WEBVTT - Danielle with… Alfonso Ribeiro 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.640 It's once again time for an episode of Danielle with 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.559 I am your host, Danielle Fischel, a podcaster, TV director, 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:40.000 mother of two, and one time Kushling spokesperson to Panga 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.320 Lawrence of Boy Meets World fame. But for those of 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.599 you who know what a passa doble is, you probably 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.040 recognize me as a recent competitor on season thirty four 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.800 of Dancing with the Stars. In experience I consider to 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.360 be one of the most meaningful of my life, and 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:02.280 keep in mind, I only finished eighth Imagine if I won, 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.320 I do every night anyway. Here I am days away 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.960 from the final show where I will dance once again, 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.760 still recording this podcast, keeping you up to date on 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.640 my ballroom adventures, just as excited as you are to 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.600 find out who will hold that Len Goodman Mirror Ball 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:27.240 Trophy above his or her head. And I continue to 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:32.040 talk to experts, former contestants, incredibly gifted pros, and instrumental 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.640 crew members, hoping to give an inside glimpse into what 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.000 it takes to produce a show as fun as Dancing 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.440 with the Stars. And today I have the honor of 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:46.400 sitting with someone who has become synonymous with the program. 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:49.680 A sitcom star who began his Hollywood career as a 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.360 child on shows like Silver Spoons and The Fresh Prince 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.040 of bel Air, then began his own Dancing with the 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.320 Stars journey in season nineteen, where he became one of 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:04.640 the show's most iconic participants, taking home first place and 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:10.280 forever reminding the world who exactly created the Carlton dance, 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:15.560 now known as the Alfonso. He would leverage his lovable 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.440 nature on the show into a hosting gig on America's 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.320 Funniest Home Videos, never knowing exactly how the ballroom could 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.200 ever make its way back into his life, And then, 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.239 in twenty twenty two, for season thirty one, Alfonso is 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.760 named co host of Dancing with the Stars, a position 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.240 he still holds today, becoming a face of not only 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.320 the network, but proof of what Dancing with the Stars 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.120 can do for not only your career but also your spirit. 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.400 He's the man who sees it all and isn't afraid 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.000 to talk about it. It's my fellow Team Chicago member, 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:56.160 the great Alfonso Ribero. He knows hello. So good to 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:58.680 see you, Alfonso. I do want to start with a 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:03.560 story I have never told publicly, which is this extremely 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:07.800 odd coincidence of when my husband and I noticed that 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.880 we were walking right next to you at Disneyland. So 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.280 nobody would even know that this had happened, but I 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:21.840 had just started thinking, I wonder, I wonder if this 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.400 is the year I do Dancing with the Stars. I wonder, 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.640 Like it was just kind of on my brain a 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.360 little bit, and I knew I've wanted to do it 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.480 for so many years, and I you know, it's summer, 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:35.560 and I know the season's coming up. I'm like, I 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.760 wonder if this is the year? And then Jensen and 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.960 I are walking out of the Grand Californian and I 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.720 hear this beautiful voice and I go, is that a 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.680 fond so? And sure enough, directly in front of me, 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.680 by like just five steps, is you. And you were 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.800 there with some of the pro dancers from Dancing with 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.280 the Stars and I come up behind you were with 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:01.640 a tour guide and I come up behind you. I 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.800 tap you on the shoulder. I'm like Alfonso, and you 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.480 turned around, I'm like hi, and we had this beautiful reunion. 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.120 We hadn't seen each other in ages, and the first 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.200 thing out of your mouth to me was, why haven't 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.760 you done Dancing with the Stars yet. 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.920 Right, Yes, yes it was. It was supposed to happen. 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:22.840 It was supposed to happen. 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:30.320 Yes, the universe finds ways to tell us our inner 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.159 thoughts are correct. 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.119 Yes, to let you know you're on the right path. 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:38.200 You're on that path, like, hey, just just in case 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.560 you're you're going down this road, but really you might 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.480 go the other way. Here's a little something to just 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:46.640 push it over the edge exactly. 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:48.920 And you really were that thing for me. You you 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.480 were that person that moment that was like, this feels 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.440 like it was intervention. It was a divine It was 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.320 a divine moment, running into you, talking to you, hearing 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.880 that you I mean, and just it looks as though 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.120 you're having the time of your life. It just it 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.560 was like, Okay, I really do think this was this 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.960 was for a purpose, and it was yeah, well that 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.440 was great. I want to talk to you about your 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:13.760 own dance journey. 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:15.000 Okay. 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:18.200 There was an interview this week with Dina Katz where 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.640 she said that you had originally reached out to her 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:25.320 about doing the show during season two. What was it 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.600 about Dancing with the Stars that made you know so 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.080 early on that it was something you wanted to be 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:32.560 a part of. 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.640 You know, I felt like this minute I saw the 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.760 show after the first season, I was just like, you know, 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:44.840 if there was ever a show that I could connect 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:49.440 to that I would love doing and have fun doing, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:54.080 this was the concept, right, and it wasn't It was popular, 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:58.839 but it wasn't like in its Hey they popular yet, right, 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:03.480 and this would be perfect for me. This is something 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.880 that I would enjoy. I watched, you know, I saw 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:10.479 Apollo and I saw you know, Joey Fatone do it, 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:12.520 and I saw these people and I was like, this 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:17.560 looks amazing, Like put me on, put me, you know, 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:24.080 put me in coach. And I was, you know, shown 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.560 no love in the beginning, you know that it was 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:29.480 like no, no, no, no no. And I and I 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:37.000 had such a high and low love hate relationship with 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.440 the show by time I did get on the show, 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:43.320 because you know, I had wanted to do it, they 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.599 wouldn't let me do it. Then I didn't want to 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:47.120 do it because I was like, get it. 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:47.839 You know. 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:49.919 It's like, you know, it's like a divorce where you 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:51.960 go through all the different stages right on a break 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.920 and like went through all of that and because I 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.320 was you know, I was friends with a lot of 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.520 the dancers of that at that point, right, because of 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:03.600 my friendships of people who had done the show, I 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.800 got to become friends with all of their pros, Right. 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.400 So I knew Karina through Mario, and I knew you know, 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.920 Kim Johnson, and I knew Ryl and so I knew 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.280 all of these people. But I was like, you know, 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.840 always on the outside, right, No, you can't get in. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.000 You can't get in. You can't get in, You're not 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:25.120 part of the club. And then you know, seventeen seasons later, right, 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.679 and season nineteen, you know, Dina calls me. I'd literally 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.640 just gotten back from a vacation with my family, and 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.400 she was like, now's the time we're asking you to 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.920 do it. And I was like, you know, fifteen pounds overweight, 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.520 you know, just gotten off vacation in summer. But I 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.720 was like, there was nothing I was specifically coming back 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.040 to specifically, So I was just like, all right, let's 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.440 go and started that journey. 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.440 That's amazing. I mean, I totally understand the love hate 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.720 roller coaster you go on with something like that. And 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:05.520 so by the time you got it was season nineteen nineteen. Yes, wow, Okay, Well, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.760 you and I have one big career distinction that we share, 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.320 and I do think it's one of the major reasons 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.600 why Dancing with the Stars can be really like transformative 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:21.840 for us. Ninety nine percent of strangers only know us 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.800 by a fictitious name, yep. And then here you get 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:31.840 this opportunity to be Alfonso, right and to really let 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:36.880 America see who you are outside of what they already know, 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.320 for you to be, and for you to do it 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.480 in a way where you get to be vulnerable through dance. 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:44.640 Did that resonate with you? Did you see that right 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:45.319 from the beginning? 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:47.920 All right? Well I saw that from the beginning. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:49.520 In season two, right right, exactly right. 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:54.319 I was like, Oh, this this dance that everybody knows 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.360 me for, this character that everybody knows me for. I 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.520 continued for years and years and years to continue to say, 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.160 that's not who I am, right, Like, I'm this kid 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:06.880 who grew up in the Bronx in New York, Right 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:11.520 Like I wasn't this bel air kid that everybody thought 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.040 of me as. And all I wanted to do was 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:18.280 show that I wasn't that. I think that you know, 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.040 once again, like you know, saying, like your situation, the 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:24.520 universe finds the right way in the right time. It 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:28.680 wasn't the right time, right, I wasn't in the right 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:35.680 space yet to present myself as who I truly was 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.320 versus who I wanted people to see me as. Yeah. 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:41.120 Oh what a great distinction. 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.200 Yeah, And so being being able to do it in 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:49.040 season nineteen, because I'd gone through the ups and the 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.360 downs and the ins and the outs and the highs 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:56.080 and the lows, I was truly capable of saying, I'm 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.199 just going to give you me, yeah, and I'm just 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:00.000 going to go on this journey. I'm going to go 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.400 on this you know this this eleven week, you know, 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:07.600 fourteen week, really journey. Hopefully I get to fourteen and 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.400 just give people me and if it works, it works. 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.680 If it doesn't, it doesn't. But at least it was 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.120 truly me and that's who That's who it was I was. 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:21.040 I was so in my out of my head, in 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:25.760 my body and just being that. I think that it 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:30.480 elevated my performances because it was really me. It was 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:34.680 really just a love and a joy of and feeling 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.640 so blessed to be on the show. To be able 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.880 to do the ship'd have finally been given the chance 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.120 to be part of this family that I so longed 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:48.440 to be a part of Before that, that joy, I 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:53.880 believe came across it, and I think it helped elevate 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.119 me amongst the competition. 0:10:56.720 --> 0:11:01.480 Yeah. Absolutely, while you're there, I'm sure you never imagine 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.480 that Tom Bergeron is going anywhere. But while you're dancing 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.760 on the show, did the hosting of the show ever 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:10.960 cross your mind? Like, wow, I bet this is a 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:11.880 fun show to host. 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.760 Yes, okay, yeah, absolutely, yeah, Now that was This was 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:20.079 like many years later, right that. Obviously things came into play, 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.320 of course, but Tom Bergeron is the reason for my 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:29.040 hosting career, like in general, in its success, right because 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:32.360 I had hosted before. But it turns to me on 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:37.360 week seven or eight, and you know, personally, he goes, no, 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.680 I'm leaving America's Funniest Home Videos, And I said, I 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:42.480 did not know that. Why are you leaving? Like it's 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.080 a great job, why would you leave that. It's just time. 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.079 It's time for me to start, you know, slowing down, 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.880 And it's it's a it's a hard job with the 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.880 family because we lived back east and back and forth, 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.720 and we constantly have to come back out here to 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:00.200 do tapings and they want us here for voiceover or 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.360 not be able to do it from a studio elsewhere, 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.440 and it's just become too much for me. And so 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.280 I think, and he's saying this to me, I think 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:14.400 you would be the perfect replacement for me. And so 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.360 I'm going to go to Vinde Bona and ABC and 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:21.160 let them know that this is my feeling. Not that 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.880 that feeling had a lot of weight, but it absolutely 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.960 had weight because it made Vinda Bona, who didn't know me, 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.880 who didn't really know that much of me, take a 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:38.720 look right, and that became, you know, literally the launching 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:40.760 pad for my career. And it's funny because you know, 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:42.920 obviously people are always like offonsin you keep taking Tom 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.880 Bursrun's jobs. I'm like, no, Tom Bersroan keeps giving me 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:46.280 his job. 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:48.800 Exactly. You keep saying you're the person. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:50.760 You're the guy, You're the guy, You're the guy. And 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:55.760 so you know, of course I looked at every hosting, 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:57.920 every all shows. Right when you're trying to be a host, 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:00.240 You're like, oh, that would be something that's good for me, 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.520 Oh that would be that wouldn't be so good for me. 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:03.840 I don't think I could really do well at that. 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.240 And you're looking at all of it, and I'm thinking 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.120 this show would be amazing, but I'm like, Tom is 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.920 never leaving. There'll never be a time that Tom's not 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.160 on this show, so like, don't even think about it, right, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.640 And then you know people know of this, but like 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:25.760 Tom's parents got sick. Yeah, and I got a phone 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:31.559 call from Dina one Sunday afternoon saying Tom might not 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.040 be able to do Monday night show because back then 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.360 it was on Mondays, right, And you're the one we'd 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:41.160 love to come in and have and do this for Tom. 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:43.400 And this was how many seasons after yours? 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:47.120 This was like three seasons after after I think it 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.160 was two seasons after. I think it was season twenty one, 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.800 and and I'm like wow. So I talked to Tom 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.720 and he's like, dude, I you know, really appreciate if 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.480 you could do that for us. Like I'm you know, 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.160 we're not sure what's going to happen. Hiating it up 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:06.200 not missing that episode. But then his mom did get sick, 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.640 and so the next week I came in and so 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.840 I hosted the show. So before I actually hosted the show, 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:19.080 I had already hosted the show and I had an experience, 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.920 and but once again it was like that was cool, 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.680 that was awesome. It's never happening, right or. 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.880 Even in your mind thinking well, that's a nice position 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.160 to be in. Anytime they need somebody to fill in 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.840 for someone they know they can count on me. I'm 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:34.920 absolutely great news. 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:39.520 I'm the guy. Right. So that's so then we read 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:43.800 of Tom no longer being on the show. It was 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:51.360 like the immediately I'm like, no, right, no, it's it's 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:56.120 not for me right now. This is not the right move, right. 0:14:56.160 --> 0:15:00.520 Yeah, especially not on good terms. Yeah right, Tom is. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.520 Leaving, handing it over, right, And I went, nope, nope, nope, nope, 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.000 not that they offered me the job. But it was 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:09.320 still like Newton, I don't even want to get into that. Obviously, 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:11.920 Tyra was hired. She had done a couple of seasons, 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:18.760 recognized that it wasn't necessarily working out well, you know, 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:22.840 for all parties, And so I called up Dina Katz 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:24.600 one day and I said, hey, you know, let's go 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.640 to dinner. And so, you know, all four of us, right, 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.040 Jerry and Angela and I and and Dina went to 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.320 dinner and I said, I just want to let you 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.040 know that i'd like to throw my name in the hat. 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.120 I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.800 whether she's leaving. I don't know what you guys are deciding. 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:45.040 I don't know any of that. What I do know 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.240 is I want you to personally know that this is 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.560 what I want to do. And she was like, I'm 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:54.760 really happy you said that. I never thought you would 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.520 actually want to do it because of your relationship with 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:01.560 Tom and and so I was like, yeah, but I 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:06.000 think enough years have passed that it's not me taking 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:11.120 his gig, it's me coming after him want a gig 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:12.440 heat which is a difference. 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:14.880 You're right, absolutely, you know. 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:18.720 And I said, this would be really awesome if that 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.920 would happen. And then a few weeks later, I get 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.600 a phone call from Conrad Green, who had just then 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:30.120 been hired to come back in, and it was, look, 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.120 here's what's happening. The show is no longer going to 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.920 be on ABC, It's going to be on Disney Plus only. 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.960 Is this still something you want to do? And I'm like, absolutely, 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.160 even if it's you know, doing this show on the 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:45.760 way out. I would still love to do it. And 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.440 because it was moving to Disney, plus it could no 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.800 longer be a single host show. It had to have 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.960 two hosts. Okay, because no commercial breaks, there was no time. 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.520 There's no other ways to move the stuff in and 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.760 out of the set, so you had to go off 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:04.959 of the stage to create that space. Right. So I 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.359 said yes, they said yes, I start. I start with 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.639 Tyra and I absolutely loved that was in the skybox, 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.800 I was with celebrities and the pros and I had 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:19.320 a blast and it was great. And then ultimately, you know, 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.920 there was a parting of the ways between Tyra, ABC 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.800 and the show, and I got a phone call and 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.840 we're moving you downstairs and we've hired Julianne to be 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.280 upstairs and a co host with you, and the rest 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.000 is really history. It's been incredible. 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:44.760 I love my think my favorite part of that story 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:49.160 is when that you made the decision to call Dina 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.639 and say let's go to dinner, and then you actually 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:53.680 saying I just want to throw my name into the hat. 0:17:53.720 --> 0:18:00.359 Because so often we assume that if if something is 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.040 right for us, or we go well, I've already, I've 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:08.000 already hosted. Dina probably knows that I maybe they're already, 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.440 and you don't. You don't say anything, you don't make 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:12.600 the extra effort, you go. If they wanted me, they 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:16.040 probably would have asked, we make all of these bad assumptions. 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.480 And yet then when you actually decided I have I 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:21.800 want to let her know that I would love this, 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.040 this would be a dream for me. Her response was, 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:25.840 I would have I would never have thought you would 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.760 do it, and so you could have been sitting around thinking, well, 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:30.400 of course they know I want it, and yet it's 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.600 the exact opposite. They're thinking, he would never do it. 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:33.440 Let's not even ask. 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:34.000 Right. 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.320 So I love that you. You took this upon yourself, 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:40.280 your you made your dream come true. You manifested that 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:40.600 for you. 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:44.240 But that's the way I've always looked at everything. Right, 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:50.400 assume nothing right for granted nothing. Yeah, right, you are? 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:53.639 You know. Look, I think I've been incredibly lucky and 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:57.479 fortunate to have incredible reps my entire career. Right, But 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.879 they're reps, right, they're not a US. 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:00.640 Right. 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.280 There's no one who is going to fight for you 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:08.720 more than you, right, And no one can be a 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:13.600 cheerleader for you more than you. Right. We allow our 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:20.360 egos to get in the way of our passions, right 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.960 we like, you know, I mean I can't really like 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.000 go in and say I want something because if I 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.560 didn't get it, then like my heart would be broken 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:28.320 and then and. 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:30.000 Then I would feel desperate because I said I what 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:30.600 I wanted. 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.919 Yeah, none of that, Yeah, right for me, you know, 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:41.159 switching gear slightly, It's like I hit on my wife, 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:45.840 right yeah, Like I was like, I'm interested in you, 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.080 I want to take you on a date. I would 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.160 like this yeh. And you know, almost to the point 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:51.840 where it was like. 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:54.119 Whoa, he's so so forward, sir. 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.600 Okay, like really all of that, Like, well, my thing 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:00.679 always was, well, how is she supposed to know? 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:01.760 Yeah? 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.719 How is anyone supposed to know what I'm feeling and 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:07.600 thinking and wanting and desires? And no one could ever 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:12.119 know that, So it doesn't you're not you know, there's 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:14.679 in the dating world, right, like you know, you know, 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.879 shoot your shot, right, Like there's so many guys who 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:19.439 are like I can't shoot my shot, Like, I mean, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:21.760 she might turn me down. Well, you already turned down 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:23.440 if you don't shoot your shot exactly. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:25.399 Yeah, you missed one hundred percent of the shots you 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.200 don't take, Yeah, one hundred percent. 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:31.119 So I'm like, hey, this still could have been zero, right, 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:33.960 you know, But but I wanted to put my name 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.359 in there, and I felt and I feel like even 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.680 now still when I want to do something, I make 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.080 phone calls, right, you know, Like last year I hosted 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:47.800 the Disney Parks Christmas Parade. They're special in Orlando. I 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.200 called up my team and said, hey, still want to 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.360 do this again this year? Let me know, make some calls. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:54.480 We want to do this. 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:55.160 Yeah. 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:57.280 They're like, are you sure? You know it's like and 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:58.960 I'm like, absolutely, I'm sure. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:20:59.720 Yeah. 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.000 It was fun. Right. It was a tough week because 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:05.240 of the different things that were happening here and there, 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.760 But still I wanted to do it. And so for me, 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:12.720 it's always about go get what you want, Go at 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:14.960 what you want. The worst that could happen is you 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:17.560 don't get it and you didn't have it anyway, and 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:19.520 it's not for you. It wasn't made for you, it 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.760 wasn't designed for you. Right, yep. It wasn't your gig. 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:24.000 It was someone else's gig. 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:24.359 Yeah. 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:24.840 Fine. 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:27.520 It also is like, it may not happen this year, 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.560 but it could happen next year. You know, you don't know, You. 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:32.640 Never know when, you never know how, and you never 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:36.520 know how someone is going to get the idea, right, 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.720 so you just always present that in hopes that they 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:42.800 do get the idea they do like go oh wow, 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:45.840 that actually could work, and then find a way to 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:48.440 make it work rather than find a way for it 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:49.240 not to work. 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:53.199 Yeah. Really smart, really smart. I love that. I love that. 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:57.639 I want to talk now about this season of the 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:02.080 show in particular. You have been around, You've been paying 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:05.840 attention since season one, so you are a historian of 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:06.240 the show. 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:08.240 Some might say it's the. 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:12.679 Twenty year anniversary, and everyone keeps saying it's one of 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:17.720 the most stacked casts we've ever seen. You and I 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:21.440 were we are now just chatting a few days before 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:26.399 the finals. If you had to write out season thirty 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.560