1: about this. No, you were perfect. You're the best guest
Speaker 1: ten out of ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, forty out
Speaker 1: of forty, manifesting our score for the next dance. Also,
Speaker 1: I would just like to announce this on the podcast. Um,
Speaker 1: I recently learned on Dancing with the Stars why West
Speaker 1: Coast voting closes? And I don't think I've ever said
Speaker 1: this on any platform I have. And I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: plug Val and I really quickly here so we get
Speaker 1: the votes. Even if you're on the West Coast and
Speaker 1: you haven't watched this show yet. To vote for us,
Speaker 1: you have to text at five pm between five and
Speaker 1: six fifty pm, I think, yeah, Pacific time, So you
Speaker 1: text three the name Olivia. Oh, my mother's calling me
Speaker 1: and ruining my podcast. Um, what's after of this? Babies?
Speaker 1: Baby babies too? I mean for me, it's personally, I
Speaker 1: just want to continue to grow creatively. I want to
Speaker 1: produce shows. I want to star on Broadway. I want
Speaker 1: to star in movies. I want to like, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to move on from you still want to
Speaker 1: be in the industry though, and creative. Oh no, no,
Speaker 1: this is where I'm going to be. Oh yeah, great,
Speaker 1: because I plan to stay in it too. We could
Speaker 1: collaborate moving forward to Oh for sure, it doesn't have
Speaker 1: to just be on this project. We could facilitate our
Speaker 1: own projects. Yeah, and tomorrow we've got a big day ahead.
Speaker 1: That's right, because we're competing. Week seven, is it right? Now?
Speaker 1: Is a week eight? This is week seven? We're doing
Speaker 1: Queen Fat Bottom Girl. You make the Wrecking World go
Speaker 1: from Yeah, we've been training. Really does I feel for
Speaker 1: you that you get too kind of creatively direct this
Speaker 1: this journey for yourself as well? Right, because so many
Speaker 1: of these songs that we perform to are like your
Speaker 1: favorite songs. And I think you also, I don't know
Speaker 1: obviously what other coaches do, but I think you do
Speaker 1: give me a lot of creative freedom that maybe some
Speaker 1: other teachers maybe would take that and really kind of
Speaker 1: figured out for themselves. I think you really let me
Speaker 1: like have my input and little things that I think
Speaker 1: could go well, and sometimes they don't go well, and
Speaker 1: we don't use anything I suggest or say, but most
Speaker 1: of the time, but most of the time I feel like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it feels great. I think that's the other power exactly.
Speaker 1: I think that's the other thing is you know the
Speaker 1: keys to empower you to know that this thing that
Speaker 1: you watched your entire life, right because you're a fan
Speaker 1: of the show before joining it. Um, you are a
Speaker 1: part of creating it now, and then you see the
Speaker 1: final product and you're like, oh, wow, I could do this.
Speaker 1: You know. It's so fun watching the dances back after
Speaker 1: the week, when after you see it like on YouTuber,
Speaker 1: on Hulu wherever you're watching, like the full makeup here,
Speaker 1: because so much goes into it and then people only
Speaker 1: see obviously such a little bit and then like a
Speaker 1: little package and then just the dance and then actually
Speaker 1: experiencing it and getting to like work towards something, and
Speaker 1: then when it does well and you feel proud of it,
Speaker 1: it's so rewarding to watch. Yeah, it's it's a weekly
Speaker 1: arts project on crack. You know, it's like on a
Speaker 1: million on a million dollar budget. It's crazy privilege, right,
Speaker 1: but it's like, truly, we are doing what I was
Speaker 1: doing when I was twelve years old, dancing in nursing
Speaker 1: homes or restaurants or a little try state dance competitions.
Speaker 1: I was putting on a show trying to make people happy,
Speaker 1: you know, years later, um, in front of millions of
Speaker 1: people doing exactly the same thing, being on a show
Speaker 1: trying to make people happy, you know. So for anybody
Speaker 1: at home that has like a passion that they really
Speaker 1: want to pursue, pursue that and and be just excellent
Speaker 1: in that passion, because most likely, if you're excellent, you
Speaker 1: will be compensated for that excellently. And I think that's
Speaker 1: an amazing way to wrap it up. Work hard, then
Speaker 1: you get to celebrate and have fun and yet put
Speaker 1: in the work and you'll feel rewarded. I'd also like
Speaker 1: to say that Vow has done this entire interview on
Speaker 1: a three legged chair and has balanced the entire time,
Speaker 1: which is also very impressive and takes a lot of work. Um,
Speaker 1: but thanks for coming on and hanging out. This was productive.
Speaker 1: We've seen a lot of each other today. Yeah, not complaining,
Speaker 1: not me either. Alright, guys, we're out of here, out
Speaker 1: of here. Oh my gosh, Jojo text me and I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be about stressing up as you
Speaker 1: and Jenna one of these days. Um, all right, guys,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening. Make sure you follow
Speaker 1: Vale on all his social media plug yourself, but what's
Speaker 1: your account name? Valentine no e at v A l
Speaker 1: e I n t I v A l E n
Speaker 1: t I n Valentine beautiful. And make sure you, guys
Speaker 1: vote for us and tune into Dancing with the Stars tomorrow. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So the thing about the voting, right, I hate, like,
Speaker 1: please vote. I hate begging for votes really because I'm
Speaker 1: going to like, yeah, no shame, I'm going to beg
Speaker 1: for but you gotta vote for us because because if
Speaker 1: you don't vote, get eliminated. There's nothing to do, and
Speaker 1: then I'm gonna be really sad and bored. Come on,
Speaker 1: ye okay, do it? Do it? Text to one five
Speaker 1: to three my name Olivia at five pm Pacific time
Speaker 1: or eight p m Eastern times. That's the same time
Speaker 1: for those that are familiar. Yes, this is true. I
Speaker 1: would hope most of my audiences all hey, y'all. Piece
Speaker 1: of love, peace and love. H