WEBVTT - Danielle with… Selena Hamilton 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:04.150 THE END. 0:00:18.450 --> 0:00:22.450 Welcome back to Danielle With, a podcast born from my 0:00:22.670 --> 0:00:26.750 own desire to be the world's best celebrity ballroom dancer. 0:00:27.390 --> 0:00:30.660 Worth noting, for at least one more week, I am 0:00:30.740 --> 0:00:36.479 the world's eighth best celebrity ballroom dancer. But who's counting? Well, 0:00:36.500 --> 0:00:39.339 I'll tell you who's counting. The new batch of celebrities 0:00:39.380 --> 0:00:42.890 just announced for season 35, hungry for their chance to 0:00:42.930 --> 0:00:45.720 win the show. What a lineup, right? We will be 0:00:45.740 --> 0:00:48.420 getting more into that soon because the ballroom is about 0:00:48.460 --> 0:00:50.900 to reopen. So I hope you are getting your pyramids 0:00:50.940 --> 0:00:55.200 ready and your scorecards printed. But before we start thanking Alfonso, 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.470 we do have a little next pro business to close out. 0:00:59.230 --> 0:01:01.990 As you know, along with my good pal Val Shmerkovsky, 0:01:02.190 --> 0:01:06.729 I recapped every episode of the franchise's newest reality competition. 0:01:06.770 --> 0:01:09.209 And as a result, we are going to be seeing 0:01:09.350 --> 0:01:12.840 Adele join the pros to fight for the Mirrorball trophy 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.819 in 2026. It was an exciting season and brought us 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.039 a finale where any of the three final contestants could 0:01:20.060 --> 0:01:23.319 have won. And so today, I am talking to one 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.440 of them. A fan favorite who defied the odds and 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.220 took it all the way to the end, despite lacking 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:33.950 extensive ballroom experience, yet flanked by two genuine experts in 0:01:33.990 --> 0:01:38.289 the field. She's performed with Dochi, Lindsey Stirling, Somber, and 0:01:38.330 --> 0:01:41.510 Derek Hough, and appeared on Lip Sync Battle. But you 0:01:41.569 --> 0:01:44.670 may know her from the wildly viral Cat's Eye Gap 0:01:44.690 --> 0:01:48.370 commercial that took the world by storm last year. And 0:01:48.430 --> 0:01:51.270 now she may not have won Next Pro, but her 0:01:51.350 --> 0:01:55.800 infectious smile, never give up attitude, and exceptional dance skills 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.500 are ready to take her to the next level. But first, 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:02.400 she's stopping by Danielle With. So welcome to the show, 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.080 third on the charts, but first in our hearts, it's 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.700 Selena Hamilton. Thank you so much for being here. I 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:15.010 have been very invested in the Selena Hamilton story for 0:02:15.110 --> 0:02:17.920 the past eight weeks. I'm a huge fan, as I mentioned. 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:19.760 So thank you so much for coming on the show. 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:21.340 No, thank you. I'm a fan. 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:28.239 So first, I want to talk about your actual ballroom experience. 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.470 We know Adele is literally a top 10 dancer in 0:02:32.490 --> 0:02:37.590 the category. AJ competed on the show already in the UK. 0:02:37.970 --> 0:02:42.850 That is a daunting finals considering your expertise is in 0:02:43.070 --> 0:02:47.440 contemporary tap, jazz. So let's set the record straight. What 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.640 is your actual experience in ballroom? 0:02:51.220 --> 0:02:55.419 Yeah, it's definitely not where AJ and Adele's experience is. 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.100 I've been very transparent about it. It's not really a secret. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:02:59.940 Yeah. 0:03:00.300 --> 0:03:03.419 I kind of started doing ballroom actually with Derek Huff tour. 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:09.180 So I toured with him in 2022, three, I believe. 0:03:10.260 --> 0:03:13.530 So like three years ago. And that's kind of what 0:03:13.540 --> 0:03:16.050 sparked my love for ballroom in the first place. Yeah. 0:03:16.570 --> 0:03:19.310 I've kind of done like every style here and there 0:03:19.389 --> 0:03:22.370 growing up. That's just like what the convention commercial world 0:03:22.470 --> 0:03:25.700 is kind of all about. So I've like dabbled in 0:03:26.220 --> 0:03:29.000 like ballroom, but it wasn't something I really took seriously 0:03:29.020 --> 0:03:32.620 until a few years ago. Yeah, so that's kind of 0:03:32.660 --> 0:03:34.900 when I really kind of went into it. And Derek 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:36.660 was like, you should really do it. Like, I think 0:03:36.700 --> 0:03:38.700 it would be a really great path for you. And 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.260 at first I didn't take it seriously because I kind 0:03:41.300 --> 0:03:44.340 of just wanted to just stay in this commercial world 0:03:44.380 --> 0:03:46.900 and do hip hop. And sometimes I regret it. But 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.880 then I also love what I experienced doing ballroom. I mean, 0:03:51.100 --> 0:03:55.230 doing commercial work. So, yeah, so definitely started ballroom later 0:03:55.410 --> 0:03:58.710 and then really kind of dove into it about two, 0:03:58.850 --> 0:04:01.030 three years ago. And that's kind of when I took 0:04:01.090 --> 0:04:03.890 it very, very seriously. And then I got the call 0:04:03.910 --> 0:04:05.570 about the show and I was like, oh, my God, 0:04:05.610 --> 0:04:08.330 I have to take it a hundred times more serious 0:04:08.350 --> 0:04:11.170 than I've been taking it. So I flew to Utah 0:04:11.310 --> 0:04:13.810 where all of the dancing stars pros are made. 0:04:14.110 --> 0:04:17.760 When I think of Utah now, I picture just ballroom 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.440 dancing in the street, everywhere you go. Yeah. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.560 Literally. Yeah. So I was like, where should I go? Utah. 0:04:24.420 --> 0:04:27.060 I mean, all of the pros are produced there. Why 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:29.230 wouldn't I want to be in the heart of where 0:04:29.270 --> 0:04:31.940 it all happens. So I went there for two months 0:04:32.060 --> 0:04:34.900 and just trained every single day for like about five 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.310 hours a day and just cracked down on it because 0:04:38.330 --> 0:04:40.289 I knew I was going to be behind. 0:04:41.740 --> 0:04:45.500 So you basically had a Dancing with the Stars experience 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.500 from the other side where like you were the celeb 0:04:48.540 --> 0:04:51.180 coming in every single day. All of a sudden, five 0:04:51.220 --> 0:04:54.360 hours a day, you're like, teach me everything you know 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:56.480 about this style. Yeah. 0:04:56.540 --> 0:04:59.440 And it was crazy because it wasn't just about dancing. 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.100 the style of the dance. I obviously, I also wanted 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.260 to learn how to teach somebody else because that's another 0:05:06.300 --> 0:05:08.870 part of it. So I was like, so in two months, 0:05:08.900 --> 0:05:11.830 I need you to teach me everything you know about ballroom, 0:05:11.850 --> 0:05:14.470 but also teach me how I can teach it. And 0:05:14.710 --> 0:05:18.130 because ballroom came a little bit more natural to me. 0:05:18.150 --> 0:05:22.610 So sometimes it's hard to teach when you're, it's something 0:05:22.650 --> 0:05:24.610 that comes natural to you. It's hard to explain things 0:05:24.670 --> 0:05:27.450 to people and be like, so you're going to have 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:29.729 to push off your foot here. But like, yeah, It's 0:05:29.790 --> 0:05:33.130 hard to explain to somebody who you never had to 0:05:33.170 --> 0:05:37.180 experience going from the ground up. And it's just, it's 0:05:37.210 --> 0:05:39.040 a whole different beast. So I was like, you need 0:05:39.060 --> 0:05:41.359 to teach me how I can explain body action to 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.720 somebody and explain my foot action when I am. I 0:05:44.740 --> 0:05:46.150 don't know. I just watched you and I got it, 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.660 but that's not the same experience for everybody. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:50.820 Well, and what I always talk about when I think 0:05:50.870 --> 0:05:53.450 about how difficult it is with what the pros do 0:05:54.089 --> 0:05:59.130 is that you're teaching the opposite moves. Like you've never 0:05:59.210 --> 0:06:03.770 done the male steps. You've only done your woman steps. 0:06:04.089 --> 0:06:06.450 So now not only do you have to you know, 0:06:06.730 --> 0:06:09.210 do what comes naturally to you. You have to explain 0:06:09.270 --> 0:06:13.860 something you don't normally do to someone who doesn't know 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:14.740 what they're doing. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:19.060 Yeah. That's a whole other added layer. It's so insane. 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.580 And I give all the pros like such props for 0:06:21.670 --> 0:06:23.990 it because it's a really hard thing to learn. It's like, 0:06:24.010 --> 0:06:26.670 you're doing the opposite leg. You're instead of going forward, 0:06:26.690 --> 0:06:29.570 you're going back. So it's a whole, it's a whole 0:06:29.610 --> 0:06:30.250 new beast. 0:06:30.730 --> 0:06:31.750 Yeah, it really is. 0:06:31.830 --> 0:06:32.050 It is. 0:06:32.070 --> 0:06:36.450 I mean, there is, Nothing easy about anything you guys do. 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.480 Did you know any of the other contestants or pros 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:42.419 other than Derek prior to the show? 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:47.599 Yeah, I did. So I knew the contestants. I knew Briar. Okay. 0:06:47.730 --> 0:06:50.590 She obviously came from the same world as me. And 0:06:50.650 --> 0:06:53.390 I knew Stephanie a little bit. Okay. She kind of 0:06:53.430 --> 0:06:56.190 does commercial work as well. Yeah. So I knew Stephanie. 0:06:56.370 --> 0:06:59.510 And then I kind of just knew of Benji from 0:06:59.589 --> 0:07:00.950 the convention commercial world. 0:07:01.210 --> 0:07:01.500 Okay. 0:07:02.500 --> 0:07:04.480 But that's kind of it. The rest of the contestants, 0:07:04.540 --> 0:07:07.840 I was just going in blind. But as the pros... 0:07:08.180 --> 0:07:11.640 I knew Jenna from convention and I knew Val from convention. 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.010 They were people that I always really looked up to 0:07:14.190 --> 0:07:18.910 in the convention world. I really love that they come 0:07:18.930 --> 0:07:22.869 into the convention world and teach us what's Their knowledge 0:07:22.950 --> 0:07:26.230 is because ballroom's not very, I mean, it is now, 0:07:26.350 --> 0:07:29.290 but at the time it wasn't very, like, nobody was 0:07:29.330 --> 0:07:32.190 really seeking ballroom as much in the conventional world. Yeah. 0:07:32.330 --> 0:07:37.330 So I really always appreciated them. I think that's it, though. Yeah, Derek, Val, 0:07:37.610 --> 0:07:41.380 and obviously I competed against Riley. Right, okay. When I 0:07:41.420 --> 0:07:44.340 was younger. Right. But I never really got to know her. Okay. 0:07:45.030 --> 0:07:48.370 Were you nervous at all coming into this experience, just 0:07:48.450 --> 0:07:53.530 feeling like you knew ballroom wasn't your lifelong expertise and 0:07:53.570 --> 0:07:57.860 you've been having a real moment in the convention and 0:07:57.890 --> 0:08:01.260 the commercial world? So were you nervous kind of trading 0:08:01.300 --> 0:08:02.740 it all in for this experience? 0:08:03.820 --> 0:08:06.560 I was nervous, but also I feel like my expectations 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.900 weren't as high. Okay. I didn't have all the experience 0:08:09.940 --> 0:08:12.140 everybody else had. I think I was just kind of 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.460 ready to kind of show everybody what I had for 0:08:14.500 --> 0:08:17.620 episode one and then call it a day. So I 0:08:17.740 --> 0:08:22.040 didn't have the high expectations because of that. So I 0:08:22.060 --> 0:08:24.220 think it kind of helped in the long run because 0:08:24.260 --> 0:08:28.540 I wasn't expecting such like high things out of myself. 0:08:28.580 --> 0:08:30.790 I was like, you're here to kind of just, I 0:08:30.820 --> 0:08:34.480 wanted really to just get my, face in the ballroom world. 0:08:34.940 --> 0:08:36.920 I did this so I can kind of step into it. 0:08:37.300 --> 0:08:39.160 I was like, if I don't walk out of this 0:08:39.179 --> 0:08:41.640 a winner, that's fine. Maybe they'll put me on Troop. Like, 0:08:41.990 --> 0:08:43.890 I really kind of just walked out of it with, like, 0:08:44.610 --> 0:08:48.290 maybe I can just get my foot in the door. 0:08:48.309 --> 0:08:52.510 Connections. Good connections. Surrounding yourself, especially if it's something you 0:08:52.530 --> 0:08:55.190 want to start doing more regularly. Surrounding yourself with people 0:08:55.210 --> 0:08:56.510 who do it at the highest level. 0:08:56.570 --> 0:08:59.720 Yeah, absolutely. Is exactly where you want to be. Eventually, 0:08:59.750 --> 0:09:02.240 I want to be, like, I wanted to be a pro. So, like... 0:09:02.970 --> 0:09:04.910 If I didn't win, I was like, I'm going to 0:09:04.929 --> 0:09:06.870 get there. If I won, I mean, I'm there. So 0:09:07.010 --> 0:09:10.850 it's like there wasn't a lose-lose for me in this situation. Right, right. 0:09:11.450 --> 0:09:14.050 I also want to ask you about your Cat's Eye commercial. 0:09:14.150 --> 0:09:17.790 It is an iconic dance moment of last year. And 0:09:17.830 --> 0:09:20.190 it was not only everywhere on TikTok, but it was 0:09:20.290 --> 0:09:23.110 also on the Dancing with the Stars floor, thanks to 0:09:23.170 --> 0:09:27.230 Riley and Scott. What was filming that like? Did you 0:09:27.510 --> 0:09:29.709 have any idea it would be that big? 0:09:31.230 --> 0:09:33.020 I feel like in the moment, no, I didn't know 0:09:33.070 --> 0:09:35.010 it would be that big. But I will say the 0:09:35.050 --> 0:09:37.949 process was kind of, it went by fast, but it 0:09:37.990 --> 0:09:40.290 was really hard because we were in, if you saw 0:09:40.330 --> 0:09:43.410 the commercial, we were in like this just white box. 0:09:43.670 --> 0:09:43.969 Yes. 0:09:44.230 --> 0:09:47.650 And we were in there for hours. And so once 0:09:47.670 --> 0:09:49.710 you're in that white box for a couple hours, you're 0:09:49.730 --> 0:09:52.650 kind of like, can somebody go get me a water? Like, 0:09:52.710 --> 0:09:56.910 I'm starting to feel dizzy. Like, I don't feel OK. Right. 0:09:57.330 --> 0:09:59.510 So that was probably the hardest part of it. But 0:09:59.890 --> 0:10:03.540 Robbie Blue, the choreographer, is somebody that I've always looked 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:07.300 up to. He's amazing. And that was like his like 0:10:07.820 --> 0:10:10.840 time to shine. And he always is coming up with 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.140 brilliant work. And it's funny because like that one move 0:10:13.179 --> 0:10:15.400 that like got really famous. Yes. You see a move 0:10:15.420 --> 0:10:18.059 and you're like, oh, that's good. And you don't know, like, 0:10:18.100 --> 0:10:19.729 to the extent of where it's going to go. It 0:10:19.950 --> 0:10:23.370 obviously went it went viral. It got huge. And you 0:10:23.410 --> 0:10:24.990 don't think that in the moment. But in that moment, 0:10:25.010 --> 0:10:26.630 I was like, I kind of want to I kind 0:10:26.650 --> 0:10:28.429 of want to do that. Right. So it kind of 0:10:28.450 --> 0:10:29.170 starts like that. 0:10:29.710 --> 0:10:32.609 That's so cool that like I because I've been there before, too, 0:10:32.650 --> 0:10:35.489 where you see something and you go, oh, wow. I 0:10:35.550 --> 0:10:38.050 like that. And then the next thing you know, you're like, oh, okay, 0:10:38.090 --> 0:10:40.089 there was a reason I really connected with that. It 0:10:40.110 --> 0:10:42.450 was going to literally take the world by storm. 0:10:42.470 --> 0:10:42.540 Wow. 0:10:44.090 --> 0:10:48.620 Well, on your very first performance of Next Pro, Shirley 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:52.219 called you a superstar. Mark said that you were in 0:10:52.300 --> 0:10:56.320 his top four on day one. What was it like 0:10:56.720 --> 0:11:00.360 to hear these types of comments from them so early on? 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.200 I definitely think I needed it. Yeah, I feel like 0:11:04.220 --> 0:11:10.179 that was something I really needed. Going into that first challenge, I, 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:14.010 none of us knew what to expect. So I kind 0:11:14.070 --> 0:11:16.870 of was just like, I'm gonna learn this choreo. I'm gonna, 0:11:17.770 --> 0:11:19.570 I was like, in the back, if you watch the 0:11:19.590 --> 0:11:22.500 first episode, I'm in the back learning the choreography from Derek. 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:23.099 Yeah. 0:11:23.380 --> 0:11:26.980 And he's kind of like, just like, he, he, you 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:28.540 can tell he's kind of a little bit nervous about 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.510 me kind of being in the back and like, cause 0:11:30.550 --> 0:11:32.990 he does already know me and he has expectations for me. 0:11:33.010 --> 0:11:35.390 So that's kind of where I got nervous when I 0:11:35.429 --> 0:11:38.030 found out Derek was going to be the first one 0:11:38.050 --> 0:11:39.910 to come in. I was like, okay, he already has 0:11:39.929 --> 0:11:42.090 high expectations for me. He knows what I can do 0:11:42.110 --> 0:11:44.910 and I need to show what I can do. And 0:11:45.490 --> 0:11:48.500 they didn't show it, but the first episode Derek walks 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:52.760 in and he just was like, I need more. Like 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.280 you're just walking in the beginning for my solo. And 0:11:55.300 --> 0:11:56.780 he was like, you can do so much more. And 0:11:57.820 --> 0:12:00.860 I just like, I broke down crying because I was like, 0:12:00.940 --> 0:12:02.730 I know I can do so much more. And also 0:12:02.750 --> 0:12:04.850 I want you to believe that, like, I want you 0:12:04.870 --> 0:12:06.370 to believe that I can do this. So it was 0:12:06.410 --> 0:12:09.550 kind of just a hard time for me. So after 0:12:09.570 --> 0:12:11.410 Dara came in, I was like, you know what? I 0:12:11.470 --> 0:12:13.250 always do a forward roll. That's who I am. Like 0:12:13.290 --> 0:12:15.110 I'm always going in with a forward roll. So I 0:12:15.190 --> 0:12:17.610 kind of started it like that. I was like, let 0:12:17.630 --> 0:12:21.000 me just start with that. I was like, there's pros 0:12:21.020 --> 0:12:22.949 and cons of doing that. Shirley could either hate it 0:12:23.010 --> 0:12:27.050 because it's not Samba or she can love it because 0:12:27.130 --> 0:12:28.870 I'm also being myself and I'm going to add Samba 0:12:28.910 --> 0:12:29.670 obviously later. 0:12:29.690 --> 0:12:32.110 Of course, of course. You're not going to have not 0:12:32.190 --> 0:12:33.030 Samba content. 0:12:33.170 --> 0:12:36.300 Yes. No, no, no. And it ended up working in 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.920 the long run. So when Shirley called me a star 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:40.880 and Mark said I was in the top four from 0:12:40.900 --> 0:12:43.420 the beginning, it kind of just was like this validation 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.500 that I needed in that moment. I was like, oh 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.530 my God. Thank you so much. I honestly don't know 0:12:49.550 --> 0:12:52.150 how to feel right now, but thank you. That means 0:12:52.190 --> 0:12:52.650 a lot to me. 0:12:53.750 --> 0:12:56.200 When you were talking about what the feedback Derek gave you, 0:12:56.260 --> 0:12:59.050 it gave me that feeling of like when your parents say, 0:12:59.630 --> 0:13:01.390 I'm not mad at you. I'm just disappointed. 0:13:01.410 --> 0:13:01.949 Disappointed. 0:13:02.030 --> 0:13:07.450 And you're like, please be angry. Please be furious. Do 0:13:07.490 --> 0:13:11.090 not be disappointed. I don't want to let you down. Well, 0:13:11.410 --> 0:13:15.530 we saw Tristan, who is another contemporary hip hop focused dancer, 0:13:15.770 --> 0:13:19.530 run into issues at almost every stop trying to keep 0:13:19.650 --> 0:13:23.689 up with ballroom. And yet you found your lane rather quickly. 0:13:24.130 --> 0:13:25.630 How do you think you were able to do that? 0:13:25.670 --> 0:13:27.110 Are you just the fastest learner? 0:13:28.130 --> 0:13:30.590 I will pride myself. I do learn fast. Okay. Yeah. 0:13:30.630 --> 0:13:33.350 That is something that I've always, and I think it's 0:13:33.390 --> 0:13:35.850 because the conventional world helped me with that. Okay. And 0:13:35.870 --> 0:13:37.850 I think that's kind of where me and Tristan's training 0:13:37.890 --> 0:13:40.890 is a little bit different is he was a hip 0:13:40.910 --> 0:13:44.060 hop street dancer from the beginning. Okay. And I kind of, 0:13:44.350 --> 0:13:48.070 when I was young, I learned everything. So I kind 0:13:48.110 --> 0:13:50.949 of already had ballroom under my belt. It was something 0:13:50.990 --> 0:13:53.200 that I could just kind of use as like my 0:13:53.250 --> 0:13:56.300 show off moment at like auditions because not a lot 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.290 of people can do it. Um, but I also try 0:13:59.860 --> 0:14:03.900 to hone in on other people. I feel like even 0:14:04.220 --> 0:14:06.240 just in a way we stand, and this sounds really weird, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.220 but in the way we stand, I wasn't just, I, 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:13.040 and it's funny because Shirley actually critiqued Raya about this, 0:14:13.420 --> 0:14:15.420 our first episode about how she was standing and they 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:16.840 kind of like zoomed in. 0:14:17.260 --> 0:14:17.439 Yeah. 0:14:17.460 --> 0:14:20.600 And they kind of zoomed in on her being like, yeah. 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.720 So I kind of like, I, that's how I would 0:14:22.740 --> 0:14:23.180 stand too. 0:14:23.300 --> 0:14:26.000 But I kind of was like, okay, what is Adele doing? 0:14:26.860 --> 0:14:28.350 I was like, how is Adele going to stand here? 0:14:28.370 --> 0:14:31.590 Because I know she's she's a ballroom. She's a ballroom queen. 0:14:31.650 --> 0:14:33.450 So how is she standing? I'm going to copy her. 0:14:33.470 --> 0:14:36.740 So kind of just like honing into like those little 0:14:36.780 --> 0:14:41.290 things and just kind of. faking it till I make it. Yeah. 0:14:41.730 --> 0:14:44.490 Your brain must go a thousand miles an hour because 0:14:44.890 --> 0:14:47.160 hearing you say that reminds me of just early in 0:14:47.180 --> 0:14:49.700 this conversation when you were talking about in two months 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.480 in Utah, trying to learn, you need to teach me 0:14:52.580 --> 0:14:55.100 everything you can teach me about ballroom, but also I'm 0:14:55.140 --> 0:14:58.550 going to learn everything from you about how you're teaching 0:14:58.650 --> 0:15:01.610 me so that I can teach someone else. And I 0:15:01.630 --> 0:15:04.330 was like, for five hours a day for your brain 0:15:04.350 --> 0:15:08.440 to never once be able to just go like you 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:13.560 are just absorbing everything even when you're not learning choreo 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.620 just looking around and taking in okay that person who's 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.730 been doing ballroom their entire life is standing this way 0:15:19.770 --> 0:15:21.230 there must be a reason for that i'm gonna do 0:15:21.270 --> 0:15:25.110 it too so smart have you been a dancing with 0:15:25.150 --> 0:15:27.090 the stars fan for a while. 0:15:28.590 --> 0:15:31.190 Not like the, like, not probably as long as these 0:15:31.210 --> 0:15:33.230 people that have been watching it since. I mean, I 0:15:33.370 --> 0:15:36.000 think the first episode was when I was born, so. 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.000 Yeah, it's an older show. Yeah, it's been around. 0:15:39.060 --> 0:15:39.680 It's really older. 0:15:40.340 --> 0:15:40.900 But, um. 0:15:41.630 --> 0:15:44.290 I it's funny because I started watching it and getting 0:15:44.350 --> 0:15:47.150 really in love with it before it got famous on TikTok. 0:15:47.310 --> 0:15:47.930 OK, yeah. 0:15:47.950 --> 0:15:50.830 So it was like right before it got really famous. 0:15:51.110 --> 0:15:53.350 And it was it was really nice to kind of 0:15:53.450 --> 0:15:56.930 see it grow on TikTok because obviously I'm at that 0:15:57.030 --> 0:16:00.590 age where I love TikTok. I'm always on TikTok. I'm 0:16:00.950 --> 0:16:03.390 I'm using my thumbs all the time on TikTok. So 0:16:03.730 --> 0:16:05.910 it was really nice to see it grow. And I 0:16:05.930 --> 0:16:08.100 was also on tour with Derek during that time. So 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.070 it was nice to kind of see the behind the 0:16:11.110 --> 0:16:14.450 scenes of it and also see it from the outside 0:16:14.530 --> 0:16:18.230 perspective as well. So I kind of, yeah, I was 0:16:18.270 --> 0:16:20.170 really grateful to fall in love with it before it 0:16:21.070 --> 0:16:24.770 reached like where it is now, which is insane. 0:16:25.110 --> 0:16:28.430 It really is. Who would be your dream partner? 0:16:29.570 --> 0:16:33.010 Oh, I say this all the time, but Ilya Manilin. 0:16:33.030 --> 0:16:37.520 He's a figure skater. Yeah. I'm like so obsessed with him. 0:16:37.980 --> 0:16:40.560 He did this like piece when he did the Olympics 0:16:40.820 --> 0:16:43.280 and I just fell in love with it. And he 0:16:43.300 --> 0:16:45.020 like had a hoodie on and I was like, it 0:16:45.060 --> 0:16:47.500 was so edgy. And ever since that moment, when I 0:16:47.540 --> 0:16:50.610 watched that, I was like, oh my gosh, if I 0:16:50.670 --> 0:16:52.950 became the next pro on Dancing with the Stars, this 0:16:52.990 --> 0:16:54.270 is who I would want my partner to be. I 0:16:54.290 --> 0:16:55.750 also just would love a figure skater. 0:16:55.770 --> 0:17:00.100 Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, you are such 0:17:00.140 --> 0:17:04.250 a fan of Britt Stewart, right? And Johnny Weir, her 0:17:04.590 --> 0:17:08.690 first partner, right? Yes. And so you are probably right 0:17:08.750 --> 0:17:14.390 that a figure skater is probably the perfect first partner. 0:17:16.630 --> 0:17:20.730 Who is your favorite male pro? We know Britt, who is, 0:17:20.970 --> 0:17:23.470 by the way, you know this because you have now 0:17:23.650 --> 0:17:26.760 met her, worked with her. I spent quite a bit 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:28.060 of time with Britt on tour. 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:28.800 She is. 0:17:30.140 --> 0:17:39.900 the most lovely, graceful, smart, strong, confident. She's just the 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:42.159 brightest light to be around. 0:17:42.180 --> 0:17:43.180 She really is. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.399 Oh, I cannot say enough wonderful things about her. 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.699 Oh, she's so amazing. And yeah, bright is definitely the 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:52.440 word I would use. She is just a bright human. 0:17:52.460 --> 0:17:54.350 She walks in, I'm like, I noticed her right away. 0:17:54.369 --> 0:17:58.230 I'm like, oh, there's Brit. Yep. Like she's just, she's, 0:17:59.090 --> 0:18:01.590 She's hard to find. Yes. Yes. 0:18:01.609 --> 0:18:03.629 She's hard to lose. You can see her. 0:18:03.670 --> 0:18:06.880 Hard to lose. Not a lot of people are like that. Rare. 0:18:07.380 --> 0:18:10.980 Yes, absolutely. So who's your favorite male pro? 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.760 Oh, yeah. This one's kind of harder than picking my 0:18:14.780 --> 0:18:20.780 favorite male pro. Because... The thing is, my heart has, like, 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:22.040 a special place for Val. 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:24.980 Yeah. Val loves you. 0:18:25.180 --> 0:18:28.310 So I, like, will always have a special place for Val. Yeah. 0:18:28.330 --> 0:18:31.450 Especially because I did watch, like, your guys' podcast together, like, 0:18:31.490 --> 0:18:34.050 every single night. And my mom was really obsessed with it. 0:18:34.730 --> 0:18:37.230 And just hearing what Val had to say about me, like, 0:18:37.490 --> 0:18:40.590 I was like, oh, my God, he is the sweetest. 0:18:41.270 --> 0:18:45.050 And he really did write for me a lot of times. 0:18:45.109 --> 0:18:49.190 And I really appreciated that. So Val will have a 0:18:49.210 --> 0:18:51.969 special place for me. Okay. And then it's our, I'm 0:18:52.010 --> 0:18:54.129 taking Derek out of equation. Okay, yeah, Derek. 0:18:54.190 --> 0:18:55.090 Derek, why? 0:18:55.130 --> 0:18:56.680 Derek could leave. He's a judge now. 0:18:56.700 --> 0:18:57.300 He's a judge. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:00.060 He's not in the mix. Yeah, he's not in the mix. 0:19:00.220 --> 0:19:01.340 I'm going to go Val and Mark. 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:17.070 Okay, Val and Mark. Great. So there are a few 0:19:17.150 --> 0:19:20.510 moments from the show that really have stuck with me. 0:19:20.950 --> 0:19:23.030 And I want to get into the finale and a 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:26.880 little of this extra, you know, postscript stuff that's going 0:19:26.900 --> 0:19:30.720 around online. But first, the slap heard around the world. 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:35.440 Stephanie accidentally hits Natalie. And I think a lot of 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:39.250 people were shocked to hear that she had, well, they 0:19:39.270 --> 0:19:40.850 don't know. I don't know that they ever even said 0:19:40.869 --> 0:19:42.510 what she had. She had a small concussion. 0:19:42.530 --> 0:19:43.050 Yeah. 0:19:43.310 --> 0:19:46.620 And had to drop out. At the moment that it happened, 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.770 did it feel that did it seem that serious? 0:19:51.100 --> 0:19:53.760 In the moment, no. Yeah. In the moment, no, because 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.080 things like this happen all the time. Right. So in 0:19:57.100 --> 0:19:59.940 the moment, it was just like, okay, yeah, she's, let's 0:19:59.960 --> 0:20:01.359 keep going and then she'll be okay. 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:01.899 Yeah. 0:20:02.340 --> 0:20:05.200 Because we were all kind of under that pressure that 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:06.720 we knew we were going to have to show the 0:20:06.770 --> 0:20:10.429 judges in a couple episodes. Not even in a couple hours, 0:20:10.450 --> 0:20:14.590 in like two hours. Right. So we were all just like, okay, 0:20:15.070 --> 0:20:17.429 she's going to get taken care of, refocus on us, 0:20:17.590 --> 0:20:20.790 and she'll be okay. And they didn't show it, but 0:20:20.850 --> 0:20:21.689 she came back. 0:20:22.190 --> 0:20:22.970 Oh, she did, okay. 0:20:22.990 --> 0:20:26.479 And tried to dance, but she had to sit down. 0:20:26.780 --> 0:20:30.500 Her vision was getting blurry, and it was just like, okay, 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.980 you're not going to dance in the group dances. It's 0:20:34.220 --> 0:20:39.420 too risky, but... They'll judge you on basically what they've 0:20:39.460 --> 0:20:42.830 seen already. Right. And then she left and then we 0:20:43.150 --> 0:20:45.830 didn't see her until me and Tristan were at the 0:20:45.869 --> 0:20:47.950 bottom two and we found out none of us are 0:20:47.990 --> 0:20:49.250 going home and we're confused. 0:20:49.670 --> 0:20:49.970 Right. 0:20:49.990 --> 0:20:52.169 You were like, what? Yeah, we're confused. And then they 0:20:52.190 --> 0:20:55.310 say Natalie's going home and we're like, that's when I 0:20:55.350 --> 0:20:58.450 realized it's that serious. Wow. Yeah. 0:20:58.609 --> 0:21:01.990 It was, it was, um, it, cause I felt very 0:21:02.030 --> 0:21:04.389 much the same way. It was like, okay, these things happen. 0:21:04.470 --> 0:21:07.270 Even watching, I was getting a little nervous that there 0:21:07.310 --> 0:21:10.790 was so much effort and energy going toward her. And 0:21:10.830 --> 0:21:13.580 I was like, guys, you, you only have minutes. You 0:21:13.619 --> 0:21:15.980 have minutes. You got to get back to the dance. 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:18.940 She's going to be okay. We all, we've all been whacked, 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.540 you know, doing something. We've all had that happen. So then, yeah, 0:21:22.580 --> 0:21:26.600 to find out that, that she was going home. was 0:21:26.900 --> 0:21:29.580 really shocking. I had no idea it was so serious. 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.800 What is the worst injury you've ever had while dancing? 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:38.859 I've had two serious injuries. And I feel like the 0:21:38.900 --> 0:21:42.070 most serious probably I fractured my back. Oh, yeah, a 0:21:42.109 --> 0:21:45.190 stress fracture, but I still danced. So I made it worse. 0:21:45.570 --> 0:21:48.050 I know. I know I shouldn't have I was I 0:21:48.070 --> 0:21:50.010 was on tour. And I only had like I was 0:21:50.030 --> 0:21:53.810 in rehearsals. And I did like this jump and I 0:21:53.850 --> 0:21:56.070 landed and it just didn't feel right. And not that 0:21:56.090 --> 0:21:58.030 it was very painful, but I just started crying because 0:21:58.050 --> 0:22:01.230 I was like, something's not okay. And we have to 0:22:01.550 --> 0:22:04.399 go on stage in three days. So I was just 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:06.199 really stressed. I got the MRI back. They were like, 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:08.600 stress fracture. I was like, okay, I still have to 0:22:08.619 --> 0:22:10.980 go on tour. Can you put shots in my back? 0:22:12.340 --> 0:22:14.240 Is that what they did? Did they also give you steroids? 0:22:14.270 --> 0:22:16.690 Yeah. Yeah. I just did steroid shots in my back 0:22:16.730 --> 0:22:19.470 and was like, I need to just It's only a month. Like, 0:22:19.730 --> 0:22:22.159 I'll be okay. I just had to push through it. 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:24.460 I don't want to let my team down by kind 0:22:24.500 --> 0:22:29.760 of just dropping out when we have three days left. Oof. Oof. Yeah. 0:22:29.859 --> 0:22:30.340 I know. 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:31.240 Wow. Yeah. 0:22:31.380 --> 0:22:32.600 And that one still affects me. 0:22:32.820 --> 0:22:36.420 No. Yeah. That one still affects me a lot. There's 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:38.660 still some nerve damage from dancing on it. It's something 0:22:38.700 --> 0:22:40.760 I'm still in the works figuring out. It's been like 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:44.240 two years now since it's healed. But it's something even 0:22:44.260 --> 0:22:48.630 in ballroom that affects me. Hmm. when I'm in frame, 0:22:48.830 --> 0:22:50.590 we have to go back. And yes, it's from, it's 0:22:50.630 --> 0:22:52.590 not from your back. You shouldn't be arching from your back, 0:22:52.630 --> 0:22:54.909 but it's something that still puts a strain on it 0:22:54.950 --> 0:22:58.470 when I'm there for a long time. And also it's 0:22:58.890 --> 0:23:01.270 something that now I really want to work on because ballroom, 0:23:01.290 --> 0:23:05.070 you really have like, want that mobility. And I just 0:23:05.090 --> 0:23:08.560 feel like I don't have it at a hundred percent yet. 0:23:08.660 --> 0:23:11.300 And that's something that really bothers me. So something I'm 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:12.419 definitely still trying to work on. 0:23:13.230 --> 0:23:16.450 I know for me, I loved being in frame. It 0:23:16.490 --> 0:23:18.910 was so much fun. But I have a bad neck. 0:23:19.869 --> 0:23:20.449 Oh, yeah. 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:25.120 And trying to get that banana shape where you're really far. 0:23:25.540 --> 0:23:28.200 I can do it because I have really good back flexibility. 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:28.460 Yeah. 0:23:28.859 --> 0:23:30.980 But the neck, it's like my head felt like it 0:23:31.020 --> 0:23:33.880 weighed a thousand pounds. And if you're in that position 0:23:34.020 --> 0:23:36.240 all day, every day, and then you get a stiff neck. 0:23:36.580 --> 0:23:38.480 Yeah, it's something you're just like, yeah. And it's funny 0:23:38.500 --> 0:23:41.900 because a lot of people that do ballroom professionally, there's 0:23:41.940 --> 0:23:44.140 like one side. of their neck is like a little 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:47.149 bit bigger from the muscle oh gosh yes i'm like 0:23:47.230 --> 0:23:49.150 i don't want that to happen but yeah it's just 0:23:49.170 --> 0:23:52.530 like that position for so long it's like yes everything 0:23:52.550 --> 0:23:55.270 kind of hurts. 0:23:54.430 --> 0:23:57.330 When val talks about like um i've heard him talk 0:23:57.350 --> 0:23:58.970 about it so many times when he talks about like 0:23:59.030 --> 0:24:01.889 whether or not somebody has the threshold like a pain 0:24:01.950 --> 0:24:07.510 threshold i don't think people realize truly How much pain 0:24:07.609 --> 0:24:11.530 tolerance you have to have. You make it look so 0:24:11.970 --> 0:24:15.710 easy that people just think, well, no idea. 0:24:15.730 --> 0:24:18.670 And it's not even just your body. It's also like 0:24:18.850 --> 0:24:22.230 your feet getting blisters and your brain is so like. 0:24:22.760 --> 0:24:25.380 you're like, I have to go back and learn more. 0:24:26.619 --> 0:24:28.880 It's like little things that people don't think about. Yeah. 0:24:28.900 --> 0:24:32.220 Your body hurts, but also my, my feet have blisters 0:24:32.260 --> 0:24:35.270 all over them. And the back of my heel hurts 0:24:35.290 --> 0:24:36.230 from my ballroom shoot. 0:24:36.270 --> 0:24:38.409 Like, and my neck has a huge kink in it 0:24:38.450 --> 0:24:40.350 and I've got a stress fracture in my back and 0:24:40.390 --> 0:24:43.350 now I've got to go shoulders down, smile on my face. 0:24:43.430 --> 0:24:44.590 Lots of personality. 0:24:44.850 --> 0:24:45.669 Yeah. It is. 0:24:45.690 --> 0:24:49.860 I mean, it is, it's a lot. Okay. So we 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:53.380 had Stephanie also on our podcast. Val and I had 0:24:53.420 --> 0:24:56.090 her on our podcast and we thought maybe she got 0:24:56.270 --> 0:24:58.930 the short end of the stick being the only dancer 0:24:59.070 --> 0:25:04.770 eliminated as a couple. Do you think had she not 0:25:04.890 --> 0:25:08.090 been in a situation where two people had to go home, 0:25:09.030 --> 0:25:10.859 do you think she might've ended up in the finals? 0:25:12.600 --> 0:25:15.610 Ooh, that's really hard to say. Yeah, that's really hard 0:25:15.630 --> 0:25:18.360 to say. But I will say what I do know 0:25:18.540 --> 0:25:21.580 is I think if it wasn't a double elimination that night, 0:25:21.920 --> 0:25:23.780 she wouldn't have been the one to go home. Right. 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:27.760 And I think if she if the circumstances were different, 0:25:27.940 --> 0:25:29.359 I feel like it was also hard being with a 0:25:29.400 --> 0:25:32.960 partner that you didn't choose right away. Because there's always 0:25:33.000 --> 0:25:35.650 going to be that like little like, sorry, I didn't 0:25:35.750 --> 0:25:38.150 make you right away. But let's try to do this. 0:25:38.530 --> 0:25:41.620 And there's always there's going to be that grudge so 0:25:41.640 --> 0:25:45.690 that was something that just wasn't working already yeah. 0:25:46.250 --> 0:25:48.369 There were hurt feelings already yeah. 0:25:48.130 --> 0:25:51.630 They're already hurt feelings so I think in that double 0:25:51.650 --> 0:25:55.080 elimination I think everybody kind of already had a feeling 0:25:55.119 --> 0:25:56.679 of who it was going to be because of. 0:25:56.700 --> 0:26:00.639 The circumstances but I think if the circumstances. 0:25:59.619 --> 0:26:02.199 Were different and maybe Alan just said yes to her 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:05.200 right away I think she would have still been in 0:26:05.220 --> 0:26:06.650 the competition for sure Yeah. 0:26:06.930 --> 0:26:08.869 I agree with you. And I told her that. I 0:26:08.890 --> 0:26:11.830 was like, I really have an issue with that episode. 0:26:11.890 --> 0:26:13.850 Yeah. And I don't know if that makes her feel 0:26:13.869 --> 0:26:14.510 better or worse. 0:26:14.830 --> 0:26:16.570 I know. I know. 0:26:16.590 --> 0:26:19.290 It is. You would still be there, but also you're not. 0:26:19.330 --> 0:26:20.340 So I know. I know. 0:26:20.540 --> 0:26:21.100 I don't know why. 0:26:21.119 --> 0:26:21.199 Yeah. 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:24.240 It's like, it's hard. It's a hard situation. 0:26:24.320 --> 0:26:24.560 Okay. 0:26:25.480 --> 0:26:28.780 Here's my prediction for season 35 of Dancing with the Stars. 0:26:28.940 --> 0:26:32.800 The argument of who... Much dance experience is going to 0:26:32.940 --> 0:26:37.060 rage on as always, but a new one will enter 0:26:37.119 --> 0:26:42.130 the ballroom too. And it's going to be about wow moments. 0:26:43.390 --> 0:26:48.090 I think the expectation for big viral moves is going 0:26:48.130 --> 0:26:52.710 to be higher than ever. And you were the queen 0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:56.520 of wow moments on the show. Where do you think 0:26:56.760 --> 0:26:59.450 they fit in? on Dancing with the Stars, do you 0:26:59.490 --> 0:27:03.040 think people should be attempting a wow moment every week? 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:10.240 If it comes naturally. Okay. I feel like wow moment 0:27:10.320 --> 0:27:13.640 is so, it's so hard because it's so subjective and it's, 0:27:14.340 --> 0:27:17.620 everybody has a different view of a wow moment. I, 0:27:17.840 --> 0:27:21.320 like me and Eric, we tried to really make the 0:27:21.359 --> 0:27:27.060 silence a wow moment and it obviously didn't bit Eric 0:27:27.080 --> 0:27:30.680 in the mud yes um I mean it was so 0:27:30.800 --> 0:27:33.980 it's like very subjective and everybody's gonna have different opinions 0:27:34.240 --> 0:27:37.160 and like look at me and Eric's dance is probably 0:27:37.180 --> 0:27:41.340 the most viral dance out of the wow moments episode 0:27:41.440 --> 0:27:45.460 yeah and it's just funny because obviously the judges didn't 0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:48.379 see that coming yeah or they probably would have judged 0:27:48.420 --> 0:27:52.180 differently but obviously viral is always in the back of 0:27:52.200 --> 0:27:54.619 your head with how big TikTok is it's always going 0:27:54.640 --> 0:27:58.470 to be there um but I think it just comes naturally. 0:27:58.510 --> 0:28:01.310 Like I had this one thing with yawn that now 0:28:01.369 --> 0:28:04.109 people are falling in love with. And it's like, I 0:28:04.150 --> 0:28:07.389 did like these little ticks on the beat and everyone's 0:28:07.410 --> 0:28:10.040 like those ticks, those ticks. And it was just, it 0:28:10.080 --> 0:28:12.179 wasn't something that in the moment I was like, I 0:28:12.220 --> 0:28:14.080 have to do these ticks because I know they're going 0:28:14.100 --> 0:28:16.000 to go viral. Right. I heard the music and I 0:28:16.040 --> 0:28:18.760 was like, Ooh, this would be cool. I know what 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:20.300 to do here. I heard it. And I was like, 0:28:20.400 --> 0:28:23.700 automatically I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And 0:28:23.980 --> 0:28:27.730 it just happened to me. be something everybody else loved too. 0:28:28.150 --> 0:28:32.780 Yeah. You know, I'm glad you mentioned that dance with Eric. 0:28:32.940 --> 0:28:34.939 You said you had listened to the podcast Stepping on 0:28:34.980 --> 0:28:37.640 Toes with myself and Val. And so you know how 0:28:37.740 --> 0:28:42.870 Val feels about that dance. He loved it. When I 0:28:42.910 --> 0:28:46.610 watched the episode, the only thing that I took away 0:28:46.630 --> 0:28:48.750 from it that really bothered me, and I want to 0:28:48.770 --> 0:28:50.710 know if it bothered you at all, and you can, 0:28:50.830 --> 0:28:52.350 if not, absolutely no issue. 0:28:52.410 --> 0:28:53.840 I think I already know what you're going to say. 0:28:55.050 --> 0:28:57.780 When you, a couple of times, and you know, of course, 0:28:57.800 --> 0:29:01.020 with the magic of editing, they could have not showed 0:29:01.120 --> 0:29:04.860 you saying, I don't think our wow moment is there yet. 0:29:05.240 --> 0:29:09.530 But they did. I, at least twice, heard you say, 0:29:10.600 --> 0:29:12.760 oh God, I just, I don't feel like we have it. 0:29:12.860 --> 0:29:15.900 I don't feel like we have it. And Eric was saying, 0:29:16.200 --> 0:29:19.600 I really think the wow moment is the silence. And 0:29:19.840 --> 0:29:23.660 Val completely agreed with him, completely agreed with him. But 0:29:23.740 --> 0:29:26.530 you were very much agreeing kind of with what the 0:29:26.690 --> 0:29:30.390 judges ended up saying. And yet then at the end, 0:29:30.470 --> 0:29:34.710 when they put you guys on the spot, who did this? 0:29:36.410 --> 0:29:39.690 Eric was like, it was both of us. And I 0:29:39.720 --> 0:29:43.980 wanted to be like sir if you don't take responsibility 0:29:44.020 --> 0:29:47.720 for this and saying you know honestly Selena said a 0:29:47.740 --> 0:29:49.590 couple of times that she didn't think we had it 0:29:49.680 --> 0:29:52.630 and I really pushed for the idea that the silence 0:29:52.690 --> 0:29:55.290 was our wow moment how did you feel. 0:29:55.070 --> 0:29:59.370 In that moment okay a lot of feelings okay but 0:30:00.010 --> 0:30:02.750 I knew at the end of the day, he didn't 0:30:02.790 --> 0:30:06.850 force me and I didn't force him. So yeah, there 0:30:06.890 --> 0:30:08.810 was a couple of times where I was worried and 0:30:08.870 --> 0:30:11.650 I was like, oh, like maybe we just like, even 0:30:11.690 --> 0:30:15.780 though it felt artificial, maybe we just, I can quickly 0:30:15.820 --> 0:30:17.660 just throw me in the air really fast and then 0:30:17.700 --> 0:30:19.960 we can call that our wow moment. And then let's 0:30:20.000 --> 0:30:21.980 go on to our dance and maybe you'll feel a 0:30:22.000 --> 0:30:25.720 little clunky, but yeah. the brief will be there. So 0:30:26.960 --> 0:30:28.780 I kind of just was like, yeah, I don't know 0:30:28.820 --> 0:30:30.120 if we have it. I don't know if we have it. Um, 0:30:31.180 --> 0:30:34.400 but actually Danielle came in and like Daniela, she came 0:30:34.480 --> 0:30:38.330 in and she, she loved the silence of the dance. 0:30:38.910 --> 0:30:41.010 And so it kind of reassured me a little bit 0:30:41.070 --> 0:30:44.230 when Daniela came in and she was like, I love 0:30:44.830 --> 0:30:47.950 how silent it is. I love that. And so that 0:30:47.990 --> 0:30:50.130 kind of like eased my heart a little bit and 0:30:50.190 --> 0:30:52.930 made me feel a little bit more like, okay, we're 0:30:52.970 --> 0:30:56.320 not on the wrong track. Right. maybe this is something 0:30:56.340 --> 0:30:58.700 we can bounce off of. She likes the silence. Maybe, 0:30:59.580 --> 0:31:01.540 maybe you're right. Maybe this is the wow moment. Maybe 0:31:01.600 --> 0:31:05.670 this is what it's all about because contemporary is that, 0:31:05.690 --> 0:31:07.810 I mean, it can be so many things. And this 0:31:08.050 --> 0:31:11.950 song that we're dancing to feels so like, there's a 0:31:11.950 --> 0:31:13.850 piece of the dance that feels kind of like empty. 0:31:13.890 --> 0:31:16.370 Like you can feel her heart is just, she's going 0:31:16.390 --> 0:31:18.900 through something and it feels like, Oh, like she's so 0:31:18.940 --> 0:31:23.380 her and like, she's empty. Like I just, that's the 0:31:23.460 --> 0:31:28.010 only word to describe it. And I think after Daniela 0:31:28.030 --> 0:31:31.000 came in, I was like, maybe you're right. Maybe it's just, 0:31:31.620 --> 0:31:34.560 it's that feeling of emptiness that she's feeling. And that's 0:31:34.620 --> 0:31:36.120 what we could use in this dance. 0:31:37.100 --> 0:31:39.960 Well, that's a very mature answer because you're right. I 0:31:40.000 --> 0:31:43.500 guess knowing all of that backstory, knowing that, you know, 0:31:43.580 --> 0:31:45.860 there were more conversations where you were like, you know, 0:31:45.900 --> 0:31:48.160 maybe you're right. Even if you didn't express, say that 0:31:48.200 --> 0:31:50.010 out loud, but like that feeling of like, you know, 0:31:50.400 --> 0:31:52.670 maybe this is a me thing, not a, maybe, and 0:31:52.690 --> 0:31:56.590 maybe the, maybe the song choice doesn't lend itself to 0:31:56.670 --> 0:31:59.510 a more specific wow moment. And, and the song choice 0:31:59.550 --> 0:32:02.990 lends itself to this silence being the wow moment. Cause you, 0:32:03.730 --> 0:32:05.630 I was thinking, man, she's a better person than I am. 0:32:05.670 --> 0:32:07.890 I would have been like, ah, Absolutely not. It was 0:32:07.970 --> 0:32:11.540 this guy. Because I do think had he taken more 0:32:11.620 --> 0:32:15.720 credit for the decision to not put in a wow moment, 0:32:16.220 --> 0:32:17.640 I don't think he would have been in the bottom 0:32:17.660 --> 0:32:18.200 two that week. 0:32:19.020 --> 0:32:20.820 I don't think and I don't think Eric would have 0:32:20.840 --> 0:32:22.140 gone home. I know. 0:32:22.260 --> 0:32:24.720 And I think about that now and I'm like, yeah, 0:32:24.800 --> 0:32:25.640 I see it now. 0:32:26.000 --> 0:32:27.060 Now that I watch it back. 0:32:27.300 --> 0:32:28.040 Yeah. 0:32:28.340 --> 0:32:31.210 But in the moment, obviously, we're all distraught. And like, yeah, 0:32:31.350 --> 0:32:34.920 because elimination has never happened like that before. So we 0:32:34.940 --> 0:32:37.130 were all kind of just taken aback and just like, 0:32:37.150 --> 0:32:40.610 I don't, yeah, I take responsibility. 0:32:40.910 --> 0:32:41.110 Yeah. 0:32:41.170 --> 0:32:42.469 And then we both went to the bottom too. But 0:32:42.510 --> 0:32:44.989 looking back, I'm like, ooh, I think if one of us, 0:32:45.170 --> 0:32:47.290 even if it was me, took responsibility, I think one 0:32:47.310 --> 0:32:48.330 of us would have been in the bottom. 0:32:48.610 --> 0:32:48.930 Yeah. 0:32:49.310 --> 0:32:50.710 And someone else would have been in the bottom. 0:32:50.730 --> 0:32:53.430 Yes. And I don't know if one of, I don't 0:32:53.510 --> 0:32:54.350 think we would have gone home. 0:32:54.510 --> 0:32:58.790 Yeah. I, I agree with you. Would you have always 0:32:58.880 --> 0:33:02.730 predicted that AJ and Adele would be in the finals? 0:33:03.210 --> 0:33:05.010 Is there anyone else you would have thought was going 0:33:05.030 --> 0:33:05.930 to be standing next to you? 0:33:07.390 --> 0:33:10.310 Ooh, I definitely could have predicted AJ and Adele in 0:33:10.330 --> 0:33:14.050 the finale. Okay. But I also could have seen Alan there. Yeah. 0:33:14.870 --> 0:33:17.530 And also Eric. Eric is somebody from the beginning that 0:33:17.930 --> 0:33:20.930 he had a lot of training under his belt. And 0:33:21.210 --> 0:33:25.700 I truthfully believe he's a great teacher. So he's also somebody, 0:33:25.860 --> 0:33:31.650 but personality-wise from... Just first episode, I thought Alan, Adele, 0:33:31.710 --> 0:33:35.100 and I knew AJ already had been a pro on Trickly. 0:33:35.130 --> 0:33:38.140 So I just thought that was a given. 0:33:39.240 --> 0:33:42.740 Considering how close everyone got during the next pro season, 0:33:42.920 --> 0:33:45.480 who did you have the hardest time saying goodbye to? 0:33:45.580 --> 0:33:47.060 Who did you feel most connected to? 0:33:48.900 --> 0:33:55.400 That's a really hard one. Yeah. Because it's funny because me, Alan, Eric, 0:33:55.720 --> 0:33:58.850 and Adele were really close in the house. We really 0:33:58.910 --> 0:34:04.510 built a special bond with each other. I think I'm 0:34:04.550 --> 0:34:05.990 going to go ahead and say Alan. 0:34:06.370 --> 0:34:06.670 Alan. 0:34:06.800 --> 0:34:09.810 Okay. Yeah, that one's really hard. I don't know. Yeah, 0:34:10.350 --> 0:34:13.010 I think Alan. Luckily, I got to be with Adele 0:34:13.030 --> 0:34:14.330 in the finale, so I didn't have to say bye 0:34:14.370 --> 0:34:16.969 to her because she was really, she's still my best friend. 0:34:17.010 --> 0:34:19.919 Like I talk to her every single day. So it's funny, 0:34:19.960 --> 0:34:22.360 but it just like felt like, and this sounds really harsh, 0:34:22.380 --> 0:34:25.620 it just felt like they were dying. Because you didn't 0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:27.230 really get to say bye to them. You kind of, 0:34:27.580 --> 0:34:30.520 what you guys saw on the TV is all it was. 0:34:30.580 --> 0:34:32.540 And then they had to drive away and we never 0:34:32.580 --> 0:34:35.140 got to see them. And it was like, it's like 0:34:35.200 --> 0:34:37.860 a chapter of, Don't they have to pack? 0:34:38.200 --> 0:34:40.300 Don't they have to pack from the house? We've packed before. 0:34:40.880 --> 0:34:43.479 So yeah, every single time before an episode, we have 0:34:43.520 --> 0:34:45.500 to pack already and be. 0:34:46.030 --> 0:34:47.029 In case you're the one. 0:34:47.050 --> 0:34:52.950 They're like, everybody pack your stuff. Yeah. And it's like, ooh, yeah. 0:34:53.150 --> 0:34:56.509 There was some weeks where I packed bad and there 0:34:56.530 --> 0:34:59.469 was some weeks that I was like, yeah, I got 0:34:59.489 --> 0:35:00.969 to pack good this time. I need to make sure 0:35:01.010 --> 0:35:04.020 I have everything packed. Really? 0:35:04.120 --> 0:35:04.420 Yeah. 0:35:04.719 --> 0:35:07.660 What do you think is the week where you were like, 0:35:08.100 --> 0:35:10.020 this is it. This is probably the end for me. 0:35:11.380 --> 0:35:14.060 Oh, I think it was group work. 0:35:14.340 --> 0:35:14.900 Group work. 0:35:14.980 --> 0:35:17.360 OK. Group work was where I was like, I really 0:35:17.390 --> 0:35:19.770 let me check every drawer and make sure I have 0:35:19.830 --> 0:35:22.250 everything because I might not see this house again. 0:35:22.530 --> 0:35:24.630 Yes, that's you. But that was Brit's week, right? 0:35:24.650 --> 0:35:28.009 Yeah. Which was it's sad because that was the week 0:35:28.030 --> 0:35:32.779 that I thought would be my weekend. my week like 0:35:32.840 --> 0:35:35.360 I thought that would be my week to kind of 0:35:35.410 --> 0:35:38.069 showcase myself and it's funny because all the weeks that 0:35:38.330 --> 0:35:42.090 I thought would be the weeks that I showcased myself 0:35:42.130 --> 0:35:43.690 were the ones that I was at the bottom and 0:35:43.730 --> 0:35:47.930 the ones that actually were my worst weeks it was 0:35:48.070 --> 0:35:51.110 group work and then wow moments that I kind of 0:35:51.150 --> 0:35:53.600 was like I feel the most confident in. 0:35:53.580 --> 0:35:59.700 Yeah interesting interesting okay For the finals, you were paired 0:35:59.780 --> 0:36:04.160 with Adam Rippon and only given three days to put 0:36:04.239 --> 0:36:10.529 together two dances. A feat Val even said is basically impossible. 0:36:10.989 --> 0:36:15.510 What was that pressure like? Oh my gosh, crazy. 0:36:15.670 --> 0:36:19.320 Also because you have to think on Dancing with the Stars, 0:36:19.900 --> 0:36:23.020 you're kind of building up with your partner and you 0:36:23.060 --> 0:36:26.820 kind of get to teach them from scratch. ground zero 0:36:27.000 --> 0:36:30.279 to the finale yeah and so you already have a 0:36:30.489 --> 0:36:34.070 connection with them you already have kind of some content 0:36:34.110 --> 0:36:36.590 that you can bounce off of like for freestyle I 0:36:36.610 --> 0:36:38.529 can be like remember that what we did for week 0:36:38.690 --> 0:36:41.290 one let's kind of add that in a different way 0:36:41.330 --> 0:36:43.990 and you kind of already have that so to just 0:36:44.070 --> 0:36:49.820 go from zero to 100 in three days is extremely 0:36:49.840 --> 0:36:53.500 it's a big ask it's a big ask but I 0:36:53.540 --> 0:36:57.220 also had Maybe I'm just saying this because I'm biased. 0:36:57.420 --> 0:36:59.649 I think I had the best partner for this challenge. 0:37:00.370 --> 0:37:02.870 I really do. And I got a figure skater. 0:37:03.070 --> 0:37:03.830 Yes, I know. 0:37:03.850 --> 0:37:07.450 Which I wanted from the beginning. So I, like, the 0:37:07.510 --> 0:37:10.630 stars were just, they were all aligning in that moment. 0:37:10.930 --> 0:37:14.529 And I just, I got to finale, so I wasn't 0:37:14.550 --> 0:37:15.910 going to give up. I wasn't going to give up. 0:37:16.140 --> 0:37:19.520 I already, I'm in the finale. I made it to 0:37:19.540 --> 0:37:23.140 the last challenge. I did them all. why would I 0:37:23.450 --> 0:37:25.420 give up now? So it was kind of just like, 0:37:25.580 --> 0:37:28.819 let's fight. Let's keep fighting. Even though I had those, 0:37:30.420 --> 0:37:34.279 I had those, I had those times in rehearsals where 0:37:34.440 --> 0:37:36.660 I kind of just was like, oh my God, my 0:37:36.700 --> 0:37:39.839 brain hurts. There was some things that I planned ahead 0:37:39.890 --> 0:37:42.029 of time that didn't end up working out. So I 0:37:42.190 --> 0:37:44.049 kind of have to rework the whole thing. And that's just, 0:37:44.410 --> 0:37:46.370 that's just what it is. There's some things that like, 0:37:46.390 --> 0:37:49.310 I thought the footwork would work here and it didn't 0:37:49.370 --> 0:37:52.120 work here. So I have to, redo the whole thing 0:37:52.160 --> 0:37:54.660 I thought this lift was gonna work because sometimes my 0:37:54.700 --> 0:37:56.750 mind I think I can do insane things and then 0:37:56.930 --> 0:37:58.450 in reality it just doesn't work. 0:37:58.410 --> 0:38:01.910 Out right especially with only three days with three days. 0:38:01.710 --> 0:38:04.090 Where if I don't have it right away and if 0:38:04.210 --> 0:38:06.930 Adam doesn't have it right away it's cut exactly it 0:38:07.030 --> 0:38:09.950 just has to be cut because the time crunch we 0:38:09.969 --> 0:38:12.549 have if we had two weeks to work on it 0:38:12.840 --> 0:38:15.899 of course I probably would have worked a little bit 0:38:16.480 --> 0:38:20.390 harder on those moments yeah And there was one move 0:38:20.650 --> 0:38:23.150 that I ended up doing that I did not scratch. 0:38:23.510 --> 0:38:26.730 And I look back and I do regret not scratching 0:38:26.790 --> 0:38:29.930 it kind of. Yeah, we kind of redid pivot turns 0:38:30.030 --> 0:38:32.739 at the end of our drive. And it just was 0:38:32.780 --> 0:38:35.339 a little clunky. But it got to the point where 0:38:35.440 --> 0:38:37.560 I was like, I either take it out, I add 0:38:37.580 --> 0:38:39.960 a new section and he forgets it and it's not 0:38:40.060 --> 0:38:42.850 going to work. Or we kind of keep the clunky 0:38:42.870 --> 0:38:46.709 in there and maybe it looks not the cleanest, but 0:38:46.910 --> 0:38:49.690 we have the choreography at least. Right. So that was 0:38:49.710 --> 0:38:51.850 like a moment where I'm like, should I have I 0:38:51.890 --> 0:38:53.610 go back and forth? Should I have just changed it 0:38:53.650 --> 0:38:54.270 last minute? 0:38:54.489 --> 0:38:56.640 And did one of the judges comment on the pivot turns? 0:38:56.660 --> 0:38:59.580 Because I remember them. There was a comment about the 0:38:59.600 --> 0:39:00.100 pivot turns. 0:39:00.140 --> 0:39:03.930 Yeah. Derek actually commented on the pivot turns. And in 0:39:03.950 --> 0:39:06.819 my mind, I was like, Derek, stop. I know. This 0:39:06.880 --> 0:39:09.580 is finale. Let me have fun. And I already know. 0:39:09.600 --> 0:39:12.080 It's just I was going back and forth with it 0:39:12.219 --> 0:39:14.040 in that moment, too. I was like, do I keep these? 0:39:14.239 --> 0:39:16.160 Do I not keep these? It was kind of just 0:39:16.180 --> 0:39:18.819 like this balance of, ooh, is Shirley going to not 0:39:18.860 --> 0:39:20.990 like that we didn't have this connection towards the end 0:39:21.110 --> 0:39:24.710 and redid a kick section? And she gets upset about that. 0:39:24.890 --> 0:39:27.170 Or do I keep it in and somebody else? It's 0:39:27.250 --> 0:39:29.450 like I just was going back and forth and I 0:39:29.450 --> 0:39:31.260 didn't know exactly. to do and in the long run 0:39:31.280 --> 0:39:34.710 it didn't work out in my favor but it was 0:39:34.750 --> 0:39:38.460 just It was three days and two dances. It was 0:39:38.480 --> 0:39:40.000 kind of my last worry. 0:39:40.320 --> 0:39:42.819 Just to also let yourself let go of that. You 0:39:42.920 --> 0:39:45.620 also don't know that had you done the alternative, it 0:39:45.719 --> 0:39:47.779 would have been better. It could have been that he 0:39:47.840 --> 0:39:50.190 forgot it altogether. And then you have a partner who's 0:39:50.230 --> 0:39:52.089 not even remembering what his choreography is. 0:39:52.150 --> 0:39:53.070 That's probably worse. 0:39:53.350 --> 0:39:53.910 Exactly. 0:39:53.930 --> 0:39:56.109 So, yeah. So I did end up keeping it because 0:39:56.150 --> 0:39:59.009 at least it's something I can kind of lead with 0:39:59.030 --> 0:40:00.750 the pivot. So I can kind of just drag his 0:40:00.790 --> 0:40:02.770 body around as much as I can. Yeah. 0:40:04.830 --> 0:40:08.460 OK, I want to get a little into the A.J. 0:40:08.520 --> 0:40:09.660 Drama. Yeah. 0:40:10.560 --> 0:40:13.680 From your point of view, what was A.J. like behind 0:40:13.719 --> 0:40:18.750 the scenes? Because we saw some bravado, some ego on camera. 0:40:18.930 --> 0:40:22.529 Is some of that a put on character or or 0:40:22.610 --> 0:40:24.170 is he really like that behind the scenes? 0:40:25.010 --> 0:40:26.989 I would say how he's on camera is how he 0:40:27.070 --> 0:40:32.140 is off camera. OK, maybe more so. More so, yeah. 0:40:32.160 --> 0:40:33.620 I feel like for the cameras, it kind of dies 0:40:33.660 --> 0:40:37.420 down a little bit. And there's kind of like, it's funny. 0:40:37.440 --> 0:40:41.220 I think everybody feels this way too. So it's no secret. 0:40:42.200 --> 0:40:45.259 But it's kind of like when you start that, you 0:40:45.300 --> 0:40:47.239 say that action and you're in a different character. I 0:40:47.239 --> 0:40:49.399 would feel like that's kind of my best way to 0:40:49.620 --> 0:40:52.859 describe AJ is once the cameras are on, he's very 0:40:52.920 --> 0:40:55.319 aware of the cameras. I feel like since he's done 0:40:55.360 --> 0:40:58.290 it before and he's been on reality TV before, he 0:40:58.330 --> 0:41:00.969 knows when the cameras are on. And not a lot 0:41:00.989 --> 0:41:02.930 of us had that experience. So when the cameras were on, 0:41:02.950 --> 0:41:06.569 we're kind of just like, oh, shoot, I forgot. And 0:41:07.010 --> 0:41:09.169 he didn't. He didn't forget they were there. He knew 0:41:09.210 --> 0:41:11.160 when the cameras were on. He knew when they were off. 0:41:12.500 --> 0:41:14.900 Did you have any run-ins with him that weren't aired 0:41:14.940 --> 0:41:15.339 on the show? 0:41:18.120 --> 0:41:22.300 Yes, actually. We only had one that kind of wasn't. Obviously, 0:41:22.320 --> 0:41:25.510 they didn't air, like, the story whole bit that we 0:41:25.590 --> 0:41:29.219 talked about our stories. But honestly, that wasn't really... I 0:41:29.260 --> 0:41:32.520 had a lot of love for AJ in those moments. 0:41:32.600 --> 0:41:34.819 And maybe in the long run, I was like, oh, 0:41:34.980 --> 0:41:37.489 that probably wasn't the best way to handle everything. I 0:41:37.620 --> 0:41:39.790 should have just fought for my story a little bit more. 0:41:40.350 --> 0:41:45.230 But later on, I realized that when he kind of 0:41:45.330 --> 0:41:48.629 told Adele like that, he's like, Selena can't teach. She's 0:41:48.670 --> 0:41:50.710 not going to be here very long. And Adele's my 0:41:50.750 --> 0:41:53.129 best friend. So I was kind of just like, Adele 0:41:53.170 --> 0:41:55.490 was like, she told me in the sweetest way too. 0:41:55.880 --> 0:41:58.570 She goes, I don't know if I should tell you this, Selena, 0:41:58.610 --> 0:42:01.430 because I don't want this to make you feel bad. 0:42:01.550 --> 0:42:02.850 And I don't know if this is going to make 0:42:02.910 --> 0:42:04.630 it better for you in the competition or worse. But 0:42:04.710 --> 0:42:06.989 I wanted you to know from me that AJ said 0:42:07.010 --> 0:42:10.080 this to me. And I just wanted you to know. 0:42:10.160 --> 0:42:12.640 And I go, Adele, thanks for telling me because now 0:42:12.680 --> 0:42:16.040 I'm going to the finale. I go, thank you for 0:42:16.080 --> 0:42:19.700 telling me because this was wow. It was super fans week. And. 0:42:20.620 --> 0:42:22.279 I was like, thank you so much for telling me 0:42:22.300 --> 0:42:24.560 that because now I'm making the finale. Me and Jeremy 0:42:24.600 --> 0:42:27.080 are getting this. I was like, I am locked in 0:42:27.560 --> 0:42:30.839 and that's the fuel that I needed. So I was 0:42:30.940 --> 0:42:34.239 really grateful that honestly that that moment happened because I 0:42:34.620 --> 0:42:36.080 don't know if I would have been in a finale. 0:42:36.100 --> 0:42:38.100 So honestly, thanks AJ for that moment. 0:42:38.120 --> 0:42:42.540 Yes, thank you AJ. Sometimes your haters are the people 0:42:42.560 --> 0:42:45.900 who deserve the biggest thanks because they really propel you forward. 0:42:46.300 --> 0:42:48.020 And yeah, if I didn't have that, I don't know 0:42:48.060 --> 0:42:49.460 if I would have gone finale. I don't know if 0:42:49.480 --> 0:42:51.970 I would have had as much fight as I did 0:42:51.989 --> 0:42:53.589 after hearing that. Well, yeah. 0:42:53.610 --> 0:42:55.830 Cause I mean, hearing about your schedule and the fact 0:42:55.850 --> 0:42:58.250 that you guys don't have phones even while you're there 0:42:58.350 --> 0:42:59.950 and there's very little sleep and you're not allowed to 0:43:00.010 --> 0:43:02.549 rehearse in the times that like hearing all of that, 0:43:02.730 --> 0:43:06.830 it would, it would be very hard to consistently maintain 0:43:07.090 --> 0:43:08.150 the same drive. 0:43:08.170 --> 0:43:09.030 Yeah. 0:43:09.210 --> 0:43:10.810 So, you know, at some point you just start to 0:43:10.850 --> 0:43:13.010 get tired and go, you know, if this is my week, 0:43:13.050 --> 0:43:15.480 it's my week. But then something like that happens and 0:43:15.520 --> 0:43:17.700 lights a whole new fire, gives you a whole new 0:43:17.739 --> 0:43:21.060 drive and Were you surprised at all to see the 0:43:21.520 --> 0:43:26.070 drama that has recently come out online between AJ and Riley? 0:43:26.110 --> 0:43:28.670 Had you known of any issues during practice? 0:43:30.270 --> 0:43:36.140 I did know that it wasn't going the smoothest. Okay. 0:43:36.900 --> 0:43:42.719 Mainly because AJ talks. AJ talks a lot. So he 0:43:42.760 --> 0:43:45.080 would come back to the house and say things in 0:43:45.120 --> 0:43:46.930 a way that I was like, oh I don't know 0:43:46.969 --> 0:43:50.370 if it's Riley's fault at all right so it was 0:43:50.410 --> 0:43:52.370 kind of just like things like that and I think 0:43:52.410 --> 0:43:55.710 we all knew AJ enough to know that what he 0:43:55.730 --> 0:43:59.590 was saying was just in favor of him right so 0:43:59.610 --> 0:44:02.489 it was kind of just we knew something was going 0:44:02.610 --> 0:44:04.069 on he would just kind of come back and be 0:44:04.090 --> 0:44:06.430 like Riley's not giving me anything like this and we 0:44:06.450 --> 0:44:09.530 would be like they're not supposed to they're actually supposed 0:44:09.570 --> 0:44:11.600 to be silent they're not supposed to give us any 0:44:11.620 --> 0:44:14.759 that's their job yeah and We would kind of just 0:44:14.780 --> 0:44:16.779 say that and he'd be like, yeah, but like this, 0:44:16.820 --> 0:44:18.580 this and this. And so it was just like we 0:44:18.780 --> 0:44:21.320 kind of knew. So I wasn't surprised. OK, right. I 0:44:21.380 --> 0:44:23.940 was surprised that it was AJ's wife doing it instead 0:44:23.980 --> 0:44:27.080 of AJ himself. But yeah, I wasn't surprised. 0:44:27.600 --> 0:44:32.709 OK, got it. Also, I do think it's so funny 0:44:32.770 --> 0:44:34.689 to hear that he was annoyed that Riley wasn't giving 0:44:34.730 --> 0:44:40.500 him anything when on the show, Whitney... So you could 0:44:40.560 --> 0:44:41.580 see her being like. 0:44:42.530 --> 0:44:45.430 The boys were definitely the worst. The boys, they were 0:44:45.469 --> 0:44:48.730 not listening as much. They were definitely, like me and 0:44:48.770 --> 0:44:51.589 Adele would talk after and be like, oh yeah, Jan 0:44:51.630 --> 0:44:54.089 got in trouble, Glove got in trouble because they were 0:44:54.130 --> 0:44:56.469 trying to help and they couldn't. So the producers would 0:44:56.489 --> 0:44:58.930 just be like, stop, you can't do that. And they 0:44:58.969 --> 0:45:00.850 would be like, sorry, sorry. And then they would stop. 0:45:01.810 --> 0:45:04.070 But the girls definitely took it a little bit more serious, 0:45:04.110 --> 0:45:05.700 which makes so much sense. 0:45:06.390 --> 0:45:10.980 That's just, yeah, that's the nature of being a woman, apparently. Yeah, 0:45:11.020 --> 0:45:14.680 we listen and we follow rules. Yeah, that is so 0:45:14.719 --> 0:45:16.779 funny because, I mean, we really called it out that 0:45:16.800 --> 0:45:18.960 you could tell it was very hard for Whitney in 0:45:19.000 --> 0:45:24.259 particular to not give feedback. And yet that was the brief. So, 0:45:24.940 --> 0:45:29.860 you know. Do you think the next pro experiment worked? 0:45:30.080 --> 0:45:31.920 Should they do it again next season? 0:45:31.940 --> 0:45:35.110 I absolutely think they should do it. I just also 0:45:35.120 --> 0:45:38.350 think it's cool because Adele, for instance, she won and 0:45:38.469 --> 0:45:42.190 everybody got to see her growth from the beginning. And 0:45:42.210 --> 0:45:45.109 I think that's so beautiful that we don't really get 0:45:45.150 --> 0:45:47.070 to know the pros. We usually get to know the 0:45:47.190 --> 0:45:49.670 stars and we never get to see that behind the 0:45:49.690 --> 0:45:51.890 scenes of what it really takes to be a pro. 0:45:52.700 --> 0:45:56.759 And now everybody knows and now everybody kind of can 0:45:57.180 --> 0:45:59.680 stand behind Adele and be like, we got to see 0:45:59.719 --> 0:46:02.380 her grow. We got to see her from the beginning. 0:46:02.400 --> 0:46:05.580 And I feel like that's so beautiful. And I'm also 0:46:05.620 --> 0:46:07.460 happy that I got to see Adele from the beginning. 0:46:07.480 --> 0:46:09.580 And now I get to see her just thrive on 0:46:09.600 --> 0:46:12.859 Dancing with the Stars and stand behind her. And now 0:46:12.900 --> 0:46:16.140 she'll have that band base, I guess, and those people 0:46:16.160 --> 0:46:20.480 standing behind her kind of just 10 times down, like. 0:46:20.850 --> 0:46:23.830 That's such a good point, because the the people who 0:46:23.910 --> 0:46:27.290 the pros whose stories, you know, are the pros who 0:46:27.330 --> 0:46:29.739 have been on for a long time, like Val. People 0:46:29.820 --> 0:46:32.640 know Val now and they've seen him go through an 0:46:32.680 --> 0:46:35.700 entire journey, starting extremely young to where he is now. 0:46:35.800 --> 0:46:39.540 And this was a bit of a shorthand. It was 0:46:39.560 --> 0:46:43.270 it was a Cliff's Notes story. of investing you into 0:46:43.290 --> 0:46:45.489 the pros, getting to know them a little bit so 0:46:45.530 --> 0:46:48.290 that when they come onto the show, you already feel 0:46:48.330 --> 0:46:50.450 like you have a vested interest and you know who 0:46:50.469 --> 0:47:06.150 they are. For you, is the dream of being a 0:47:06.230 --> 0:47:09.730 pro on Dancing with the Stars in your past or 0:47:09.810 --> 0:47:11.029 is it staying on your vision board? 0:47:12.340 --> 0:47:15.320 Oh, 100% staying on the vision board. That's not leaving. 0:47:16.380 --> 0:47:21.640 I'm already in the studio, like training because that's, that's 0:47:21.680 --> 0:47:23.100 not a dream that really goes away. And if it 0:47:23.380 --> 0:47:25.920 does go away that fast after not winning, then. 0:47:27.030 --> 0:47:27.740 Wasn't really a dream. 0:47:27.760 --> 0:47:29.410 I don't know if that was really your dream. Yeah. 0:47:29.760 --> 0:47:34.130 So it's 100% still the dream. It's something that I 0:47:34.250 --> 0:47:37.830 really do still believe that I can do. I'm not 0:47:37.890 --> 0:47:39.830 one to back down and I'm still so new to 0:47:39.850 --> 0:47:43.000 the journey. So when I, when I didn't win, I 0:47:43.400 --> 0:47:46.600 wasn't like, I'm, I'm done. Like I work. So I 0:47:46.640 --> 0:47:49.180 worked too long for this to not be here. Like 0:47:49.630 --> 0:47:52.049 it would be different for AJ who's already been on 0:47:52.090 --> 0:47:55.450 strictly and he's been doing it for a long time. 0:47:55.510 --> 0:47:58.430 Maybe he's like, yeah, I don't know if this is 0:47:58.469 --> 0:48:01.759 something I want to do anymore, but I started three 0:48:01.800 --> 0:48:03.819 years ago. I'm not going to give up now. I'm 0:48:03.860 --> 0:48:06.839 going to keep fighting. I'm, I'm only, I mean, I'm 0:48:06.840 --> 0:48:09.080 22 now. I just turned 22. Oh my gosh. Um, 0:48:09.610 --> 0:48:10.350 Like two days ago. 0:48:10.370 --> 0:48:12.129 You're a baby. Happy birthday. 0:48:12.150 --> 0:48:12.480 Thank you. 0:48:12.710 --> 0:48:13.550 Are you the 29th? 0:48:14.850 --> 0:48:17.469 I'm 26. 26. Okay. I don't even know what day 0:48:17.510 --> 0:48:20.920 it is today. But like this week, last week. Yes. Yeah. 0:48:20.960 --> 0:48:23.940 So it's just, it's definitely something that I'm still going 0:48:23.960 --> 0:48:25.819 to fight for. And I know that I can do, 0:48:26.020 --> 0:48:27.940 especially at such a young age. 0:48:27.980 --> 0:48:28.500 Yes. 0:48:28.860 --> 0:48:32.160 As somebody who learns so fast, I think I can 0:48:32.180 --> 0:48:34.440 be there in no time. I just need to, I 0:48:34.960 --> 0:48:37.560 just really need to crack down on my, really my 0:48:37.600 --> 0:48:41.200 fundamentals of ballroom. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. 0:48:41.739 --> 0:48:45.060 Looking back, what would you say you are most proud 0:48:45.180 --> 0:48:46.939 of during your time on the show? 0:48:48.260 --> 0:48:54.529 This is like a really sentimental, good question. Oh, I'm 0:48:54.610 --> 0:48:59.530 really just proud of how I worked under pressure. It's 0:48:59.570 --> 0:49:02.050 something that you don't really know you can do until 0:49:02.670 --> 0:49:07.360 you're in it. And I walked into this being like, yeah, 0:49:07.420 --> 0:49:11.489 maybe I'll leave first episode. But once I went past 0:49:11.510 --> 0:49:14.529 that first episode, I was like, oh, shoot, I have 0:49:14.550 --> 0:49:17.370 to do this. I'm really nervous. That's kind of when 0:49:17.410 --> 0:49:19.210 my nerves started to kick in after I made it 0:49:19.250 --> 0:49:21.719 past that first round. round and was like, okay, so 0:49:21.739 --> 0:49:24.620 I have to dance with her. Like now it's when 0:49:24.660 --> 0:49:27.650 it really started to click. And I was like, okay, 0:49:27.690 --> 0:49:30.330 this is happening. I don't know if I can do this. 0:49:30.670 --> 0:49:33.860 So knowing that I could work under that pressure was, 0:49:33.870 --> 0:49:38.490 that was like just a joy. And, It's funny because 0:49:38.530 --> 0:49:40.390 I feel like I worked better under pressure than I 0:49:40.950 --> 0:49:43.750 work without the pressure. Yeah. Yeah. 0:49:43.930 --> 0:49:46.270 Well, it's never going to get harder than what you 0:49:46.330 --> 0:49:49.480 experienced on Next Pro. I mean, you know, dancing with 0:49:49.500 --> 0:49:53.339 the stars is difficult, but Next Pro was amped up 0:49:53.460 --> 0:49:53.799 even more. 0:49:53.860 --> 0:49:54.640 They prepare you. 0:49:55.000 --> 0:49:56.160 They really do. 0:49:56.180 --> 0:50:00.299 Adele is going to be... probably going into it, one 0:50:00.320 --> 0:50:01.600 of the most prepared pros. 0:50:02.020 --> 0:50:04.320 A hundred percent. A hundred percent. She's also going to 0:50:04.360 --> 0:50:07.470 be exhausted because she's basically had like two back-to-back seasons. 0:50:07.800 --> 0:50:08.169 I know. 0:50:09.850 --> 0:50:12.489 But I have to tell you, Selena, you are, I 0:50:12.730 --> 0:50:17.009 cannot wait to see what you do moving forward in 0:50:17.050 --> 0:50:19.509 your career. I know you are going to make it 0:50:19.550 --> 0:50:22.310 to being a pro on Dancing with the Stars. You 0:50:22.850 --> 0:50:27.520 are obviously extremely, your IQ is high, but what's even 0:50:27.660 --> 0:50:31.520 more impressive to me is that your emotional intelligence is 0:50:32.100 --> 0:50:36.360 so off the charts high. Your ability to talk to people, 0:50:36.540 --> 0:50:40.090 to handle people, to see situations from so many different sides, 0:50:40.650 --> 0:50:44.569 to be graceful, to have grace, to give grace. You 0:50:44.730 --> 0:50:49.410 are such a special person and I just cannot wait 0:50:49.469 --> 0:50:53.080 to watch you continue to thrive. And I'm just endlessly 0:50:53.120 --> 0:50:56.560 excited for your future. So thank you for sharing your 0:50:56.680 --> 0:50:59.980 vulnerability with us. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. 0:51:00.080 --> 0:51:01.359 And we can't wait to see where you go. 0:51:01.280 --> 0:51:03.069 In the future. Thank you so much. It was so 0:51:03.090 --> 0:51:04.270 amazing talking to you. 0:51:04.489 --> 0:51:06.110 Likewise. Thank you. 0:51:06.330 --> 0:51:08.390 Thank you. Bye.