Speaker 1: This is Sex Lies and Spray Tands with Me, Cheryl
Speaker 1: Burke and iHeartRadio Podcast. Hey guys, welcome back to Sex
Speaker 1: Lies and Spray Tans. He's a man of many talents,
Speaker 1: navigating the world of entertainment with ease and charm, from
Speaker 1: captivating audiences on daytime soap operas to becoming a beloved
Speaker 1: host on primetime TV. His career is a testament to
Speaker 1: dedication and charisma beyond the screen. His personal journey, including
Speaker 1: a courageous battle with cancer and a commitment to healthy living,
Speaker 1: showcases his resilience and passion. We all remember his dynamic
Speaker 1: performances on Dancing with the Stars, where he and the
Speaker 1: studying edit Teslawinska Wowdust in season five, dancing their way
Speaker 1: to an impressive fifth place finish. Join me as we
Speaker 1: dive into the fascinating world of Cameron Matheson. Welcome to
Speaker 1: Sex Lies and Freaking spray Tans. My friend, I am
Speaker 1: normally interviewed by you, but now the tables have that's right.
Speaker 2: I get to sit and listen and answer your questions
Speaker 2: for once.
Speaker 1: No, I have to listen, that's the problem, but I did.
Speaker 1: I would say the research I've done on you was
Speaker 1: very I was pleasantly surprised, right, and I have so
Speaker 1: many questions for you, and this is more than just
Speaker 1: dancing with the stars, though. We're going to cover it,
Speaker 1: don't you worry. We're gonna just rewind all the way
Speaker 1: back to when you were a little tiny Cameron Matheson.
Speaker 2: Little Cameron little.
Speaker 1: What's your very first memory as a kid, do you know?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's it's like not a great way maybe
Speaker 2: to start.
Speaker 1: Off this interview, like, No, it's okay, I love it.
Speaker 2: No. I was diagnosed with a degenerated bone disease and
Speaker 2: both my hip bones when I was a kid, and
Speaker 2: my first memory that I ever had was at the
Speaker 2: doctor's office. I didn't really know why. I was like
Speaker 2: like two and a half or maybe a little bit
Speaker 2: less two and a half, and I remember my mom
Speaker 2: coming out of the doctor's office with tears in her eyes.
Speaker 2: That's my first memory. Yeah, and I didn't know why.
Speaker 2: So that's the first memory I have. Yeah, bring it down.
Speaker 1: No, it's okay, you know what My first memory is
Speaker 1: my father with another woman, so like that looked exactly
Speaker 1: like my mother. He had a thing for Filipinos, obviously,
Speaker 1: but rest in peace. So yeah, this is why I asked,
Speaker 1: because this is like, you know, we don't do small
Speaker 1: talk here.
Speaker 2: Okay, well that's that's the truth. And I'm sorry that
Speaker 2: that's your first memory that I'm.
Speaker 1: Sorry that that's your first memory. But well, okay, so
Speaker 1: other than your first memory, is what do you remember
Speaker 1: from all of that? Did that affect you, like through
Speaker 1: your teenage life and your adulthood or no.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know, it would be impossible to
Speaker 2: say that it didn't. So yeah, I was diagnosed with
Speaker 2: the degenerative bone disease. I had to wear a big
Speaker 2: metal a frame brace on my legs for four years,
Speaker 2: night and day. I had to sleep with it. It
Speaker 2: was think of like Forrest Gump, but he could walk
Speaker 2: in his Mine was way out and it was rigid,
Speaker 2: and I had a crutching back and a crutch in front.
Speaker 2: I had to lift myself up and swing forward and
Speaker 2: land and then move my crutches and lift up and swing.
Speaker 2: That's how I would walk. And then I was you know,
Speaker 2: carried into bed and I had to sleep with it,
Speaker 2: which was, by the way, the hardest part and the
Speaker 2: only time it came off when I was lowered into
Speaker 2: the bath, you know, like put in the bath, and
Speaker 2: then I was sort of put back in this price.
Speaker 2: So I did that until I was seven and as
Speaker 2: so it really so my point is is that it
Speaker 2: really did. You know, those were very formative years. I
Speaker 2: was the guy that mothers would tell their kids not
Speaker 2: to stare at. I was bullied, I was I was
Speaker 2: made fun of. It was you know, we all we
Speaker 2: all have our history, we all have our childhood stuff
Speaker 2: that like sticks with us. That's that's definitely mine. And
Speaker 2: so through my teenage years, I probably tried to overcompensate
Speaker 2: a lot, you know, like I tried, without me realizing it,
Speaker 2: I tried to be you know, the super athlete, the
Speaker 2: guy who you know did great in school or got
Speaker 2: the girls or whatever it was. And I tried to
Speaker 2: kind of make up for that sort of that subconscious
Speaker 2: identification as a crippled kid or a disabled kid. You know,
Speaker 2: I know, crippled isn't a PC term, but that was
Speaker 2: the that was sort of my mantra by kind of
Speaker 2: going overboard, and you know, which you know, in a
Speaker 2: way obviously never kind of filled that void, but in
Speaker 2: a way also it kind of drove me and I
Speaker 2: realized you know, I made a lot of mistakes along
Speaker 2: the way, but it definitely I'm grateful for the experience now,
Speaker 2: super grateful for the experience. I think it's made me
Speaker 2: a lot more compassionate towards others, a lot more sensitive
Speaker 2: and empathetic. I think I realized that I can get
Speaker 2: through unbelievably difficult circumstances. And all the photos I have
Speaker 2: of myself during that time, I had a big smile
Speaker 2: on my face and I was like, that guy's awesome, man,
Speaker 2: that little kid man, way to go.
Speaker 1: Were your parents did they play a big role in
Speaker 1: keeping you positive and optimistic?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think through that whole experience, my parents were amazing.
Speaker 2: My brother was amazing. I have an older brother, he's
Speaker 2: a year and a half older than me, and he
Speaker 2: was sort of like my my my feet on the
Speaker 2: ground kind of guy. When I needed to to get
Speaker 2: stuff done, he was my hero. And my mom and
Speaker 2: dad were super positive and hands on. They bought a
Speaker 2: special cars that kind of like, you know, it's back
Speaker 2: in the day when you were in the way back
Speaker 2: of the station wagon. You know you were just throwing
Speaker 2: back there, you know, put the guy with the brace
Speaker 2: on his leg, but at the same time. That's that's
Speaker 2: what they you know, they were amazing and they you know,
Speaker 2: my mom passed away, but my dad still is and
Speaker 2: super supportive. And yeah, I think I think that really helped,
Speaker 2: having that foundation. I think also there was a lot
Speaker 2: of unhealthy ways to deal with it, sweeping things under
Speaker 2: the rug. You know, we didn't talk about it a band.
Speaker 2: If my kids went through that, I would be like
Speaker 2: talking about it and making sure they were seeing somebody.
Speaker 2: You know, I just decided it was just the time,
Speaker 2: you know. So there was periods of my life where
Speaker 2: I totally forgot about it and I'd see an old
Speaker 2: picture and I'd be like, oh my god, that's right.
Speaker 2: I was like completely incapacitated until I was seven. And
Speaker 2: I think there was ways that I would try to,
Speaker 2: like I told you, try to like make up for
Speaker 2: it in maybe somewhat healthy ways, you know, trying to
Speaker 2: be overactive or be the guy in shape, or be
Speaker 2: the fastest or you know, play college basketball. And I
Speaker 2: did all these things later in life that people never
Speaker 2: thought I could do considering how I started. But then
Speaker 2: there was also ways that it affected me negatively. And
Speaker 2: I think and you know, and you know, using substances
Speaker 2: to numb out a little bit, I, you know, trying
Speaker 2: to be I was in school for engineering. I graduated
Speaker 2: with an engineering degree and in a very very good
Speaker 2: school in Canada, and I was going on to get
Speaker 2: my MBA, and I went into this whole industry for
Speaker 2: all the wrong reasons, to be completely honest, some super
Speaker 2: racial industry, yeah, in the entertainment industry, mostly to try
Speaker 2: to be I think subconsciously recognized for somebody other than
Speaker 2: that kid that was like, you know, the disabled kid,
Speaker 2: And to get that sort of attention was like a
Speaker 2: real hit and sort of filling that void. Now it
Speaker 2: became something that I studied and took very seriously, and
Speaker 2: I'm super grateful for that. I've worked very very steadily
Speaker 2: in it. But at the same time, I remember making
Speaker 2: that decision and what it felt like. So there's been
Speaker 2: a lot of unhealthy ways that I managed with the
Speaker 2: pain and the sort of the PTSD, and then there's
Speaker 2: been a lot of healthy ways. But even the unhealthy
Speaker 2: ways that I went through ultimately allowed me to really
Speaker 2: take a good look at myself and recognize wrong paths
Speaker 2: and correct passes. Far as you know, what we can
Speaker 2: do to help ourselves feel better from the inside out
Speaker 2: instead of like grasping and stuff from the outside and
Speaker 2: you know, needing and wanting, you know, whether it's attention
Speaker 2: or fame, or money or partners or like, you know,
Speaker 2: versus just really kind of accessing that that peace of
Speaker 2: mind and that self worth from within, right.
Speaker 1: And I mean I'm also just on this journey. I'm
Speaker 1: just learning, right. I mean I had to get a
Speaker 1: divorce and I now alone and I'm not I'm choosing
Speaker 1: not to date and all of it because of that.
Speaker 1: Like if this is a new though, it's so simple,
Speaker 1: I you know, and I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: can relate. We make it very complicated and trying to
Speaker 1: get validity from.
Speaker 2: Good for you, by the way, thank you, Yeah, good
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 1: I just want to see for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's amazing, that's incredible. I you know, I followed
Speaker 2: your story a little bit and you're thinking about you
Speaker 2: and sending lots of love through it. So good for you.
Speaker 1: Thanks Cameron's And you know that just stems back also
Speaker 1: from trauma and PTSD. But then also, you know, I
Speaker 1: believe a lot of people in the entertainment industry, even
Speaker 1: if they don't want to say it, or they don't
Speaker 1: ever want to have that moment of like, okay, why
Speaker 1: am I here? Which is okay, by the way, no judgment.
Speaker 1: I believe that validity of people clapping for you, and
Speaker 1: you know, it does something to you, to your system
Speaker 1: to where it is addicting and where you believe that
Speaker 1: that is where your self worth lies right in other
Speaker 1: people's hands. And then when it's taken away, or when
Speaker 1: you choose for it to be taken away, it is
Speaker 1: a wake up call, you know, because and I think
Speaker 1: that a lot of people in the industry especially like that.
Speaker 1: Maybe that is more common than not common. Put it
Speaker 1: that way.
Speaker 2: I think you're absolutely right. I think it's even even
Speaker 2: the strongest of people from the perspective sort of mental health,
Speaker 2: and and you know, and getting it even it's it's
Speaker 2: an incredibly powerful drug. The attention and the adoration and
Speaker 2: the agile and it's it's very very powerful. And even
Speaker 2: if you're in a great place in your life, it
Speaker 2: can sneak in and you can start kind of grasping
Speaker 2: at it and needing it and wanting more of it,
Speaker 2: and you don't even realize it. But then when you
Speaker 2: stop getting it and they get it, you go to
Speaker 2: other lengths. It's a funny thing. And I'm sure it
Speaker 2: doesn't apply to everybody, but I bet you it applies
Speaker 2: to the more people than we all.
Speaker 1: Think exactly, And that is it's traumatic if you don't
Speaker 1: ever have that, like come to Jesus because you're like,
Speaker 1: wait a second, and then you like, for me, I
Speaker 1: love how deep we're talking because this is my vibe.
Speaker 1: How was it as far as rejection goes, like when
Speaker 1: you first started in this industry? Or I know that
Speaker 1: you said that you actually wanted to write off your
Speaker 1: trip when you were in Manhattan because and so that
Speaker 1: was your ticket into all my children? Am I getting
Speaker 1: this right?
Speaker 2: Yeah? One hundred percent. I was living in Toronto. I had, like,
Speaker 2: as I mentioned, I'd left my I was supposed to
Speaker 2: start a design build company with my best friend, who
Speaker 2: was an architect. I had graduated from civil engineering and
Speaker 2: I'd left all that and started like modeling and acting.
Speaker 2: And I was and I bought a cool loft condo
Speaker 2: in Toronto, where I'm from, and things were just kind
Speaker 2: of exciting and cool, and I wanted to go see
Speaker 2: my friends in New York City just for the weekend.
Speaker 2: And I wanted to write off the trip. So I
Speaker 2: went to see an acting agent in New York just
Speaker 2: to say, you know, just to write it off. And
Speaker 2: they said you should go see the casting director and
Speaker 2: all my children. And I was like, I got it,
Speaker 2: I got a part. I got I don't have time,
Speaker 2: you know. I was didn't even want to go. And
Speaker 2: her name is Judy Wilson. She changed my life, but
Speaker 2: I went. I finally went to see her. She gave
Speaker 2: me a script. And you know what this is like,
Speaker 2: it's a cold read. For people at home that don't know.
Speaker 2: Cold read is when you just get a scene from
Speaker 2: a script and they give you five ten minutes to
Speaker 2: look it over and then they're going to put you
Speaker 2: on tape or you're going to perform it in front
Speaker 2: of a group of people. And five ten minutes is
Speaker 2: not a long time to look something over.
Speaker 1: But I did it, and you have to memorize it.
Speaker 1: I don't know that world, so you have to memorize it.
Speaker 2: I just I figured you've been on camera so much,
Speaker 2: but I will not.
Speaker 1: To memorize memorized scripts.
Speaker 2: I could help you, but yeah, when it cold read,
Speaker 2: you don't you don't really memorize it. You just kind
Speaker 2: of get the essence of it and you kind of
Speaker 2: like are listening and it's there for you and I
Speaker 2: and I actually have a copy of that audition or
Speaker 2: that could which is which is so crazy to see.
Speaker 2: But anyway from that, they they liked it enough that
Speaker 2: they gave me a screen test and they wrote a
Speaker 2: part on All my Children called Ryan Lavery and that
Speaker 2: was in nineteen ninety seven. Wow, and I moved to
Speaker 2: New York in nineteen ninety seven, and yeah, it changed
Speaker 2: my life.
Speaker 1: Yeah it did change your life. Yeah, Okay, So then
Speaker 1: how was that? Was that a shock share system?
Speaker 2: It's like a muscle. I actually think my engineering background
Speaker 2: helped me train. So in engineering, you got you gotta
Speaker 2: cram and memorize, and then you forget and cram and
Speaker 2: memorize all nighters and then like it's it's like that
Speaker 2: kind of dynamic. So I feel like by the time
Speaker 2: I got into All my Children, which is so for
Speaker 2: people that don't know it, be anywhere from you know,
Speaker 2: five pages in one day to about sixty pages of
Speaker 2: your own dialogue in one day, which is an extreme amount,
Speaker 2: but it's possible. I've definitely had that more than once.
Speaker 2: Where you've got it. You've got sixty pages of your
Speaker 2: own script. You know, your own scenes in there where
Speaker 2: you're memorizing, and you'd be really surprised at how you're
Speaker 2: able to do it. There's little tricks in the trade.
Speaker 2: Everybody's got their own little secrets. Uh. It was really
Speaker 2: hard for me at first. I remember my first few
Speaker 2: days on the show, because you're so self conscious, right,
Speaker 2: and and you not only are you memorizing the words,
Speaker 2: but you got to know you're blocking. You got to
Speaker 2: know what they mean to you. You got to know
Speaker 2: your history. You've got to know you know when you
Speaker 2: pick up the thing and move across the table and
Speaker 2: when you grab the jacket, and so you're thinking about
Speaker 2: not only your lines, but also what we call blocking.
Speaker 2: And that's what actually threw me more than just memorizing
Speaker 2: was interesting. It was making it real, being natural, making
Speaker 2: the moves across. You don't want these moves to be like, okay,
Speaker 2: this is when I crossed to pick up the You
Speaker 2: want it all to be more motivated by the words
Speaker 2: and by your intention, And that was that took me
Speaker 2: a long time. But I had a great coach in
Speaker 2: New York, City. So I studied in New York City
Speaker 2: while I was at All My Children. It was amazing
Speaker 2: Tanya Barrison, who helped me and some of the young
Speaker 2: people on All My Children kind of get through that
Speaker 2: stretch and really really good magical memories, actually really good memories.
Speaker 1: So then it must have been easy Dancing with the
Speaker 1: Stars for you. That sounds like what you just listed
Speaker 1: as far as what you needed to do, sounds a
Speaker 1: lot like the show and how rigorous and how there's
Speaker 1: a million and one things you have to do. Oh,
Speaker 1: and then smile and you know, look like you're having
Speaker 1: a freaking blast at the same time. Why don't you?
Speaker 1: But not only did you do Dancing with the Stars? You,
Speaker 1: my friend did both All My Children and Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars traveled back and forth from New York to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles on a weekly basis. Was this I would
Speaker 1: have killed you if you were my partner.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Editus Lensko who was my partner, she was a
Speaker 2: hero and she put up with me. Yes, so we
Speaker 2: I was. I was shooting six episodes of All My
Speaker 2: Children in three days in New York, so they would
Speaker 2: they would jam me up. Uh. For when I was
Speaker 2: in New York and edit. It was there waiting for
Speaker 2: me rehearsing. In between scenes. We would you know, we
Speaker 2: wouldhearse in New York and then we would take basically
Speaker 2: Red Eyes both Way more or less, and it was
Speaker 2: it was a crazy, crazy schedule, was back when the
Speaker 2: show was on Monday and Tuesday nights. I'll say this
Speaker 2: that I still believe I've done. I've done amazingly difficult things.
Speaker 2: I just shot one hundred episodes of a game show
Speaker 2: in four weeks.
Speaker 1: Which was really really really hard New One, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, But I'll say this, that was probably the closest
Speaker 2: thing that I've done to how difficult my schedule wasn't
Speaker 2: Dancing with the Stars. That was me. That was for
Speaker 2: for decades. You know, it's almost been two decades. The
Speaker 2: hardest thing I've ever done as far as trying to
Speaker 2: learn how to dance. I was not a natural dancer,
Speaker 2: you know, but I was very hard worker and I
Speaker 2: could memorize things. But I was doing one hundred and
Speaker 2: sixty pages of dialogue, which is six episodes in New
Speaker 2: York learning how to dance flyd Red Eyes both Ways,
Speaker 2: plus the press, plus the requests and all.
Speaker 1: And then you have a family, and then and.
Speaker 2: Then I had a family, which was really hard. To
Speaker 2: be honest, I can't imagine. Yeah it was. It was
Speaker 2: very tough on my wife and.
Speaker 1: I'm sure and it didn't help that Ada has so
Speaker 1: ugly to look at is a very cove.
Speaker 2: Odd I didn't notice, I really, Uh.
Speaker 1: I think what my listeners would love to know more
Speaker 1: of is the psychology behind the show and why people
Speaker 1: get so emotional. Why I'm still talking about it after
Speaker 1: retiring two years ago. It's like, get over it, no,
Speaker 1: but like it really has put a he It was
Speaker 1: at my world. It was my world for twenty six seasons,
Speaker 1: you know. And with that, whether you want to call
Speaker 1: it trauma, bonding or whatever, but there has been a
Speaker 1: lot of un I guess, unresolved emotions from everyone I've
Speaker 1: talked to the show, because you do. It's like it
Speaker 1: it may just be a dance show, but it's so deep.
Speaker 1: It gets really deep.
Speaker 2: It's like it's so funny that you know, quote unquote
Speaker 2: a dance show could have such a big kind of
Speaker 2: like right memory, like part of my memory in my work.
Speaker 2: It was it was for me. It was super super
Speaker 2: exciting and so wild that I was part of it
Speaker 2: so wild that I last as long as I did.
Speaker 2: And again, it was such a whirlwind in my life,
Speaker 2: you know. As I said, it was a lot of
Speaker 2: challenges as far as the logistics go and stuff, But
Speaker 2: when I was there with you and with everybody and
Speaker 2: edited a it was just at the time when I
Speaker 2: did it season five, it was almost light home. You
Speaker 2: were part of the playoffs of like the NFL playoffs,
Speaker 2: Like everywhere you went, people knew you, everywhere you when
Speaker 2: people were watching, there was like twenty two million people
Speaker 2: a night watching at least. It was a massive, massive
Speaker 2: show across the country. And I was just riding the
Speaker 2: wave and having a great time and also exhausted and
Speaker 2: also having a tough time. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: it was so many great memories. And I'm still, you know,
Speaker 2: friends with people from that season. And the other thing is,
Speaker 2: as you know, I I then from Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 2: a lot of job opportunities came. I started working with
Speaker 2: Good Morning America for six years. I interviewed you a
Speaker 2: thousand times when I was on GMA then and then
Speaker 2: from GMA I went to Entertainment Tonight. I interviewed you
Speaker 2: another thousand times when I was an entertainment Tonight so
Speaker 2: thousand times. So I covered every season after me, So
Speaker 2: I was not only part of season five. I was
Speaker 2: like a regular there week after week, year after year,
Speaker 2: and it became like a real big part of my life.
Speaker 2: And you're right, it's like it had a massive impact
Speaker 2: on me. And I just have so many, you know,
Speaker 2: fond memories I have. I remember the challenges and the difficulties.
Speaker 2: It was. It was wild. It was a wild time,
Speaker 2: super wild.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the challenges and difficulties, say more, well.
Speaker 2: I think you know. The challenges and difficulties for me
Speaker 2: were the logistics that we talked about. Obviously, just a
Speaker 2: plain simple on paper, I would have said, you can't,
Speaker 2: it's not possible, Like if you gave that schedule to
Speaker 2: me on paper, I was like, I don't think anybody
Speaker 2: could do that. But you just kind of do it right.
Speaker 1: And German, you were good. I just watched all your
Speaker 1: dances like you were It was impressed. I was like,
Speaker 1: what is he not just you were great? You weren't
Speaker 1: just good like But you know me, I'm a little
Speaker 1: harsh sometimes those but honest, like you know, I'm honest.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to just bullshit anyone and say, oh
Speaker 1: they're great when they sucked, like you were good.
Speaker 2: Thank you. That makes me feel really good. I can't
Speaker 2: I'm not I can't watch it and I can't tell
Speaker 2: like that's really.
Speaker 1: Like he had you doing shit that was not that's
Speaker 1: not an amateur routine, like it's not a student and
Speaker 1: professional routine. Like there are certain moments in your pasta
Speaker 1: del Blay, I mean it was hard, and then you
Speaker 1: had to travel and your equilibrium was off most likely
Speaker 1: like it was for me at least, whenever I would
Speaker 1: get off a plane, I'd be like, I can't do camera.
Speaker 1: I can't do this, Like I can't even spin without
Speaker 1: falling over.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well thank you. By the way, that like I
Speaker 2: don't know that means lets me. I appreciate that. It
Speaker 2: really does. Like, you know, I thought I did pretty well.
Speaker 2: My first dance was like I looked like I was
Speaker 2: going through the offense of like my basketball, Like it
Speaker 2: was a very very step.
Speaker 1: The first dance was the chacha.
Speaker 2: No, it was first dance was fun, it was amazing.
Speaker 2: Well that's that's generous. But I think I got a
Speaker 2: lot better. I mean I did okay. First week but
Speaker 2: then I got a lot better and I was. I mean,
Speaker 2: I remember when I had my first rehearsal with Editor.
Speaker 2: I was at it like a little place that we
Speaker 2: rented for the summer in New York, upstate New York,
Speaker 2: and my mom and dad were there and they watched
Speaker 2: my first rehearsal through the window, you know, trying to
Speaker 2: stay away, and they were like this this is not
Speaker 2: good like, this is this is not going to go
Speaker 2: this is not going to be good like and so
Speaker 2: I really I feel like I really improved. And so
Speaker 2: were your.
Speaker 1: Parents very like were they involved? Like they loved the show?
Speaker 1: Were they fans?
Speaker 2: They did? They they loved the show. They watched every week.
Speaker 2: But they you know, the local news came to their
Speaker 2: house and watched them watch me and and you know
Speaker 2: they came into the ballroom. But you know, they were
Speaker 2: living in Florida at the time. But it was it
Speaker 2: was a really yeah, it was. It was a fun time.
Speaker 2: Like we said, it was a big show at that time,
Speaker 2: like super, super huge show.
Speaker 1: What were your first impressions of Editor?
Speaker 2: Well, I knew her already. I watched the show, so
Speaker 2: I knew Editor, and I mean, you know, very beautiful woman.
Speaker 2: And I literally this is I don't even know if
Speaker 2: editor knows this. I don't know if editor knows this.
Speaker 2: I actually called Dina Katz, who is my dear friend now,
Speaker 2: who's the time was casting director. I know she's the
Speaker 2: next executive producer now. And I called her and I said, listen,
Speaker 2: I'm so happy that you've offered me the show. I
Speaker 2: can't wait. I'm in. Just do me a favor, I'll take.
Speaker 2: Please put me with anybody but editor. But because because
Speaker 2: I knew my wife and I, you know, we were
Speaker 2: going through a little bit of a challenge at that time. Yes,
Speaker 2: and I she just edited didn't wear a lot of clothes.
Speaker 1: No, it was she was. She did keep her ankles warm.
Speaker 2: She kept her ankles warm. And that's about it. And
Speaker 2: my god, I love editor to death. And but she
Speaker 2: I don't know if she knows. I think she probably does.
Speaker 2: I'm sure I would have told her no reason.
Speaker 1: We became very I think she would find it funny
Speaker 1: on it. I just had her on the podcast.
Speaker 2: She's great, but she's amazing. I knew that the editor
Speaker 2: was the one that her spidery senses were up with,
Speaker 2: you know, like just don't and I wonder.
Speaker 1: And a bunch of other wives that were part of
Speaker 1: this journey, and I.
Speaker 2: Wonder if Dina, like we we gotta ask Dina, We
Speaker 2: got to find out, like if a phone call like that,
Speaker 2: why didn't she literally tells them? Yeah no, But maybe
Speaker 2: that's like, you know, because these shows they want trauma,
Speaker 2: and I get it, they know not like that. No, Okay, well,
Speaker 2: I mean I don't know.
Speaker 1: I sometimes I wonder, but.
Speaker 2: I mean we we did. We were the right height.
Speaker 2: I was like editors a little bit. I mean from
Speaker 2: six to two. We kind of vibe together. We look good,
Speaker 2: you know, as a couple of so.
Speaker 1: That look great together.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I mean, like, honestly, who else would you have
Speaker 1: dance with? I'm five four. I mean I'm not like
Speaker 1: we don't have like huge high difference, but like, honestly,
Speaker 1: at it ten you. I mean, it would have been
Speaker 1: dumb if they didn't pay you with editor just on
Speaker 1: an aesthetic look, right, like if you're just looking at
Speaker 1: the couples, like it would be the same thing like
Speaker 1: if editid was with Emmett, that would have made no sense.
Speaker 1: Like it just even though technically shorter, but just you know,
Speaker 1: it is really about the aesthetic ballroom is like it's
Speaker 1: just right right. Was Editor prepped for her schedule, her
Speaker 1: upcoming schedule of you guys flying back and forth?
Speaker 2: You know, Editor was like unflapped man like, Yeah, I
Speaker 2: don't know, maybe she wasn't, but she sure seemed like it,
Speaker 2: Like she was just like this is what we're doing.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't think she was happy about it.
Speaker 2: Never complained. She literally never complained. She was like, you know,
Speaker 2: just kind of doing her thing. Never seemed phased, always
Speaker 2: sort of focused, chill. She never really kind of got
Speaker 2: super hot or super excited. She was just very very
Speaker 2: kind of like a really nice, stable, kind of neutral attitude.
Speaker 2: And you know I was always like jacked or like
Speaker 2: crashed or like like bouncing all over you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. Like Edit, it was just you know, the
Speaker 2: very very stable and kept me kind of like sane
Speaker 2: and grounded and yeah, an amazing, amazing thing. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 2: I mean I was you know, I was pounding coffee
Speaker 2: and traveling back and forth, and you know, I don't
Speaker 2: I honestly I don't know how I did it. I
Speaker 2: ate it.
Speaker 1: I had Aiden Turner on the podcast and he straight
Speaker 1: up said, like straight up. Didn't even say can we
Speaker 1: delete it? He said I. I said, do you have
Speaker 1: any regrets, you know, during your time on the show,
Speaker 1: And he goes, I regret not having sex with it.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I.
Speaker 1: Don't. It's not it's not quote. It's not like, you know,
Speaker 1: that's not the official quote. But he definitely said that.
Speaker 1: His mom, his dad and brother was like, oh, you're
Speaker 1: definitely shagging her. And he goes, no, we're not, like,
Speaker 1: we're not actually doing that, and like, oh, if you're not,
Speaker 1: you will and he's like, no, no, like and he was,
Speaker 1: you know, he's engaged and like and editors with but like,
Speaker 1: you know, he goes, that's the one thing I do
Speaker 1: regret was that, Like, you know, now that I'm about
Speaker 1: to get married, he goes, I should have just done it.
Speaker 1: He should have done it. I'm like, oh my.
Speaker 2: God, so funny that he would say that. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: forgot that they were partners. Yea, yeah, we were. For
Speaker 2: people at home, we were on the same show again,
Speaker 2: he was on All My Children.
Speaker 1: As we talked about Yeah, so why is ballroom dancing
Speaker 1: and dancing with the stars and so intimate? And you know,
Speaker 1: I did recently say on this podcast too. You know,
Speaker 1: don't be married and do Dancing with the Stars. I mean,
Speaker 1: like though it was a joke, but it's it would
Speaker 1: make your life a lot easier, right.
Speaker 2: Well, you asked about my challenges on the show, and
Speaker 2: I was saying the logistics were one of the challenges,
Speaker 2: but one of the other big challenges was just that
Speaker 2: it was like Vanessa, uh was a trooper. We've been,
Speaker 2: we've we've sort of recently gone through a bunch of
Speaker 2: stuff and you know, it wasn't great timing. And I was,
Speaker 2: you know, off in La spending time with this beautiful woman,
Speaker 2: pressed up against her, sweating with her five hours a
Speaker 2: day rehearsing, and then you know, doing all the press
Speaker 2: and touring and stuff together, and it was it was
Speaker 2: really hard, like it was. And I tried to every
Speaker 2: thing in my power to you know, to make that
Speaker 2: as easy for her as possible. But it's it just
Speaker 2: is what it is. Yeah, So I I mean, you
Speaker 2: can be married and do the show, obviously, but it
Speaker 2: can be depending on the circumstances and total I think
Speaker 2: if you all lived in La or whatever. But I was,
Speaker 2: you know, being on a plane and traveling and hotels
Speaker 2: and the whole thing. I think it's just it's just
Speaker 2: really hard.
Speaker 1: And then you're with this person seven days of like
Speaker 1: you can't dance without your partner.
Speaker 2: So no, exactly right, Like you're literally and so why
Speaker 2: is it so intimate? Coming back to your question, I
Speaker 2: think in my experience anyway, I think it's because there's
Speaker 2: a heighten You're in this pressure cooker and people probably
Speaker 2: wouldn't realize, but especially back then, man, especially when the
Speaker 2: whole country was watching, it was like so much pressure.
Speaker 1: Super Bowl ratings, yes, like.
Speaker 2: Literally super Bowl ratings every.
Speaker 1: Week, twice a week, Yeah, twice a.
Speaker 2: Week, and and you're like you're in the trenches together.
Speaker 2: You're obviously physically close and stress like you know, sweating
Speaker 2: and doing it and working and again and again and
Speaker 2: again and sometimes arguing and sometimes like being there for
Speaker 2: each other and confiding in each other. And it becomes
Speaker 2: like in a very short period of time, you know
Speaker 2: you're liking it to doing a movie with over like
Speaker 2: let's say a couple month period where you're with a
Speaker 2: co star and you've got to be with them and
Speaker 2: you've got to be you know, you got to like
Speaker 2: be in love with them when you're shooting, and you've
Speaker 2: got to like be convinced and have those all those
Speaker 2: little idiosyncrasies in the same way on the dance floor
Speaker 2: when you're doing the room, the way you're doing whatever
Speaker 2: dance it is. You've got to have that connection. If
Speaker 2: you don't have I mean, you know better than I know.
Speaker 2: But if you don't have that connection, people can sense it.
Speaker 1: It just seems you can't.
Speaker 2: You can't think that. So you become really close and
Speaker 2: it works for the show, and it works for the
Speaker 2: people that are watching the show, but it doesn't work
Speaker 2: for the family at home.
Speaker 1: No, it doesn't. And I have to say, two, do
Speaker 1: you believe that? I think there's a little more to
Speaker 1: what you're saying if I really dissect it, which I
Speaker 1: have a lot. Right, the people coming on the celebrities
Speaker 1: have to be vulnerable, and you have to be vulnerable
Speaker 1: and trust your partner as soon as possible. There's no
Speaker 1: time to like develop or earn someone's trust, like in
Speaker 1: order to succeed on Dancing with the Stars. The celebrities
Speaker 1: coming in not knowing a clue on what looks good,
Speaker 1: what doesn't look good, costumes, the way they need to
Speaker 1: present themselves, how to ask a woman how to dance
Speaker 1: because it is old school. Ballroom is old school in
Speaker 1: that sense, but it's the beauty of what the sport is, right,
Speaker 1: and you have to be sensitive to the touch. So
Speaker 1: in a way, I think it's even getting a little
Speaker 1: deeper than if you were on a movie set because
Speaker 1: you're in editor's arms actually, like she is guiding you,
Speaker 1: and you have to let your ego down. You just
Speaker 1: have to any man, any woman. You know, there is
Speaker 1: no like we're your coach, but we're also your therapis fist,
Speaker 1: and we're also like there for moral support. We're your backbone.
Speaker 2: Right as you sort of were laying out all those
Speaker 2: different aspects of what happens when you're on the show,
Speaker 2: you're one hundred percent right. You literally have to give
Speaker 2: yourself over. I think I love the word vulnerable. You
Speaker 2: have to be open and vulnerable and allow like relinquished control,
Speaker 2: you know, for those guys that really like to be
Speaker 2: in control of everything. Guess what you're not.
Speaker 1: And you're going to go home like yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It's it's very very, very true. And
Speaker 2: and you're right right off right like out of the gate,
Speaker 2: you got to be You're just like in this person's
Speaker 2: hands and you're like, oh my gosh, please help.
Speaker 1: Me, and something that you may have never shown your
Speaker 1: spouse by the way.
Speaker 2: Right, I mean we, you know, Vanessa and I tried
Speaker 2: to go dancing after Dancing the Stars. You know, I
Speaker 2: finish we you know, it was it was a really
Speaker 2: nice idea, and you know, she wanted to ballroom down
Speaker 2: even before Dancing with the Stars, Like there was a
Speaker 2: whole thing. So the fact that I ended up balling
Speaker 2: dancing with like, you know, a complete stranger, it wasn't
Speaker 2: great either, No, but so we tried after but after that,
Speaker 2: as you know, at the time the show was so popular,
Speaker 2: I'd go to these we'd go to these dance halls
Speaker 2: and there and it was whatever it was where it
Speaker 2: was like a let's say, a Tuesday night tango where
Speaker 2: it was all just social and you learn the tango
Speaker 2: and you're in the circles and the circles kind of turn.
Speaker 2: But I've been dancing with that.
Speaker 1: I was like, like, can you learn my quick step routine?
Speaker 2: Like it was, but also like people just wanted photos
Speaker 2: and they were it was it was like a whole thing,
Speaker 2: and there was nothing intimate between you know Vanessa and I,
Speaker 2: so we stop doing that too, and so we tried.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because like a lot of people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: why are you doing the show because my wife has
Speaker 1: always wanted to learn unless you learn their routines, like
Speaker 1: Emmett couldn't go salsa dancing socially, like he could do
Speaker 1: his salsa routine.
Speaker 2: No way, no way. People weddings. The worst thing is
Speaker 2: that you go and dance with the stars and you
Speaker 2: go to a wedding like the next few years after
Speaker 2: everybody's oh my god, you're a dancer, Come dance with
Speaker 2: me the waltz, and I'm like, I don't want to dance.
Speaker 1: Dance, monkey dance. It's like the.
Speaker 2: Worst, Like I'm like, I don't know what do you
Speaker 2: want me to do.
Speaker 1: What was the biggest lesson that you learned on the
Speaker 1: show during your time there, Well.
Speaker 2: For sure, the biggest lesson was that the seemingly impossible,
Speaker 2: you know what, you can put your mind to what
Speaker 2: like you honestly if you just kind of go one
Speaker 2: step at a time and conquer this next thing and
Speaker 2: then conquer the next thing and then conquer the next thing.
Speaker 2: The schedule was so ridiculous for me as we talked
Speaker 2: about that. I I honestly didn't know. I thought I
Speaker 2: was gonna quit after like week two.
Speaker 1: Oh really it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I literally edited I talked about I was like,
Speaker 2: I don't know if I can do this. It was
Speaker 2: so crazy, memorizing in one hundred and sixty pages of dialogue,
Speaker 2: flying back and forth across the country, plus the press,
Speaker 2: plus trying to even considering I was doing that. I
Speaker 2: logged more rehearsal hours than anybody else in that season.
Speaker 1: Of course you did, and I was out.
Speaker 2: In week ten, so I logged more than even like
Speaker 2: the next two weeks, like we rehearsed like crazy. So
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know if I could do it.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's fair to my family. I
Speaker 2: don't know if I can handle it. An editor, if
Speaker 2: I remember, like obviously, editor was like, you got to
Speaker 2: make this decision. You know, I totally get it. It
Speaker 2: was a pretty quick it was a pretty quick moment
Speaker 2: of doubt that I was thinking that. But it was
Speaker 2: just super challenging. But I knew so that that opportunity
Speaker 2: if I were to walk away from something like that,
Speaker 2: I don't remember anybody ever walking away and I didn't
Speaker 2: want to be there there Evans, Oh, she did, Sarah
Speaker 2: Evans did. It was really a conversation with me and Vanessa,
Speaker 2: and then I mentioned it to edit a probably quickly,
Speaker 2: but then we just kind of moved on and just
Speaker 2: did one more week. And then we just did one
Speaker 2: more week, and then the fourth week was it was
Speaker 2: the Pasa Doble like you alluded to, and that was
Speaker 2: good one. That was my big kind of felling out
Speaker 2: dance super Bain.
Speaker 1: What are the politics like behind the show?
Speaker 2: There was a lot of that that was very confusing
Speaker 2: to me. You know, here's the deal though, Like I'll
Speaker 2: say this from my own side for real, I felt like,
Speaker 2: you know, there were times where I was underscored, right,
Speaker 2: uh huh, But I would I also sort of chalk
Speaker 2: that up to me thinking that I was better than
Speaker 2: I was, Like you know, like I don't really know
Speaker 2: if I was underscored. And if you know, it's a
Speaker 2: television show, right, it's it's it's a television show for
Speaker 2: entertainment purposes. And I'm sure they got to do what
Speaker 2: they got to do. But I feel like a lot
Speaker 2: of us, as competitors, you know, justify certain scores and things,
Speaker 2: and truthfully, there were times where I was very surprised
Speaker 2: at the scores.
Speaker 1: You had to be discouraged, though, Cameron, with all the
Speaker 1: hard work, like you said, you were the one rehearsing
Speaker 1: so many hours. The fact that you got seven's for that,
Speaker 1: that had to be frustrating.
Speaker 2: I feel like once I kind of got going, I
Speaker 2: was doing pretty well and people that kind of were
Speaker 2: that lasted for longer than me, certain people in my season,
Speaker 2: I was a little surprised.
Speaker 1: Like, who was it? Who was it?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 1: Who is the top four?
Speaker 2: Okay, the top four were Marie Osmond, oh l e
Speaker 2: O Castronevez Melby.
Speaker 1: Oh, well she's good.
Speaker 2: It was awesome. Yeah, absolutely, and Jenny Garth, who was
Speaker 2: also really good.
Speaker 1: Your cancer battle you are now no longer a battle,
Speaker 1: right like your cancer Frea, congratulations.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you. I've been in remission now like
Speaker 2: no cancer for almost coming up to five years this September.
Speaker 1: Whoa.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I've heard so many different stories coming from you know,
Speaker 1: different interviews I've seen of have you written a book yet?
Speaker 2: I have not written a book.
Speaker 1: No helped me to it. Yes, it's so therapeutic. You
Speaker 1: should first of all just for your for selfish reasons,
Speaker 1: but also for your fans. You've got a lot of
Speaker 1: fans that would love to hear about your story.
Speaker 2: Oh I've thought about it. I've really thought about it,
Speaker 2: but I would only do it. I mean, I would
Speaker 2: really want to do it with you know, helping people
Speaker 2: kind of like motivate them. And what I've learned you are,
Speaker 2: you know, that's that's what Instead of just being like,
Speaker 2: you know, here's another thing about me, you.
Speaker 1: Would tell you this whole look at the different layers
Speaker 1: we've peeled. And we only talked for fifty minutes, you know,
Speaker 1: it feels like five, But can you talk to me?
Speaker 1: I hate doctors and it's like it's I'm not coming
Speaker 1: to the I have a mammogram scheduled on Monday and
Speaker 1: I would love to cancel it.
Speaker 2: Don't do it. Stick with it.
Speaker 1: But for people who are so scared right like and
Speaker 1: as it's just human nature to be scared of the
Speaker 1: word cancer and all of it, how were you so
Speaker 1: in tune with your body that you knew to do
Speaker 1: and for an amri, like, I've always said that that
Speaker 1: should be part of a physical but I know it's expensive,
Speaker 1: but it's like it's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good question. And definitely, you know, I
Speaker 2: tell this story that I've been into health and fitness
Speaker 2: for a long time and I and I I'm the
Speaker 2: kind of guy. I do blood work and I you know,
Speaker 2: test my hormones and I do gut tests, and I
Speaker 2: do these things to try to keep myself you know,
Speaker 2: in these in these ranges. But there were certain things
Speaker 2: that were coming back that didn't make sense, and you know,
Speaker 2: white blood cell counting one of them, and other markers
Speaker 2: that could potentially be an indicator for cancer. And I
Speaker 2: asked my doctor at the time, I said, listen, you know,
Speaker 2: I know something's off. I can feel that things aren't
Speaker 2: functioning the way I'm doing everything right, but it's not
Speaker 2: not getting the results. And he's like, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: you're fine. Let's just try this for a while. And
Speaker 2: so for another two years I started, you know, I
Speaker 2: kept going at it and you know, eating well and
Speaker 2: doing this and doing that and exercises and using all
Speaker 2: these you know hacks and and still and then I
Speaker 2: get another blood test and then the blood numbers were worse,
Speaker 2: and he was like, all right, yeahbe we do need
Speaker 2: an MRI. Really, and I really kind of insisted upon it,
Speaker 2: and it was just and I thought it was in
Speaker 2: my gut because I had a lot of sort of
Speaker 2: gut issues and I thought it was sort of gut related,
Speaker 2: And it turns out that it wasn't. It was in
Speaker 2: my kidney. It was I had a partial and effract
Speaker 2: to me, which means part of my right kidney was
Speaker 2: taken out. So I got really really lucky it hadn't spread,
Speaker 2: they think, and I like to think that because I
Speaker 2: lived such a healthy lifestyle that it didn't have the
Speaker 2: energy to spread, because it'd been growing in me for
Speaker 2: about eight to twelve years.
Speaker 1: Just by the size of it, a long time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, But yeah, that's because it's a slow growing tumor
Speaker 2: and usually over that time it would have energy to
Speaker 2: spread into your lungs and in your lymph nodes, and
Speaker 2: then it would be a very very different diagnosis, as
Speaker 2: unfortunately many people know. And so luckily it was contained
Speaker 2: in my kidney and we did a partial effected me
Speaker 2: and I've been doing great ever since. But yeah, to
Speaker 2: answer your question, I just I just knew something was off,
Speaker 2: Like I just really pay attention to my body again.
Speaker 2: I do a lot of the testing, which helps a lot,
Speaker 2: but thank god I did, because it saved my life.
Speaker 1: Do you recommend people just get an MRI? Like as
Speaker 1: soon as I've I even said this to my obgi
Speaker 1: N a couple of weeks ago, I'm like, can I
Speaker 1: just get an MRI so that we just know, like whatever,
Speaker 1: just because like it'd be great just to have that
Speaker 1: peace of mind, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, here's the deal is that I wouldn't
Speaker 2: be that guy who wants to run out and get
Speaker 2: an MRI every time, you know, something feels a little off. No, really,
Speaker 2: I mean, if you can afford it, why not.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: However, and this is not an AD, and I'm just saying,
Speaker 2: there's a company called pre Nouvo p r E and
Speaker 2: u v O if I spilt that right, that does
Speaker 2: full body MRI scans and tests for fifty different types
Speaker 2: of cancer and skeletal issues and other circulatory issues and
Speaker 2: respiratory issues that I did recently. It's out of pocket.
Speaker 2: Insurance doesn't cover it. It's it's not cheap, but it's
Speaker 2: not crazy expensive. It's twenty five hundred bucks if it
Speaker 2: you know, for checking your body for cancer. And I
Speaker 2: just did that so so that's if you want to,
Speaker 2: you know, maybe save up for that or if you don't.
Speaker 1: Know it's worth it. Though it sounds like it.
Speaker 2: You know, for me it was worth it. It's it
Speaker 2: really gives you an idea of what's going on in
Speaker 2: your body from that scan. If something comes up, you
Speaker 2: probably want to get a more intensive, detailed scan if
Speaker 2: something is of concern, but it's a great overall picture
Speaker 2: and something for you to take. Again, this sounds like
Speaker 2: an AD. It's really not.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, I know a lot of people that
Speaker 1: do this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe other companies too. It has nothing to do
Speaker 2: with that. I just mean that's an option, yeah, or
Speaker 2: if you have insurance then you just get an MRI
Speaker 2: in your problem area as well. The problem with the
Speaker 2: regular MRI is it's very it's very localized, right, it's
Speaker 2: not a whole.
Speaker 1: I've never gotten one, but like, yeah, it's I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm the one that asked questions. So guys, it's not
Speaker 1: an AD, but yeah, I think it for Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: just help. I think if people could save up. I
Speaker 1: hope one day insurance covers it because it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's something they should I think cover, especially if needed,
Speaker 1: but I'm happy you're cancer free. Congratulations again.
Speaker 2: I'm happy you're going for your mamogram on Monday. I'm
Speaker 2: going to call you to make sure I would be
Speaker 2: like your share.
Speaker 1: We don't want to, did you go?
Speaker 2: You're going? I'm going to text you in the morning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm lying to you as I'm like just laying
Speaker 1: out in the sun. So I'm a Macha girl. Sure, Okay,
Speaker 1: So mental health quickly, because I'm a mental health advocate
Speaker 1: though we talked a lot about it already, but with
Speaker 1: just life, right, like the as we evolve and as
Speaker 1: life changes, you either fight it or you don't fight it.
Speaker 1: You seem to have a really good sense of evolving
Speaker 1: and if one thing doesn't work out as far as
Speaker 1: like a job goes, for example, like when home and
Speaker 1: family got canceled, like you are. So you're positive, but
Speaker 1: not in like a fake positive way like I'm happy
Speaker 1: when like you can feel from the person that they're
Speaker 1: not but like you really move forward. For those people
Speaker 1: who may feel like they're not as I guess hopeful
Speaker 1: about their lives or they want to make big changes,
Speaker 1: but they're living in fear and decide just to stay
Speaker 1: you know, with what they're comfortable with. What advice do
Speaker 1: you have?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's great that you hit on this
Speaker 2: with you know, so many people the mental health aspects.
Speaker 2: So as far hard as I work on my body,
Speaker 2: and as hard as I work on my health and
Speaker 2: the MRIs and the whatever, you've got nothing if you
Speaker 2: don't have your mental health. You've got nothing, if you
Speaker 2: don't have your peace of mind. I work far harder
Speaker 2: through meditation, practice and using like Budha psychology and philosophies
Speaker 2: and training in strengthening you know, my my inner qualities
Speaker 2: way more than on other stuff like body and stuff.
Speaker 2: So I'm so happy you're asking. So yeah, I really try.
Speaker 2: Uh it's not try, it's it's like it's it's it's
Speaker 2: a practice, and it's you know, it's training to to
Speaker 2: work on transforming adversities and challenges into inner growth and
Speaker 2: strength and and new opportunities. And I literally just got
Speaker 2: back an hour before I got I was in Arizona
Speaker 2: with my kids on a series and a meditation series
Speaker 2: in Arizona on transforming adverse conditions into the spiritual path
Speaker 2: or on inner growth and development. So my kids are
Speaker 2: going off to college in the fall, and I really
Speaker 2: and they're into this and and we were there together
Speaker 2: and it was an incredible week of teachings and meditations.
Speaker 2: And the whole point about it is.
Speaker 1: I want to hear more later, Like I'm into all
Speaker 1: this too, So it was amazing. I would love to
Speaker 1: pick your brain about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a big part of my life and what
Speaker 2: I try to do. But yeah, when things I mean,
Speaker 2: obviously the nature of uh, you know, our life is
Speaker 2: going to be you know, change and challenges and difficulties
Speaker 2: and good things and not things forever. And the more
Speaker 2: we grasp and need and want things to stay the same,
Speaker 2: it's the more painful will be when they kind of
Speaker 2: they're going to change and things evolve and relationships end
Speaker 2: and begin, and jobs come and they go, and and
Speaker 2: you have you know, sickness and then you have health
Speaker 2: and then things are great. So there's all this fox
Speaker 2: and change, And for me, mental stability is like the
Speaker 2: most important thing. So practicing things like deep deep acceptance,
Speaker 2: patient acceptance, like really accepting challenges as they come helps
Speaker 2: me be more solution oriented. So it doesn't like it's
Speaker 2: that rejecting mind. I can't believe this is happening. This
Speaker 2: can't be happening. How did this happen? Home and family
Speaker 2: ended with the best ratings it ever had. Doesn't make
Speaker 2: it any sense. I could dwell on that in spiral
Speaker 2: and that doesn't do anybody any good. Or I could
Speaker 2: just be like, all right, here we go, another challenge,
Speaker 2: another opportunity for growth. Just really accept and from that
Speaker 2: place of acceptance, it's very solution oriented. It widens your
Speaker 2: scope of like what I can do now versus that
Speaker 2: tight mind of rejection and like disbelief. We've got to
Speaker 2: believe it. It's happening, accepted. So acceptance is a big
Speaker 2: is a big beautiful but with a patient mind, like
Speaker 2: a real, true, deep patient acceptance is what I practice.
Speaker 1: Do you still feel the pain though? Do you still
Speaker 1: are you open to feeling the sadness and maybe rejection
Speaker 1: or do you go straight to the solution.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's a really good point that I
Speaker 2: think people you know, like me and maybe a lot
Speaker 2: of other people would tend to not really spend time
Speaker 2: with the feeling. Like in other words, it's important to
Speaker 2: notice it. All right, here we go. I've got like
Speaker 2: that attachment, I've got that frustration, that disbelief, that fear,
Speaker 2: that anxiety arising in my mind. It's just like a
Speaker 2: cloud arising in the sky. In my mind, I realize
Speaker 2: it comes and it can dissipate. It's there. I notice it,
Speaker 2: you know, I spend time with it. I don't dwell
Speaker 2: and let it grow. It's not like I say, sit
Speaker 2: in it and like contemplate it and let it spiral.
Speaker 2: But I know, I like, I definitely spend time being
Speaker 2: aware like anger coming up in my mind, or like
Speaker 2: craving attachment or whatever it is. Like you know, Mike
Speaker 2: had some addictions and things like so I just like
Speaker 2: I notice it, but I also know that it's separate
Speaker 2: from me. It's just like I like, I love the
Speaker 2: analogy of like a cloud arising in the skate in
Speaker 2: my mind, clouds arise in the sky and they dissipate again.
Speaker 2: Let it, let you know, let it be there. But
Speaker 2: then I start to apply the opponent, like acceptance or
Speaker 2: training in love and caring about others, getting my attention
Speaker 2: on others.
Speaker 1: This is great. I have also suffered from addictions. If
Speaker 1: you feel comfortable enough, this is a safe space. But
Speaker 1: I'm approaching my six year sober birthday here on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: And congratulations, congratulations.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And it has been fucking tough, especially the
Speaker 1: last couple of years of change in my life, of
Speaker 1: a huge change. How long have you been sober? Would
Speaker 1: you say you were an addict or.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I I say that. I definitely say
Speaker 2: that I have addictive personality and I definitely was addicted
Speaker 2: to certain behaviors and substances back in the day. It's
Speaker 2: a very gray area for me. Sometimes people get different
Speaker 2: connotations of it. Yeah, for me, For me, it works.
Speaker 2: I don't, I you know, I don't. I don't care
Speaker 2: one way or the other if people can stayed that
Speaker 2: or not. It's a dependency. We're going outside of ourselves
Speaker 2: to try to make us feel better, and we go
Speaker 2: when we get a little blip of relief or a
Speaker 2: little blip of enjoyment, and it goes away, so we
Speaker 2: go back to it for more, and then we go
Speaker 2: back to it for more, and we go back and
Speaker 2: it becomes like this dependency in this habit. So whatever
Speaker 2: you want to call it, you can call it that.
Speaker 2: It became unhealthy. And luckily it wasn't a huge deal
Speaker 2: for me to stop, So I don't know if it
Speaker 2: was really an addiction. I don't mind calling it one,
Speaker 2: but uh yeah it's been it will be uh nineteen
Speaker 2: years in September.
Speaker 1: Who yeah, yeah, like gradual relations.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Like it was actually the year
Speaker 2: before I did Dancing with the Stars that I stopped
Speaker 2: all mood altering substances and certain certain behaviors that were,
Speaker 2: you know, not great.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure it was tempting though, right like when
Speaker 1: you were in the height of stress to maybe I
Speaker 1: mean for me at least when I'm really stressed, Like
Speaker 1: of course, the first thing I turned to is how
Speaker 1: can I numb? And right now it's productivity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no exactly, And there's a million things
Speaker 2: where people work out, you know, I you know, for me,
Speaker 2: I you know, it's funny we're talking. So coffee is
Speaker 2: something that I'm I'm definitely addicted to.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's socially acceptable.
Speaker 2: It's so successful and it's not going to ruin your
Speaker 2: life most.
Speaker 1: Likely, no, reject it, but I don't think that's possible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, or snorted or something which would do the next level.
Speaker 2: Who knows, but I I but I take breaks, like tomorrow,
Speaker 2: Tomorrow morning is my first day for hopefully for sure,
Speaker 2: two weeks, maybe longer. We'll be caffeine free for first
Speaker 2: stretch because I I just like to balance my hormones,
Speaker 2: do a reset. Also, just watch, you know, like like
Speaker 2: we do in our journey of self growth. I like
Speaker 2: to watch my mind watch my cravings. Just be able
Speaker 2: to get through these cravings. We're not having to act
Speaker 2: on them. For me, that's really empowering. I like to
Speaker 2: do that. It's not going to be easy the first
Speaker 2: couple of days.
Speaker 1: But have you ever done that?
Speaker 2: Okay, this is my last espression. I just finished.
Speaker 1: That's so sad. I'm sad for you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Yeah, I'm sad.
Speaker 1: I mean you should just go buck wild and just
Speaker 1: drink another one like tonight.
Speaker 2: Kidding by eleven pm.
Speaker 1: Yeah okay, Rapid Fire, are you ready?
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's hear it.
Speaker 1: You had a lot of fan questions as well. Okay,
Speaker 1: who falls in love first? The pro dancer or the celebrity?
Speaker 1: The celebrity is the voting system? Fair?
Speaker 2: I is the voting system fair?
Speaker 1: Rapid Fire? Yeah?
Speaker 2: You know, probably not? Probably not? Probably not?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Okay, Rapid Fire DWTS Fan Edition, Who would your
Speaker 1: dream dancing partner be?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: In general? Just anyone, oh, anyone in the world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just gonna go with this person that came
Speaker 2: on this as what Ali Monica.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you guys should do based on gh Yeah,
Speaker 1: you should definitely do that. Okay, if you didn't get
Speaker 1: edit to which pro would you want? Choose one? Karina Smirnov,
Speaker 1: Cheryl Burke, Julianne Huff, Anna Trebunskaya, Kim Johnson aka Hershebek.
Speaker 2: Those are my choices, correct, Sorry.
Speaker 1: Karina, Cheryl, Julianne, Anya, Kim, you sure, yes, don't from
Speaker 1: your fans. This is from your fans for you for sure? No,
Speaker 1: I think you. No, you don't need to say that
Speaker 1: because you're just talking to me.
Speaker 2: You're ridiculous. Here's the reasons why. Here's the reasons why.
Speaker 2: I feel like our personalities job. I think we have
Speaker 2: like very similar energy. We like also take it serious,
Speaker 2: but not too serious totally. We've always had a good
Speaker 2: time in it, like for sure, you, I mean, and
Speaker 2: everybody else on that list I love. Don't get me wrong,
Speaker 2: I really do. But if I were to fix somebody,
Speaker 2: I pick you for sure, whether you're doing the interviewing
Speaker 2: or not.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm flattered. Do you like the storyline between
Speaker 1: Nina and Drew.
Speaker 2: I do so. Nina is a character on General Hospital.
Speaker 2: For those that don't watch, we hate each other where
Speaker 2: we like, we're absolute like enemies, and we have hate
Speaker 2: sex and it's been fantastic.
Speaker 1: You may hate sex.
Speaker 2: It's just it's just like we don't like each other,
Speaker 2: and then like whenever we start making out and then
Speaker 2: have sex under the table, and then and now that
Speaker 2: and now and now my character Drew is making out
Speaker 2: with her daughter too, So I'm having sex with the
Speaker 2: mom and making out with her daughter.
Speaker 1: And I think it's people hate me, crazy people. It's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm here for it. I'm all for it.
Speaker 1: I think it's fun.
Speaker 2: Stuff like that never in. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you like the storyline between Drew and Willow though
Speaker 1: you meant Willow?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it. I think it's amazing. People around
Speaker 2: the country are sending me hate messages on social media.
Speaker 2: I'm going to have apples thrown at me in the supermarket,
Speaker 2: and I think it's great. I love having a reaction.
Speaker 2: I think Drew and Willow have a really cool dynamic.
Speaker 2: Did I see it getting romantic? Not really. I love
Speaker 2: that it has I think it's going to cause a
Speaker 2: lot of drama and.
Speaker 1: People are throwing apples at you.
Speaker 2: Oh, I've had I've had some crazy stuff happened.
Speaker 1: Are you serious, Cameron.
Speaker 2: I've had I've had a bus in Columbus Avenue in
Speaker 2: Manhattan pull across traffic, block traffic. The bus driver got
Speaker 2: out and started yelling at me for my storyline.
Speaker 1: Stop and stop.
Speaker 2: That was not all my children. But yeah, I've had
Speaker 2: question it. I've had people scream at me the top
Speaker 2: of the lungs in a department store where the whole
Speaker 2: place stops and looks at me, and like, I've had
Speaker 2: like crazy stuff happen. Yeah, and that's happen.
Speaker 1: This is not real. It's not a reality show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's they take they think it's real, and that's
Speaker 2: why we do it, and we love it. It's their
Speaker 2: escape from realities. And I love that they're passionate about
Speaker 2: this storyline. And just know Drew's a good guy. He's
Speaker 2: just getting kind of caught up in the lust of
Speaker 2: it all and the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I would definitely never go to a
Speaker 1: grocery store with you. Okay, how many more years are
Speaker 1: you doing? General Hospital?
Speaker 2: I just recently I think I can announce this. It's
Speaker 2: just like weeks old. I signed for another three years
Speaker 2: on General Hospital.
Speaker 1: Super good.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. So who's the voice of the Bridge? Unbeat
Speaker 1: the Bridge or new game show?
Speaker 2: One of the producers. That's so fantastic. You asked that,
Speaker 2: and I got to remember her name. Oh my god,
Speaker 2: I'm blanking. She's amazing. She's a great actress and comedian
Speaker 2: and one of the producers a game show network. And
Speaker 2: I think I don't know if they intended, but she
Speaker 2: just started like putting her voice down as the voice
Speaker 2: of the Bridge, and then they just kind of hired
Speaker 2: her and later like laid it down in a sound booth,
Speaker 2: and she's.
Speaker 1: To get paid for that voice. Do you know me
Speaker 1: an Editor's neck of the woods? Like Editor lives there.
Speaker 1: I'm from the Bay Area.
Speaker 2: Oh really? When I was there to do you know?
Speaker 1: I mean I live, I mean my family lists in
Speaker 1: the Bay Area. Editor lives in the bar area. Did
Speaker 1: you know that?
Speaker 2: I didn't know that. I was only up in the
Speaker 2: Bay Area just for a little promo shoot, Like I
Speaker 2: got it.
Speaker 1: So you don't really you don't shoot the show there?
Speaker 2: No, we shot it at CBS Radford.
Speaker 1: The power of the edit in green screens? What a
Speaker 1: pop out? Okay?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Which one of the five kids from Wiliwonka do you
Speaker 1: identify with? Most?
Speaker 2: Can I have their names?
Speaker 1: I don't even know how about uh, I've never seen it.
Speaker 2: Probably probably the one who just can't stop eating everything.
Speaker 1: Sure, we'll go with that one.
Speaker 2: Violent Beauregard or whatever her name is.
Speaker 1: WHOA Okay, why did all my children in General Hospital
Speaker 1: miss the opportunity for Ryan Lavery to be Duke Lavery's son.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question. I always wanted that to
Speaker 2: happen back in the day. I think, you know, the
Speaker 2: different shows have different writers, right, and the different writers
Speaker 2: create their own characters, and I think, I make up
Speaker 2: this is my own strategy of philosophy. I think it's
Speaker 2: hard for them to allow like a crossover between their
Speaker 2: baby and have them actually be related to somebody else's baby.
Speaker 2: And it's like they got to have control and possession
Speaker 2: of their own kind of like interesting. I wonder if
Speaker 2: that's it. I always thought it would be kind of cool.
Speaker 1: The writers have a lot of power actually, now that
Speaker 1: I think about it, oh my god.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they they have a lot of power.
Speaker 1: Wow. Okay, a couple more. How did your family react
Speaker 1: to your cancer scare?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was really scary. It was the scariest, toughest
Speaker 2: conversation that I've ever had to have with the kids.
Speaker 2: And we we really prepared and I didn't, you know,
Speaker 2: I didn't want to get emotional and scare of them
Speaker 2: anymore than I waited till I had a lot of
Speaker 2: information before I even told the kids. It was really
Speaker 2: really hard and even remembering it sort of bringing up
Speaker 2: emotions for me, just be seeing their faces, you know.
Speaker 2: But you know, these conversations, you know, as I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 2: I think about other families and other people having these
Speaker 2: conversations and far worse, and they happen every day, multiple
Speaker 2: times a day around the world. And it's just gott
Speaker 2: to like send love and support for because it's a
Speaker 2: horrible thing. It's a horrible, horrible, horrible thing to have
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 1: Oh, I can't imagine. I can't imagine. Cameron, You're the best.
Speaker 1: This was so fun. Please tell me about this Hallmark
Speaker 1: Christmas movie that you've just finished shooting with Candace Cameron.
Speaker 2: Dancing with the Stars. Yeah, we haven't started shooting. We
Speaker 2: start shooting at the end of August. We're busy August nineteen,
Speaker 2: I got to keep a you know show, we're more
Speaker 2: hustling out here.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you're like the Lisa Renna but male version.
Speaker 1: You're hus split. Like I just this is admirable, Like
Speaker 1: I seriously, it is really thank you crazy.
Speaker 2: I really, I mean, I've been really lucky. The hosting
Speaker 2: side of things and the acting side of things has
Speaker 2: kept me very busy through the years. And yeah, I've
Speaker 2: got another a great movie with great American family coming
Speaker 2: up with Candace. She and I have known each other
Speaker 2: a long time and we've talked about doing a movie
Speaker 2: together for Oh you've never done one, never done one together,
Speaker 2: and it'll be our first and that's it'll be great.
Speaker 2: It's it sort of like merges two of people that
Speaker 2: love these Christmas movies, the favorite concepts, and that is
Speaker 2: weddings and Christmas. And it's really fun script. Candas has
Speaker 2: got a really fun character and so do I and
Speaker 2: I can't I can't wait for people to see it.
Speaker 1: Wow. Well, and then when does your game show or
Speaker 1: it has premiered already, right.
Speaker 2: The game shows premiered on Game Show Network. It's going
Speaker 2: through the whole summer week nights at eight or not.
Speaker 1: You love it?
Speaker 2: I love it. I love that show. I love I
Speaker 2: love being a game show host. It's so me, I
Speaker 2: mean from what you know of me, Like I'm always
Speaker 2: like I'm just bammed. It's me get It's not like
Speaker 2: one team pitted against the other. Now it's called beat
Speaker 2: the Bridge, everybody. I hope you check it out. It's
Speaker 2: just one team trying to accumulate as much money as
Speaker 2: they can. So them all in with this team, you know,
Speaker 2: just cheering them on. It's fun. It's the questions are
Speaker 2: challenging but also relatable so people at home can play along.
Speaker 2: And it's just a perfect fit for me. So it's
Speaker 2: been really fun.
Speaker 1: I think it's probably also maybe refreshing out to have
Speaker 1: to talk about like your fellow celebrity friends too, like
Speaker 1: on et or something, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 1: it's this is it seems to be definitely a fit
Speaker 1: for sure. Congratulations.
Speaker 2: I don't have to like interview you and ask you
Speaker 2: about your divorce or about your personal issues.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, like I have even me asking about
Speaker 1: your life, Like it's just so hard because like it's
Speaker 1: not normal. This is not normal, like we would be
Speaker 1: catching up like friends, but instead I'm putting you on
Speaker 1: blast like hello, listen.
Speaker 2: It's you do a great job, by the way, it
Speaker 2: really is. It's part of the game. It's part of
Speaker 2: the game. It's up to us what we want to
Speaker 2: say and don't say.
Speaker 1: So there you. Thank you, great to see you, good
Speaker 1: to see you, my friend, Thank you, bye bye. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. You guys, please rate and
Speaker 1: review this episode wherever you're listening, as it's essential for
Speaker 1: keeping the podcast going strong. Your continued support is greatly appreciated,
Speaker 1: and don't forget We're now releasing three episodes each week
Speaker 1: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Be sure to check out
Speaker 1: the upcoming rewatch episode this Wednesday. Until next time, love
Speaker 1: you all, Bye bye.