Speaker 1: Oh Hello, I am Danielle Fischel, whose name is not
Speaker 1: only in the title of this show, but I'm also
Speaker 1: a TV director, a podcaster, a mom of two, and
Speaker 1: now called Tapanga by cool teen girls at my local Menchi'
Speaker 1: yogurt shop thanks to Dancing with the Stars popularity on
Speaker 1: TikTok and God bless them for that, and maybe, just
Speaker 1: maybe they're following along with my journey thanks to this podcast,
Speaker 1: where I am chronicling my entire process learning things like
Speaker 1: the Argentine tango and what compression leggings are, all in
Speaker 1: the hopes of holding a Len Goodman mirror Ball trophy
Speaker 1: above my head like a seasoned hockey player finally drinking
Speaker 1: champagne out of the Stanley Cup. And along the way,
Speaker 1: I will be chatting with prose, former contestants, modern peers,
Speaker 1: and absolute legends in hopes that the knowledge can get
Speaker 1: me even closer to that final boss and unexpected victory.
Speaker 1: And this week I say the word legend with extra emphasis.
Speaker 1: She joined Dancing with the Stars in season two and
Speaker 1: participated on the show for a whopping twenty five seasons,
Speaker 1: setting her as the professional with the most seasons to
Speaker 1: her name. She has two mirror Ball trophies to go
Speaker 1: along with that distinction, and worth noting those victories were
Speaker 1: in her first and second seasons, so learning curves be damned,
Speaker 1: and now she will be making a triumphant return to
Speaker 1: the ballroom to be guest judge for the upcoming Halloween Night,
Speaker 1: a yearly tradition that constantly proves itself as one of
Speaker 1: the most entertaining and sometimes unpredictable of the year. It
Speaker 1: would be impossible to mention Dancing with the Stars as
Speaker 1: a franchise without mentioning my guest this week. I'm honored
Speaker 1: to be sitting with a pioneer of the competition, Cheryl Burke.
Speaker 2: Hi. I was just gonna I was about to say
Speaker 2: how impressed I am with you. Oh so impressed. I'm
Speaker 2: an Argentine tango snob.
Speaker 3: Are you thank you? Okay?
Speaker 1: I really want to talk to you about it, because well,
Speaker 1: for one thing, your opinion means a great deal to.
Speaker 3: Me, and and two I have I have.
Speaker 1: My feelings on it, but you know, I know, I
Speaker 1: know absolutely nothing, and I know Pasha is like Argentine
Speaker 1: tango is just his thing.
Speaker 3: Also like similar to you, the.
Speaker 2: Best partner for Argentine tango.
Speaker 3: He really is.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's I think he's just the best partner period.
Speaker 1: But I mean, I just can't say enough wonderful things
Speaker 1: about him.
Speaker 2: But so I do.
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you about the Argentine Okay,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to save it for a little bit
Speaker 1: later because I want to jump into right away this
Speaker 1: very big announcement that you are returning to the Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars ballroom. How excited are you to be
Speaker 1: in a judge's chair for Halloween Night?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, first of all, just to be in
Speaker 2: the judge's chair, just to hear that. It's so surreal.
Speaker 2: I you know, just a little backstory for any new fans,
Speaker 2: because there are tons of them.
Speaker 3: Oh yes, you know.
Speaker 2: I started back in two thousand and six. I did
Speaker 2: twenty a total of twenty six seasons, but including juniors,
Speaker 2: so technically I guess I've only had twenty three partners
Speaker 2: if you really want to analyze it. But it has
Speaker 2: been such a my It's been two decades of my
Speaker 2: life basically, right, So most of my life I've been
Speaker 2: on the show, and I have, you know, gone through
Speaker 2: it just emotionally. As far as now being a fan right,
Speaker 2: because like though, of course you know, I retired, it
Speaker 2: was my decision, It's still such an emotional journey, even
Speaker 2: if I'm not a part of it anymore, and to
Speaker 2: be able to come back, the show has really like
Speaker 2: in a way, started over, but has a whole new
Speaker 2: fan base and is so popular, and I'm just so
Speaker 2: happy for the show. I've been back here behind my
Speaker 2: screen just cheering everybody on because I know what it
Speaker 2: takes and I know how grueling but yet how life
Speaker 2: changing this experience is.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well, they are lucky to have you in that
Speaker 1: judge's chair. I'm so excited to see you there next week.
Speaker 1: Having had Kim Johnson there two weeks ago and everyone
Speaker 1: loved her in that fourth chair. I think you're going
Speaker 1: to be able to bring the same thing she brought,
Speaker 1: which is you have been on all sides of it.
Speaker 1: You do know it from the inside. You have worked
Speaker 1: with the celebs. You know what it takes to teach,
Speaker 1: to win, to struggle, to sometimes disagree with your partner.
Speaker 1: You know what it's like to you know, not have
Speaker 1: control over your music, not have control over what your
Speaker 1: production is that week, to have very strong thoughts about
Speaker 1: things and not necessarily get your way and to have
Speaker 1: very legitimate tips for all of us about what we
Speaker 1: can be doing to improve because you have had to
Speaker 1: teach twenty three partners and you won in your first two.
Speaker 2: Seasons back in nineteen sixty two.
Speaker 3: Don't do it.
Speaker 2: Don't age like that, you know, Yes, I mean when
Speaker 2: you put it like that, yeah, I know. I know
Speaker 2: exactly what it's like. Even if the show has changed.
Speaker 2: Obviously we all evolve, things evolve, but it's still back
Speaker 2: to the foundation of what the show is, which, like
Speaker 2: I said, is an emotional rollercoaster. But if you allow it,
Speaker 2: if you surrender to the experience and trust the process
Speaker 2: and just take it like literally one step at a time,
Speaker 2: don't even think about the dance, like think about what's
Speaker 2: what's your next one, your next step like, because you're
Speaker 2: at the point now or Talloween night and you're getting
Speaker 2: introduced to two dances and this ain't gonna get easier,
Speaker 2: you know. But what is going to get easier is
Speaker 2: you know what it's like. Now, you know what it's like,
Speaker 2: And this is where you really have to trust the
Speaker 2: process and literally just surrendered to Pasha, which is easy
Speaker 2: to do because he knows what he's doing.
Speaker 1: Yes, I've been saying trust the Pasha and trust the Pasha.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 3: It's a little spin on trust the process, but it works.
Speaker 1: And I just I have, I have just when he
Speaker 1: tells me to do something, I go okay, and and so.
Speaker 3: How do I do that?
Speaker 1: And you know, this last week was a was a
Speaker 1: good experience, a good opportunity to show that because I've
Speaker 1: never done lifts, aside from the.
Speaker 3: Fact that I've never done any sort of dan.
Speaker 2: You don't end in that dip every night, so we have.
Speaker 3: Never been nose to the ground before like that.
Speaker 2: So yeah, your nose to the girl round. He got
Speaker 2: you well.
Speaker 1: During rehearsal, we actually were we were millimeters from my
Speaker 1: face hitting because even better, Yeah, I know, And I
Speaker 1: was like, do it again, but but this time I
Speaker 1: won't put my pands there because like, as you know,
Speaker 1: you can have like a thousand thoughts go through your
Speaker 1: head in such a short amount of time. And we
Speaker 1: were spinning in the air and we had so much momentum.
Speaker 1: And then I could tell based on the way he
Speaker 1: rolled me that he did not actually have me.
Speaker 3: And I was like, oh, the wood floor's going really goodly.
Speaker 1: And and it got to about right here and he
Speaker 1: was literally he's gripping my leg like this, and I.
Speaker 2: Put wearing tights right, I was wearing slippering.
Speaker 1: Yes, And the dress was you know that, like Mesh,
Speaker 1: and you looked stunning.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, stunning. Thank you?
Speaker 2: Who's doing your makeup this season?
Speaker 3: Lois?
Speaker 2: She's amazing. I mean they're all amazing.
Speaker 3: They're all amazing you.
Speaker 2: But Luis so underrated the Department of because.
Speaker 3: Yet they're Emmy winning, And I agree with you.
Speaker 2: I mean they need to win Oscar. I mean, not
Speaker 2: like the show was Oscar worthy, but you know what
Speaker 2: I'm saying. I know they're just like when whenever they
Speaker 2: don't win, I'm just shocked.
Speaker 3: Correct. That is the feeling is how do they not win?
Speaker 3: Every years?
Speaker 2: It's there to ask you a question. Yeah, did you
Speaker 2: request Pasha?
Speaker 1: I did not request Pasha. I actually requested someone else
Speaker 1: and I didn't get my wish.
Speaker 2: Okay, do you have any regrets?
Speaker 3: Zero?
Speaker 1: When you were on the show, was Halloween Night always
Speaker 1: a favorite for you?
Speaker 2: I am a passionate person.
Speaker 1: Okay, because you don't know that about me, it comes
Speaker 1: across and I love it.
Speaker 2: I love those passionate, sultry, dark dances. I think that
Speaker 2: there's something obviously I don't. You know, I never liked
Speaker 2: to fake emotion when I perform. So this is why
Speaker 2: I hate the jive for example, because I'm like, sometimes
Speaker 2: I don't feel like I want to be all happy,
Speaker 2: go lucky all the time. You know, it's easier for
Speaker 2: me to find that like dark place for some reason.
Speaker 2: But the dark I like to turn into fire and
Speaker 2: like passion, especially the music. It's all about the music, right.
Speaker 2: You can give me a you can give me a
Speaker 2: passionate dance and then have like some campy song and
Speaker 2: I'm just like, oh what I waste? Like you said,
Speaker 2: we have no choice.
Speaker 3: Sometimes sometimes you're just handed the song.
Speaker 2: You're handed that a lot, and it is what it is,
Speaker 2: just the process. But I love Halloweend for that now.
Speaker 2: I don't like getting scared, like I the Oscar movie
Speaker 2: in my head sometimes because I you know, I live
Speaker 2: alone with my with my French feet, and I mean
Speaker 2: it would be shocking if I ever put this to
Speaker 2: pen or to paper, my thoughts of like what could
Speaker 2: happen to me at night? And just like I can't
Speaker 2: even watch like it's the music. I've realized it's the music.
Speaker 3: It is the music.
Speaker 2: The action, it's the music.
Speaker 1: If you mute a scary movie, you can watch it
Speaker 1: without any emotion at all.
Speaker 3: You're like, oh, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2: But David Arquette did Dancing with the staras he took
Speaker 2: all of us to Hollywood Horror Nights, and I wore
Speaker 2: air pods or I don't even know there was air
Speaker 2: pods back then, but anyway, I wore headphones headphones and
Speaker 2: literally people just kept popping out. I mean, I was like,
Speaker 2: I was totally fine. It's the music.
Speaker 3: It's music, really smart, really smart.
Speaker 1: If I get asked to go to those things with
Speaker 1: friends all the time, and I'm like, guys, I don't
Speaker 1: want to.
Speaker 3: Be the fuddy duddy, but I don't want to do that.
Speaker 1: I don't like spending any time of my leg jumping
Speaker 1: out of my skin, with my cortisol spiking and like
Speaker 1: my heart racing. I don't want that. That does not
Speaker 1: sound like an enjoyable Is anyone interested in going for
Speaker 1: a meal?
Speaker 2: Are you hungry a good old conversation?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Right right, Like I know, I agree, And by the way,
Speaker 2: if you want to take it further, like imagine. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's so easy now a days just to you know,
Speaker 2: be that person who goes crazy. I'm not even gonna
Speaker 2: put it out there. All you have to do is
Speaker 2: like wear a screen mask and you're screwed, like you never.
Speaker 3: Know, correct, you never You're right.
Speaker 1: I don't want to put myself in at any situations
Speaker 1: where that becomes easier. I want to talk to you
Speaker 1: specifically about some of your own Halloween dances, mainly your
Speaker 1: Oingo Boingo performance with Jan Pablo to Dead Man's Party.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, do you remember God? Of course I
Speaker 2: remember it. I'm gonna be Cleopatra. Halloween nights are again. Yes,
Speaker 2: I want. I want to be able to get that
Speaker 2: head piece, but I don't think I can.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's reach out to Oh really, I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: reach out to Danielle.
Speaker 3: Maybe they still at it somewhere.
Speaker 2: I know. I see what my stylence comes up with.
Speaker 2: But it's so weird like that, I don't have fittings.
Speaker 2: Like the whole thing. It's gonna be like home, going home,
Speaker 2: but it's also going to be like, Wow, this is
Speaker 2: a different perspective, which I'm so excited to, uh experience.
Speaker 1: Totally do you remember, well, I guess, I guess. You
Speaker 1: know remember those otfs where remember those?
Speaker 2: Of course, I remember those those master interviews. I basically
Speaker 2: interview myself. When I got COVID and I danced for
Speaker 2: my living room, I had to do my own master interview.
Speaker 3: How did that happen?
Speaker 1: I mean, how did that work when you got COVID
Speaker 1: and then you were dancing from your living room?
Speaker 2: I don't know, because it was actually I was like,
Speaker 2: oh wait, I could do different jobs on this show,
Speaker 2: not just teach. I was like I could be the
Speaker 2: set director, I could be a field producer. Probably. I
Speaker 2: just felt like it was really fun. Though. What wasn't
Speaker 2: fun was being like out of breath of two seconds
Speaker 2: right exactly and yeah, and having to teach. What they
Speaker 2: didn't show was the next week we had two dances
Speaker 2: and I had to teach my partner Cody via Zoom
Speaker 2: both dances because he was still in New York and
Speaker 2: he couldn't fly because he had COVID.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, teaching via Zoom dance drive.
Speaker 3: Wow, never forget it.
Speaker 1: There's some different dances too, like on opposite ends of
Speaker 1: the spundrooms.
Speaker 2: Well, we still had COVID now, oh, God of luck.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but that is really bad. How did dancing?
Speaker 1: Would the stars first enter your life? How did they
Speaker 1: reach out to you and ask you to come be
Speaker 1: a pro?
Speaker 2: I was a competitor, so I had just turned pro
Speaker 2: in the industry of ballroom dancing, and I was living
Speaker 2: in Harlem at the time with my dance partner, Slush Boyfriend,
Speaker 2: and I was We went to compete in a competition
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles called the California Open, and I remember
Speaker 2: seeing Season one had just wrapped, and I of course
Speaker 2: watched it, you know, because it had like Charlotta Jorgensen,
Speaker 2: who was I think she won with John and Hurley. Yeah, no, Kelly, No,
Speaker 2: she won first anyway, whoa Anyway, then I saw Louis Yeah,
Speaker 2: like I said, nineteen sixty one, Louie was on and
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, this is not going to last long.
Speaker 2: I said, this is kind of cheesy. I was like, hey,
Speaker 2: but more power to them, but I'll never do it.
Speaker 2: I had, like I was at the height of my career.
Speaker 2: So you know, in the industry, the judges, the adjudicators,
Speaker 2: they expect your partnerships to last long, right, So when
Speaker 2: you always constantly switch or you pause and then you
Speaker 2: come back, you kind of start all over again, and
Speaker 2: that is a longer journey. And I felt like I
Speaker 2: was literally at the peak of my career and I
Speaker 2: did not. I would have never because someone did ask me,
Speaker 2: just like casually, like would you ever do that? I'm like, no,
Speaker 2: unless my partner decides to leave me, Like no, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2: And I also knew it was going to be temporary,
Speaker 2: but same with my dance career, but not as temporary.
Speaker 2: I didn't think it was going to last twenty six
Speaker 2: or sorry, I didn't think it was gonna last however
Speaker 2: many seasons? How many seasons? Is it?
Speaker 3: Thirty four and twenty years?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't wait till they celebrate the hundredth season.
Speaker 2: We're all going to come in with walkers.
Speaker 3: Oh god.
Speaker 2: But yeah, So they saw me compete, and I think
Speaker 2: they wanted to recruit more dancers for season two because
Speaker 2: they only had six couples for season one. Then they
Speaker 2: jumped up to seas twelve couples. And so I went
Speaker 2: in for an interview. Okay, so I don't I had
Speaker 2: no voice, like not like meaning like you asked me
Speaker 2: what my favorite color was, no idea I had no identity,
Speaker 2: poor little Cheryl, I had no identity. You know, I
Speaker 2: was very much okay, I guess, with just not being
Speaker 2: a leader in that sense, like this is the ballroom.
Speaker 2: This was no longer, but this was I would say
Speaker 2: that ballroom industry words. It was a man's the world.
Speaker 2: Not so much now at all. But you know, my
Speaker 2: partner was like twelve years my senior, and it's like
Speaker 2: I he was used to being a pro. I had
Speaker 2: just turned pro. So like I didn't think for myself ever. Ever,
Speaker 2: So when I had to cut in and do an interview,
Speaker 2: when my little pink fringe spaghetti like fringe costume with
Speaker 2: my short little hair, I was so nervous I could
Speaker 2: barely talk. I had like a little mousey voice. So
Speaker 2: I do credit Dancing with the Stars for giving me
Speaker 2: my voice.
Speaker 1: Wow were you at the time twenty gosh so young?
Speaker 2: I know, I was twenty one. I auditioned and then
Speaker 2: I started when I was twenty one. My goodness, forty one.
Speaker 1: Now, I mean, what a beautiful story and relationship then
Speaker 1: that you liked All relationships a bit of a roller coaster,
Speaker 1: I'm sure highs and lows, but what a yeah, like anything,
Speaker 1: But what an amazing thing to be able to look
Speaker 1: back at twenty year old you and recognize a totally
Speaker 1: different person totally and to say, while of course hopefully
Speaker 1: giving yourself a lot of credit, of course, but to say,
Speaker 1: had not if not for this show coming into my
Speaker 1: life at twenty, who knows how long it could have
Speaker 1: taken for you to break out of a very male
Speaker 1: dominated space and to start to find your voice. So
Speaker 1: what a gift that was, and what a beautiful thing
Speaker 1: that you're even able to recognize it and acknowledge it.
Speaker 2: That's so yeah, absolutely, I mean, like the I had
Speaker 2: to I had to speak up for myself, like there
Speaker 2: was no there was no way around it. Though. It
Speaker 2: took me a couple of years, but it was like
Speaker 2: it was training one on one, like I had to
Speaker 2: do this. I was on a show.
Speaker 1: Wow, So they hire you, and now you pretty much
Speaker 1: immediately change your mind. You go, I'm you had gone
Speaker 1: from saying I will never do that show to deciding
Speaker 1: to accept doing the show.
Speaker 3: How did that go over with your partner?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Okay, So actually I was going to go back
Speaker 2: to my partner to my Competitive Live after season two
Speaker 2: because there was no pick up yet right away, at
Speaker 2: least to season three. But we knew it was going
Speaker 2: to happen. However, it was still another year right for
Speaker 2: that to happen. So but because we were involved romantically,
Speaker 2: it's just all I'll say, it's just got a little slucky,
Speaker 2: got fettle messy and got messy and just didn't work unfortunately.
Speaker 2: But again I'm grateful for everything in my life. Also
Speaker 2: wouldn't be here today.
Speaker 3: Right yeah.
Speaker 1: Okay, So you then you end up going back to
Speaker 1: the show. You win your first season, by the way,
Speaker 1: hello incredible. You then go back after you did your
Speaker 1: first season, did your mind kind of change about the show?
Speaker 1: Did you then start to recognize like, I think they've
Speaker 1: got something here?
Speaker 2: I think it right away? Okay, it changed right away.
Speaker 2: It changed from the moment because I mind you, Michael
Speaker 2: was never to be on TV. I was going to
Speaker 2: be a ballroom different. I was gonna if when I retired,
Speaker 2: because you know, as women you retire probably thirties. I
Speaker 2: was going to just dudicate like I was going to
Speaker 2: let you know, right.
Speaker 3: So old, so old got to retire.
Speaker 2: But that's it is what it is. Especially as women,
Speaker 2: men have a way longer of a career than women.
Speaker 2: It's like athletes, right, Like you can only go so
Speaker 2: long unfortunately, but within that time, you don't think about
Speaker 2: what's next. You just are in it, you know. And
Speaker 2: that is another conversation we'll have because there is that
Speaker 2: missing piece where it's like, oh my god, now what
Speaker 2: because I still have my whole life ahead of me exactly.
Speaker 1: I know, I've retired from this thing I've been doing for,
Speaker 1: by the way, twenty years, and now and now what
Speaker 1: do I do?
Speaker 3: What do I dedicate myself to? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Really really learn how to set boundaries? Now what what
Speaker 2: does that mean?
Speaker 3: Totally?
Speaker 2: God?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 1: Even just learning what a boundary is is like such
Speaker 1: a learning curve when you're a young woman who has
Speaker 1: basically been at the whim of adale and.
Speaker 2: I literally just learned it.
Speaker 1: I also just learned it. Well, feel like I just
Speaker 1: learned it about ten years ago in my in my
Speaker 1: mid in my early thirties, thirty fourish, I was like.
Speaker 3: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I've had no I've had
Speaker 3: no boundaries.
Speaker 2: Oh right, oh and I'm allowed no, no, it's a
Speaker 2: complete sentence. Wait what yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Really crazy.
Speaker 2: As long as you learn it, that's all that.
Speaker 1: Matters, absolutely absolutely better late than ever. In your first season,
Speaker 1: you were paired with one of my favorite people in
Speaker 1: the world, Duliship. I love him so much. Uh, and
Speaker 1: you win the mirror Ball. Did you always see from
Speaker 1: day one as a contender or did that grow as
Speaker 1: the season went on?
Speaker 2: Well? No, But this is the thing. This is I
Speaker 2: think this is why I was successful because it was
Speaker 2: never about that. It was about I mean, for me,
Speaker 2: it wasn't. Of course they gave you those lines, but
Speaker 2: I just refuse to say those lines like I didn't
Speaker 2: I for me, it was honestly about just improving a
Speaker 2: little bit next week. It just that was it, Like
Speaker 2: when I and I tried it every way possible. As
Speaker 2: you can imagine, I have been mirror ball hungry one
Speaker 2: season after I won my first two. That didn't work.
Speaker 2: It just it doesn't work when you think too far
Speaker 2: ahead of the game. And I knew this, and so
Speaker 2: my job is to calm my partner done when my
Speaker 2: partner gets too ahead of himself, right, and to really
Speaker 2: and it forces you to be present because that's all
Speaker 2: you can be. Yeah, because the future is going to
Speaker 2: stress your out. Don't worry about it. There's nothing to
Speaker 2: worry about, stop making things up.
Speaker 1: There's also, when it all comes down to it, very
Speaker 1: little within your control. And so let's just fun on
Speaker 1: the things that are in our control, like what what
Speaker 1: your next step is, what you're hurt, what you're gonna wear,
Speaker 1: like you know.
Speaker 3: Let's let's kind of ish.
Speaker 1: Let's let's have a hand in the things we have
Speaker 1: a hand in, and why we stress ourselves out about
Speaker 1: all of the many things that are just completely out
Speaker 1: of our control.
Speaker 2: And this is where Pasha is amazing, because this is
Speaker 2: what you know. He's very, very in tune and self
Speaker 2: aware and I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1: He really is. Danny calls him Buddha, and I'm yeah.
Speaker 2: He's real. He really didn't hurt last night.
Speaker 1: Uh not last night, but this week he was. He
Speaker 1: was in a little bit of pain.
Speaker 2: Okay, because it looked like a little bit he was
Speaker 2: winsing last night during your remarks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we we both are really bad.
Speaker 2: Sure, let me tell you this is the competition. This
Speaker 2: is if this is in the comp like where you
Speaker 2: are right now is where it's exhausted. It's like, okay, wait,
Speaker 2: I'm feeling it. But honestly, after this week, it's going
Speaker 2: to go byself fast, so and just really take just
Speaker 2: enjoy this process. Maybe or maybe not next week. You
Speaker 2: have to feel like this for two weeks, okay, But
Speaker 2: after I promise and it's gonna get the two dances,
Speaker 2: you will be okay. But again, don't worry about that.
Speaker 3: I know it's not you to think about exactly.
Speaker 2: You're not in control of it anyway, don't even worry.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, this this year, we have really seen some hot
Speaker 1: topics throughout the season that have come up, partially because
Speaker 1: there is such a whole new fan base to the show.
Speaker 1: And one of the hot topics is the dichotomy between
Speaker 1: those who have dance experience and those who do not.
Speaker 1: I would love to hear your opinion, since you started
Speaker 1: so early in the show when I feel like correct
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong. Very early on, one of the
Speaker 1: hooks of the show was that people were supposed to
Speaker 1: not have dance experience when they came on to the show,
Speaker 1: But since then it's evolved over time. What is your
Speaker 1: opinion on previous dance experience coming into Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 2: I don't I believe every season there's always a dancer
Speaker 2: there's always this is nothing new as far as dance
Speaker 2: experience goes. It doesn't necessarily work in your favor, Like
Speaker 2: if you've actually watched the show, I mean, I can
Speaker 2: name tons of people who should have won, because this
Speaker 2: is also not purely a dance competition.
Speaker 3: Obviously obviously not yeah so and if.
Speaker 2: That was the case, the show maybe would have not
Speaker 2: continued on if the public had no say in the votes, right,
Speaker 2: Like this is engaging, This is an engaging show, and
Speaker 2: we must work together or not. Like you know, you
Speaker 2: have an opinion, you can vote, You guys are at
Speaker 2: what a hundred million votes? That's insanity?
Speaker 3: Crazy?
Speaker 2: Is the voting system? I don't know if you would know,
Speaker 2: but is it different? Because like you have ten you
Speaker 2: can vote ten times no matter what, or only once
Speaker 2: per fione line.
Speaker 1: No, you can vote twenty times per so twenty times
Speaker 1: ten on the internet, ten via text, and for as
Speaker 1: many couples as you want.
Speaker 2: So I could vote, like let's say I did ten
Speaker 2: for you last night, I can also do ten.
Speaker 1: For correct correct, And then you could go on your
Speaker 1: computer and you could vote ten for Dylan and ten.
Speaker 2: For me on your American idol from back exactly.
Speaker 1: So that's where it is, like, you know, fifty million
Speaker 1: votes in one night, exactly, it's not fifty million people
Speaker 1: or yeah.
Speaker 3: It's it.
Speaker 1: It's okay, Yeah, that's one of the reasons it's able
Speaker 1: to be so high.
Speaker 2: Like, holy, one hundred million people. You guys are.
Speaker 3: Killing it exactly. The ratings are good, but they're not
Speaker 3: bad good right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: But they've always wanted this younger demographic and now they're
Speaker 2: getting it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think social media had a lot to do with that,
Speaker 1: for sure. I also I'm a I'm a Dallas Boys fan.
Speaker 1: So you had Emmitt Smith and one with Emmitt Smith
Speaker 1: throwing all the theories about the fact that you know,
Speaker 1: Drew lache one because he was musical or had boy band,
Speaker 1: throwing that right out the window.
Speaker 2: Okay, here's a perfect example. Mario Lopez, Hello, we beat him.
Speaker 2: Like what, it's not a dance competition, Mario was a
Speaker 2: better dancer, Like, let's just be.
Speaker 1: Real, yep, but it is. It's such a it is
Speaker 1: again those things you can't control. You can't control how
Speaker 1: you are.
Speaker 3: Perceived by others.
Speaker 2: And now, but you know what you can do is
Speaker 2: you understand why people rally behind people is because like psychologically,
Speaker 2: you see you want to see struggle. Yeah, yeah, like
Speaker 2: or else there just why would anyone root for you
Speaker 2: if there's no if there's not ever any struggle. So
Speaker 2: if they don't show it in your package, it's your
Speaker 2: job to show it and your social media.
Speaker 3: Really smart, really smart.
Speaker 1: I would like to also mention your third season on
Speaker 1: the show is no slouch. After winning your first two seasons.
Speaker 1: You took Iron Zering to fourth place. What is it
Speaker 1: about these competitors or Christian de la Fuente, Ocho Cinco,
Speaker 1: Rob Kardashian, Cody Rigsby. What did they all have in
Speaker 1: common that helped that helped you bring them to the
Speaker 1: place you brought them.
Speaker 2: Oh, I don't think they've had they had anything in common.
Speaker 2: I really don't. I don't think so, because for example,
Speaker 2: Christian de la Fuente broke his arm on live TV
Speaker 2: and dropped me on my head. And so that's I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't know if you want to that struggle right there.
Speaker 2: So people are going to rally behind that, right So
Speaker 2: we made the final. Jack Osborne, he's just a beautiful
Speaker 2: person and that helps when I really like you as
Speaker 2: a person, you know, I think I am invested in
Speaker 2: a different way. It's not just a job, okay for me, right,
Speaker 2: So I think that's also important, just because I can't
Speaker 2: fake it. I'm really bad at it everything with bo
Speaker 2: talks and all. You'll see it on my face. Like
Speaker 2: if I don't like so, I can't. I can't do it.
Speaker 2: I can't lie.
Speaker 3: I am exactly exactly the same way.
Speaker 1: I if I'm thinking something, it's gonna be on my face,
Speaker 1: and it's it is both a blessing and a curse.
Speaker 2: It's a curse.
Speaker 3: It's a curse. It is a curse.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're right, I consider it a blessing because
Speaker 1: I do pride myself on authenticity and so you know,
Speaker 1: I guess it's just a part of that.
Speaker 3: It goes with it.
Speaker 1: But boy, that times handle it though. No, that that
Speaker 1: is true for sure. You're not gonna be everyone's favorite.
Speaker 2: No, but I know I have to say, I just
Speaker 2: I think maybe the common denominator back then at least.
Speaker 2: It's just that I only know ballroom. That's my expertise.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna pretend I do contemporary because I would
Speaker 2: beg to never get contemporary. I was like, you guys
Speaker 2: want to watch a skit. Do you want to watch SNL,
Speaker 2: then give me contemporary.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I kind of want to see an SNL skit
Speaker 1: as a contemporary.
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2: I feel like my old contemporaries. It'll make It'll just
Speaker 2: get feel rolling.
Speaker 3: Did you ever get outside help?
Speaker 2: Of course, you can take the ballroom dances right, even
Speaker 2: every every week I would make my partners go to
Speaker 2: another studio that I would rent at nighttime and walk
Speaker 2: his out to death. Absolutely, if you allowed it, I
Speaker 2: would do it now. The person who didn't allow it
Speaker 2: set boundary. Speaking of Emmett Smith, was like, I'm giving
Speaker 2: you four hours, my friend, and that's.
Speaker 3: It, right.
Speaker 1: He's like, look, whatever you can do in these four
Speaker 1: hours is what you get.
Speaker 2: It's a miracle. And we were flying back and forth
Speaker 2: to Dallas at the time, so that was hard.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: I have thought about that a couple of times because
Speaker 1: there were there were a couple of people that were
Speaker 1: talking about flying back and forth, and I was like,
Speaker 1: before you start the show, they tell you we will
Speaker 1: work around your schedule.
Speaker 3: And so when you when you.
Speaker 1: Don't know what you're in for, do you think, oh,
Speaker 1: apparently I could have like a normal job and.
Speaker 3: Also do dancing with Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, nope, no, not if you want to. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm not doing any of that. I gave up everything.
Speaker 1: I've abandoned my family I had, I canceled all my work.
Speaker 1: I barely I barely sleep. I twenty three hours of my.
Speaker 3: Day dancing with the stars. Listen.
Speaker 1: If there's one thing I love to do, it's grind.
Speaker 1: So I'm fine, I'm finding the time. But it's truly
Speaker 1: I did laugh. I have laughed so many times at
Speaker 1: the thought where I was like, oh, well, I could
Speaker 1: be directing this week, but oh unfortunately the taping is
Speaker 1: also where what.
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me? A thing that's also my drug
Speaker 2: of choice, the hustle.
Speaker 3: Oh boy, that for sure is mine as well.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you what your dances are this week?
Speaker 3: Yes, we are doing a Viennese waltz.
Speaker 2: Ooh oh, You're gonna be fine. This is the easiest dance.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited and we're doing it to Die with
Speaker 1: a Smile by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga.
Speaker 2: Oh aren't you always doing team dances?
Speaker 3: Is we're doing a marathon dance?
Speaker 2: We have to do oh that's the worst we have
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 3: Hustle, Hustle and jive how oh no, sorry, Hustle and
Speaker 3: Lindy Hop.
Speaker 2: Okay, that makes more sense.
Speaker 3: Hustle and Lindy Hop.
Speaker 2: Oh like, how are they cuting the music? I know?
Speaker 1: So yeah, So the first the first two minutes is hustle,
Speaker 1: where there's going to be nine of us on the grid,
Speaker 1: and then they're gonna get rid of five and then
Speaker 1: there will be four people your mouth.
Speaker 2: Like, literally watch it. There's lists involved and everything in Hustle.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, there's lifts in Lindy and Hustles and you
Speaker 2: guys are all sharing the floor for the first time.
Speaker 2: So this is where you, for the women's celebrities, trust
Speaker 2: your partners because you don't want to get knocked in
Speaker 2: the mouth quite literally.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. Well also, I just want to, like, you.
Speaker 2: Know, just savor your energy, right, like don't don't went
Speaker 2: on bam, thank you ma'am. And then you're like, so
Speaker 2: it's stamina. It's really about that. Yeah, you can last
Speaker 2: the longest doing.
Speaker 3: A minute and a half long dance.
Speaker 1: At the end of it, you're only a minute and
Speaker 1: a half. No, No, the normal dances like right now.
Speaker 1: Like last night was a minute and a half and
Speaker 1: at the end of a minute and a half, I
Speaker 1: can't breathe.
Speaker 3: I have no fluid in my mouth at all. It's
Speaker 3: like where did all the saliva go? I can't waltz.
Speaker 2: You have You're good, You're good.
Speaker 3: I know this. We is going to be this week's
Speaker 3: three steps.
Speaker 2: There's only three steps maximum.
Speaker 1: And we've got like, we've got some cool some cool
Speaker 1: things we want to do, some cool tricks, and we have.
Speaker 1: We've been really working on backstory, Like we've got a
Speaker 1: great backstory, which the only way anyone's going to understand
Speaker 1: the backstories if we set it up in our package.
Speaker 1: So tomorrow or tonight is our master interview. So we've
Speaker 1: talked about how we're going to set it up so
Speaker 1: that people understand what the story is when they watch it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all I can say is transitions are key, more
Speaker 2: important than anything else.
Speaker 3: Okay, transitions for specifically this dance, for.
Speaker 2: This dance specifically, yes, but also for every dance moving forward.
Speaker 2: Just as much attention you put to the tricks in
Speaker 2: the flash, Yeah, you'll get there. It's never about that.
Speaker 2: It's about how you get out and get in in yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, in the trick, right.
Speaker 3: I thought that was a really good note.
Speaker 1: It was like the first thing John M two said
Speaker 1: last night, it's so true all judging and he was
Speaker 1: like the transitions, and I was like.
Speaker 2: Oh, the devil's in the detail, and that's what we mean,
Speaker 2: the details in the transitions. It's about the actual that
Speaker 2: uh at the you know what I mean? Like no
Speaker 2: one cares about that.
Speaker 1: Oh I love this advice. The word stacked has been
Speaker 1: thrown around NonStop this year. Have you been impressed by
Speaker 1: this season's contestants compared to Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: Yes, look I believe that there is a beautiful mix
Speaker 2: right of people with yes dance experience, but also imagine
Speaker 2: if no one had dance experience, Okay, especially going into
Speaker 2: a seasoned show. This show is it's a machine and
Speaker 2: we need that, like we need the mix now for
Speaker 2: any new fans thinking that people pick their music, like
Speaker 2: Mark Ballas does not pick his music, you know, and
Speaker 2: it is what it is. There's no favoritism, believe me. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: like if anyone knows, it's me like, it's just it's not.
Speaker 2: It may look like that, but that's all in your head.
Speaker 2: This is not happening, and believe me, standards in practice,
Speaker 2: the show wouldn't go on for as long as it's
Speaker 2: been going on if there was favoritism, Like that makes
Speaker 2: no sense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when I interviewed Ezrasosa, he was saying, and I
Speaker 1: thought it was a really great way of thinking about
Speaker 1: it for these newer fans. If something feels like favoritism,
Speaker 1: it might be that the pro, because of all of
Speaker 1: the experience that they have, is using all of the
Speaker 1: tools in their tool belt in a better way than
Speaker 1: another pro might be. That is not unsaved. That's not favoritism,
Speaker 1: it's experience.
Speaker 2: It can't even manipulate the music department like you can't
Speaker 2: like it just so happens that they haven't done this
Speaker 2: dance to this song that everyone loves like it's just
Speaker 2: a Cohen's it really is.
Speaker 1: But like for example with Mark last night and popular,
Speaker 1: Mark having being a musician, was able to sit with
Speaker 1: the music department, but everyone can, you know, totally, that's
Speaker 1: my point. But he knows how to do it. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying it's fair. I'm saying that's a tool in
Speaker 1: his tool belt as a musician and a dancer to
Speaker 1: say here's how I think this would sound the greatest.
Speaker 1: And if someone else doesn't have that ability, that's not unfair.
Speaker 1: That's why should Mark not use his skills to help
Speaker 1: make his dance come alive. There's that's creative.
Speaker 2: And even if you don't like I have, I mean
Speaker 2: I played, I was forced to play the piano when
Speaker 2: I was younger. But that's as far as it goes.
Speaker 3: I mean you could still work with totally.
Speaker 2: The orchestra, the band. I mean they actually want that now.
Speaker 2: It's about I think some of the maybe new newer
Speaker 2: dancers might just be a little shy, and that's okay,
Speaker 2: like to ask you know, you know you don't want to.
Speaker 2: I just know that. Like everyone's like on their best
Speaker 2: behavior too, and then we don't want to extra any
Speaker 2: Everyone wants to be a team, of course, and I
Speaker 2: think that it'll you know, it'll happen like as you
Speaker 2: experienced the show and you know, as the pros come back,
Speaker 2: like it's you can't take the experience away from somebody though.
Speaker 2: And that's the thing. We even know. I even know
Speaker 2: what's in their storage as far as props go, So
Speaker 2: like I'm like, okay, wait, we can use this from
Speaker 2: storage That's.
Speaker 1: My point is that you having a wealth of knowledge
Speaker 1: and experience and being and knowing that you can ask
Speaker 1: for it is not an unfair advantage.
Speaker 2: It just ask what's the worst that could happen? They say, no, exactly, Okay.
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Another very hot topic this year is online discourse. We
Speaker 1: have entered an era where the thin line between being
Speaker 1: a big sam and engaging in toxic discourse has never
Speaker 1: been thinner. Yeah, what have been your thoughts watching along
Speaker 1: as the show hits new social media milestones, both good
Speaker 1: and bad.
Speaker 2: Reading the comments, I mean, also just personally right, I've
Speaker 2: noticed that it's been on a whole other level. Now,
Speaker 2: I remember back in two thousand and six, we weren't
Speaker 2: dealing with social media. We were dealing with the message boards.
Speaker 2: You were just as cruel. Actually, my mother would send
Speaker 2: me them. I'm like, first of all, don't do that
Speaker 2: one thing too. Yeah, let's just keep that to yourself,
Speaker 2: thank you. But it is nasty, you know, the way
Speaker 2: that people get dehumanized and the way people believe that
Speaker 2: they are allowed to do that to others. Yes, what
Speaker 2: kills me is women doing this to other women, right,
Speaker 2: you know, and that and if my platform turns into
Speaker 2: me trying to knock some sense into people and talking
Speaker 2: about how we need to support each other rather than
Speaker 2: go against each other. And I sound like a broken record,
Speaker 2: so be it, because not everybody will stick up for
Speaker 2: themselves in that sense. And it's a real thing. It's
Speaker 2: a real thing. And whether you want to call it
Speaker 2: bullying or just complete just it's shocking. It is shocking.
Speaker 2: And I can't even block enough people. It's just too
Speaker 2: many of them now, there's just too many. And so
Speaker 2: that's what's sad is that the younger generation they're watching this.
Speaker 2: Of course they're watching and but you know, like you
Speaker 2: can't control everything, but you know, I will continue to
Speaker 2: control what I can, which is my social media platform.
Speaker 2: I mean, get off my platform first of all, if
Speaker 2: you're gonna, if you're so, you know, And the way
Speaker 2: that they come at the show as well, it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, look, I appreciate the passion behind these TikTokers
Speaker 2: make and you can see their engagement goes up. So
Speaker 2: they can see their engagement goes up when they talk
Speaker 2: about it, and they're going to have controversial opinions now
Speaker 2: whether or not they believe it or whether or not
Speaker 2: they're feeding into the engagement in the numbers is a
Speaker 2: whole nother conversation. These people are not experts, No, they're not.
Speaker 2: They're just saying something very controversial. They have a great
Speaker 2: hook in their video and people are watching from beginning
Speaker 2: to end. And that's about it. That's what you can
Speaker 2: take from it, because you can't take anything unless this
Speaker 2: person's a professional ballroom dancer. It's nonsense. It's nonsense.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I have a very good friend who is also a
Speaker 1: very public figure, and one of the things he's talked
Speaker 1: about and has has actually done in the past is
Speaker 1: when someone leaves a really nasty comment or sends a
Speaker 1: really nasty DM, replying, Wow, that really hurt my feelings.
Speaker 1: That was hard for me to read, and I'm I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's what you wanted me to feel,
Speaker 1: but it really was very tough for me to read.
Speaker 1: And every single time the response is I didn't think
Speaker 1: you would even see this.
Speaker 3: I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I am actually a
Speaker 3: big fan. Every time the yeah.
Speaker 1: It's really you know, in this in this world of
Speaker 1: feeling like social media has made us more connected, I
Speaker 1: think we are more isolated and alone than we've ever been.
Speaker 1: And I think a large majority of those really nasty
Speaker 1: comments or cries for a cries for help.
Speaker 2: And it and in a negative, nasty way, they're finding
Speaker 2: community within that. And look, there's also the beautiful side
Speaker 2: of social media. Yeah right, there's also community. I mean
Speaker 2: I used to be so good at stopping myself from
Speaker 2: I never scrolled ever in my life, so like until recently,
Speaker 2: until and then you know, obviously you need to respond
Speaker 2: to people, and it's it's harder to I mean, you
Speaker 2: can put this care content thing up, like I TikTok
Speaker 2: what's bad now? Instagram is so bad right now? And
Speaker 2: oh yeah for me it is. Yeah, And I actually
Speaker 2: stopped posting on TikTok ily post like once a week randomly.
Speaker 2: I used to do this day like it was like
Speaker 2: multiple times a day. But I just don't trust. I
Speaker 2: don't feel safe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you have a social media team or is
Speaker 3: it just you?
Speaker 2: One person who takes care of my YouTube only? Okay, okay,
Speaker 2: editing that is, I do everything else. But it's a
Speaker 2: full time job.
Speaker 3: I mean obviously, yes, it is a full time job.
Speaker 3: It's a full time job.
Speaker 1: And I was just wondering because I know you and
Speaker 1: I just have both talked about how authenticity is important
Speaker 1: to us, and yet I also understand that the reading
Speaker 1: of the comments is not good for our mental health.
Speaker 3: And yet it's impossible to.
Speaker 1: Get away from the idea that social media is now
Speaker 1: a part of our jobs.
Speaker 2: It's just isn't that crazy?
Speaker 3: It's crazy, and there's no avoiding.
Speaker 2: It's hard for the older generation who's commenting nasty as well,
Speaker 2: to understand and wrap their head around it. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: You find a job of like this is man job? Thanks?
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you. I'm doing it. I promise I'm doing it.
Speaker 2: I know, I know it doesn't look like I'm really
Speaker 2: getting ready, but I am. Okay, so shut up, but
Speaker 2: just listen to what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: I want to know.
Speaker 1: Going back to Dancing with the Stars, I want to
Speaker 1: know what were your thoughts on Wicked Night.
Speaker 2: I loved it? Yeah, I love John. I thought John
Speaker 2: was a great addition.
Speaker 3: Actually did too.
Speaker 2: I just what do you love?
Speaker 4: What?
Speaker 2: Sorry? I hate to answer a question with a question
Speaker 2: that I'm just curious. Do you have you found that?
Speaker 2: What's helpful for you guys? As contestants standing there? What
Speaker 2: would you like to hear from the judges.
Speaker 1: I love to hear personally mm hm. Any sort of
Speaker 1: feedback that is not going to be something that's only
Speaker 1: attributable to that dance.
Speaker 3: I'm never going to do that dance again.
Speaker 1: I never know. I'm never going to do jive again ever,
Speaker 1: for as long as I live, God willing.
Speaker 3: And so if there's just like a.
Speaker 1: Note about something that's very jive specific, just skip that one.
Speaker 3: Because that's in my rear view mirror. I can't correct it.
Speaker 1: But like Bruno during my jive did say that the
Speaker 1: retraction of my kicks and flicks are going to come
Speaker 1: into play in other dances, and sure enough it came
Speaker 1: into play in the Argentine tango.
Speaker 2: Oh Argentango.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And so it was like it was something I
Speaker 1: thought of when I was thinking about my my foot
Speaker 1: retraction during some of those moves. When Kim gave me
Speaker 1: the note of out, you know, practicing by putting a
Speaker 1: pen in between my fingers to help me really and
Speaker 1: I did, it was like both passion and I were
Speaker 1: like that's a great idea, and so like that's that's
Speaker 1: really good. When I was really I still struggle with
Speaker 1: my shoulders and some Kim gave someone else. Imagine you
Speaker 1: were carrying bags of cement. That's what you should see.
Speaker 1: You want to feel like your hell kinds of very
Speaker 1: direct that only, in my opinion, someone who's been a pro,
Speaker 1: who's done it themselves can give.
Speaker 3: You have taught you know you know what.
Speaker 1: And you don't necessarily know what's going to work for
Speaker 1: every person, but you have enough experience giving advice to
Speaker 1: different types of celebrities. You have a wealth of knowledge
Speaker 1: at your fingertips for what might be useful. That's why
Speaker 1: one of the reasons I think you're going to be
Speaker 1: such a fantastic addition to the judges.
Speaker 2: Share thank you. You know, as I started the show
Speaker 2: very young, so I didn't have a lot of teaching experience,
Speaker 2: and it was interesting I involved when you asked if
Speaker 2: I got help my my dance coach actually held my
Speaker 2: hand through this process for the first few years of
Speaker 2: learning just the language of trying to teach a pedestrian
Speaker 2: what ballroom technique is without using the word because words
Speaker 2: are just words, like you can call it whatever the
Speaker 2: hell you want, just do it, execute it right, like
Speaker 2: we're just trying to get the execution going. Another tip
Speaker 2: for you instead of thinking of shoulders down, think of
Speaker 2: your spine that goes it doesn't stop here, right, stops here?
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: And you know those balconies, those balconies when your nipples
Speaker 2: you want to think towards the balcony this way, still
Speaker 2: thinking of heavy luggage or cement, right okay. And then
Speaker 2: also if it's not nipples but everything like notice I'm
Speaker 2: not just doing that. I'm going I'm expanding my my
Speaker 2: rib cage is out. You want to not look up
Speaker 2: to the balconies. Don't do that right right? Then then
Speaker 2: this happens. Then this happens with you. You don't want
Speaker 2: this happened, right, You don't want to work in nine
Speaker 2: starts here?
Speaker 1: Oh I love that okay, top of the head spine.
Speaker 2: And you can hold it a little mini apple is
Speaker 2: what Len Goodman said. He would say, like you see,
Speaker 2: get that little little mini apple, grab it from the top.
Speaker 3: That's here, right, yeah, so it's here.
Speaker 2: You just want to, like, you know, start holding your
Speaker 2: drinks like this, like you know.
Speaker 3: The good news is I do. That has not been
Speaker 3: my problem.
Speaker 2: Remembering you looked great last night, that was a thank beautiful.
Speaker 2: But that's a different that's different.
Speaker 3: It's totally different.
Speaker 1: No, what we did a foxtrot, so I have I
Speaker 1: had when we did our my second week with the
Speaker 1: fox Trot, I I was that that hand there. Thankfully,
Speaker 1: it feels very natural. I'm very I'm very girly with
Speaker 1: my pinkies.
Speaker 2: I'm like constantly.
Speaker 3: Still, that is so funny.
Speaker 1: Well, you have given me so many I mean my
Speaker 1: final question was if you had one piece of advice,
Speaker 1: but I can't even You've given me so many incredible.
Speaker 2: That's not my advice, my advice. I want you to
Speaker 2: mess up more. I want to see raw, I really do.
Speaker 2: I want to I because I can forgive that there's
Speaker 2: no perfection. There's no such thing as what is perfect.
Speaker 2: There was no such thing, no such thing. Unfortunately I
Speaker 2: thought there was, but there isn't. And you were like
Speaker 2: this was like you were in it. You were laser focused.
Speaker 2: And I don't know what your music? What's your music again?
Speaker 2: For me, Walt, is it romantic or not romantic?
Speaker 3: I with a smile, Lady Lady Gagon Bruno mars.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I mean, are you does it make you
Speaker 2: feel like because like I want you to embody this music.
Speaker 2: You need to know this music inside and out, like
Speaker 2: you could literally start it from the random spot and
Speaker 2: you know exactly what you're doing one and two, you
Speaker 2: just like you need to feel it because I need
Speaker 2: to see that. I need to see your emotion through motion.
Speaker 1: So so good, and you're right, because like certain dances
Speaker 1: I've had every week, there's something a little different helps
Speaker 1: me with that particular dance. Some weeks it is all
Speaker 1: about knowing the counts, knowing the count forward and backward,
Speaker 1: and Pasha being able to say to me, we're going
Speaker 1: to take it from this, We're going to take it
Speaker 1: from the seven I've learned in I learned in week
Speaker 1: during our tango week. So the first week, one of
Speaker 1: the first things he said to me was, you're going
Speaker 1: to start counting this and I was like me, and
Speaker 1: he was like, I've been counting, start paying it if
Speaker 1: you're not, if you haven't been, start paying attention. And
Speaker 1: then I was like, can we do it together? And
Speaker 1: then we would count the dance together, and by the
Speaker 1: time the day was over, I was dancing the dance
Speaker 1: and counting it solo from beginning to end, and so
Speaker 1: I was able to do that then with my chatcha
Speaker 1: and last night I was the most present I've ever
Speaker 1: felt in my body. But I was dancing on the
Speaker 1: show No Counts.
Speaker 2: So this is what I was going to say. But
Speaker 2: ballroom is between a man and a woman. Yeah in
Speaker 2: your case, right, yeah, a partnership where the man in
Speaker 2: your in your case and in anyone's case this season,
Speaker 2: a man leads the woman follows. Or it should look
Speaker 2: like this, right, huh you the counts shouldn't. I don't
Speaker 2: think should be a priority. I just don't. I just don't. Now,
Speaker 2: do you need to know your Yes, you must know
Speaker 2: your forwards and backwards. It's vital. But I think that
Speaker 2: because you have such a short amount of time, you
Speaker 2: need to embody. You need to like this music. Whether
Speaker 2: you love it or hate it is irrelevant. Like totally,
Speaker 2: I need to I need to feel you, girl.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it, and don't fake it. Don't find something
Speaker 2: real in your life that you can incorporate, right, like
Speaker 2: find that emotion.
Speaker 1: Okay, I I lied. I have one more question for you,
Speaker 1: and maybe it's a two Maybe it's a two parter.
Speaker 2: That's fine.
Speaker 1: We mentioned Mark Ballas, who's back on the dance floor
Speaker 1: this year. He's a master of the trade as are you.
Speaker 1: Is there ever a possibility Cheryl Burr would come back
Speaker 1: to the dance floor as a pro I mean never
Speaker 1: say never, okay, never said that.
Speaker 2: As my body saying yes, please, let's do this now. No, okay,
Speaker 2: I mean I still have my body. Woman like, she
Speaker 2: comes here and I don't live in La anymore, so
Speaker 2: I live about a couple hours away and she drives here.
Speaker 2: I mean, mind you, I pay her, but I'm sure
Speaker 2: she's the only reason why I don't have hip replacements
Speaker 2: because she gets into my scar tissue. It's pretty bad.
Speaker 2: It's from all the you know, dancing, not just on
Speaker 2: the show, but all the years, my whole life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, the second part of that question, if there
Speaker 1: was ever another All Star season, who do you think
Speaker 1: you'd choose?
Speaker 2: Jack Osborne or Rob Kardashiya.
Speaker 3: Really yeah, oh I love it. I love it so much.
Speaker 2: I just love them as human beings.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, that's the thing you can't.
Speaker 2: Actually, maybe Rob, Rob needs to get out of that
Speaker 2: wherever he is. Where are you, Kardashia, Let's.
Speaker 3: Go come on out, Rob.
Speaker 2: He was so happy when he did the show, so
Speaker 2: and I was so happy for him.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's such a beautiful thing you guys are
Speaker 1: able to do for people.
Speaker 3: Truly the pros.
Speaker 1: I tell every one of them, you guys are really
Speaker 1: the stars. I mean that is That's the thing people
Speaker 1: don't know, Like the amount of patience and time and
Speaker 1: effort and just the amount of giving you have to
Speaker 1: do for the entire length of time that you're on
Speaker 1: the show. It is just you're putting yourself on the
Speaker 1: back burner. You're making sure you're not the one who
Speaker 1: seems like the star of the dance. You have to
Speaker 1: figure out their limitations, you have to figure out what
Speaker 1: they're good at.
Speaker 3: You have to highlight that. You have to choreograph in
Speaker 3: the morning. You're up until late, like you're a therapist.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you're you know, a physical therapist, to be like,
Speaker 1: what's bothering you?
Speaker 3: Here? Here's my person?
Speaker 2: Have you done this?
Speaker 1: Like the things you guys have to do and with
Speaker 1: a smile and while being microphoned and on camera.
Speaker 3: I don't know how. I really don't know how you
Speaker 3: guys do it.
Speaker 2: So sweet, But it's so sweet of you. Thank you
Speaker 2: for noticing that, because a lot of people don't even
Speaker 2: notice it.
Speaker 1: No, it is you are all true remarkable people, and
Speaker 1: the percentage of people who are even remotely capable of
Speaker 1: it is very tiny, and so you were a master
Speaker 1: at it.
Speaker 3: And thank you for your service and for all of
Speaker 3: your years.
Speaker 1: And I cannot wait to see you in a judge's
Speaker 1: chair next week and to hear all of your thoughts.
Speaker 3: I know you're going to kill it. I'm so excited
Speaker 3: for you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm just nervous. I don't know if I
Speaker 2: can just say it in ten seconds, but hey, we're
Speaker 2: going to try to talk sound by its starting now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what. I know you're capable of it.
Speaker 1: You just did a fantastic interview with me, and you
Speaker 1: are great on your own podcasts, you're great on social media,
Speaker 1: you're you're wonderful. So we are lucky to have you
Speaker 1: next week. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: Thank you, and girl, you got this one step, just
Speaker 2: one little step, one.
Speaker 3: Little step at a time.
Speaker 1: And next week, I just I'm gonna make sure you
Speaker 1: feel it. That's my goal. I want you to feel it.
Speaker 2: I feel it from I'm good.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm going to make you feel it. I promise,
Speaker 1: I promise. I'm going to think about it all week
Speaker 1: thank you so.
Speaker 4: Much, Cheryl hell Pasha, I say hello, I most certainly
Speaker 4: will okay, thank you byek you. Danielle with the Stars
Speaker 4: Produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel. Executive producers Jensen Carp
Speaker 4: and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, Producer,
Speaker 4: editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch.
Speaker 3: Theme song by Justin Siegel.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at Danielle with Stars and vote
Speaker 1: for me