Speaker 1: They can try and get rid of me, but I
Speaker 1: have become one with the ballroom. It's Danielle Fischl, podcaster,
Speaker 1: TV director, mother of two and self appointed Dylan Efron
Speaker 1: good luck charm to Penga Lawrence from Boy Meets World,
Speaker 1: and yes, just two weeks ago, I myself was a
Speaker 1: contestant on Season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 1: eliminated from the Elite eight, only to return like a phantom,
Speaker 1: haunting the show from the audience for the semifinals. I
Speaker 1: once again saw everything unfold with my very own eyes,
Speaker 1: and I am here ready to report back to you. Has.
Speaker 1: In addition to joining a show focused on dance with
Speaker 1: zero experience in dance, I have also consistently recorded this
Speaker 1: very podcast, hoping to take you all on the journey,
Speaker 1: right to the very last second when someone who will
Speaker 1: not be me is crowned the recipient of a Len
Speaker 1: Goodman mehr Ball Trophy. I just returned home from the semifinals.
Speaker 1: It was Prince Knight incredible night of music. I don't
Speaker 1: know how many of the younger people who are tuning
Speaker 1: in to Dancing with the Stars for the first time
Speaker 1: know about Prince or no Prince music. But for those
Speaker 1: of us who have been Prince fans and who love
Speaker 1: Prince music, let me tell you tonight was a fun
Speaker 1: night of music. I am in agreement with a lot
Speaker 1: of you that the themes can sometimes make the night's
Speaker 1: difficult to get behind as far as the dancing, because
Speaker 1: it is true that, like, if you're gonna limit yourself
Speaker 1: to one artist, which by the way, limiting yourself to
Speaker 1: an artist like Prince who has just like smash hit
Speaker 1: after smash hit, you could do worse, Like you could
Speaker 1: do worse than a Prince Night. But the hard part
Speaker 1: is not every song is made for the dance styles
Speaker 1: that we have to do. And so you know, I
Speaker 1: know that like TikTok Night and even even the first
Speaker 1: week Anthem Night were nights that people said, you know,
Speaker 1: it kind of makes it difficult, Like, you know, we're
Speaker 1: trying to do a traditional ballroom style to a pop
Speaker 1: song and it doesn't necessarily fit. So I can see how,
Speaker 1: you know, it can be a little difficult, especially if
Speaker 1: you're a newer fan and you're like, wait, what's happening here?
Speaker 1: And as you heard tonight, some of the songs had
Speaker 1: to be slowed down significantly in order them for them
Speaker 1: to work for the dance styles, and some of them
Speaker 1: had to be sped up significantly in order to work
Speaker 1: for the dance styles. So I am in agreement with
Speaker 1: the camp of people who are saying that there are
Speaker 1: too many themes. I personally think, as fun as they are,
Speaker 1: the show is better with some fewer themes. That would
Speaker 1: be my overall takeaway. Now that all the theme nights
Speaker 1: are done, next week's the finale. We've seen them all.
Speaker 1: I love it, but I think maybe maybe it would
Speaker 1: be better with just a select group. It doesn't even
Speaker 1: have to be a select few. If you have let's
Speaker 1: say ten weeks, which is what we have so far.
Speaker 1: If you have ten weeks, make five of them themes.
Speaker 1: You know Halloween Wicked was an amazing one. Make five,
Speaker 1: maybe even six of them themes and then the rest.
Speaker 1: Maybe we don't need to have all of them be themed.
Speaker 1: That's just my opinion. You can agree or disagree. So
Speaker 1: it was a celebration of Prince music, at which I love,
Speaker 1: a real coup for the show, and since they have
Speaker 1: tried it for years to clear his music and now
Speaker 1: they finally worked with the estate to make it happen.
Speaker 1: I wasn't planning on going tonight. I was, as you know,
Speaker 1: eliminated back in week eight. And the following week was
Speaker 1: the twentieth anniversary, which felt like just an event I
Speaker 1: really wanted to be a part of. It's a historical night,
Speaker 1: it's celebrating twenty years of the show. You know, they
Speaker 1: reached out and individually invited me. I felt like I
Speaker 1: really wanted to be there for that one. And then
Speaker 1: I thought, okay, and then it's Prince week, and then
Speaker 1: for the finale, I'm going to be there for the finale.
Speaker 1: I get to dance in the finale, so I'll take
Speaker 1: a week off. I'll you know, give everyone a chance
Speaker 1: to miss me or something, you know. But then last
Speaker 1: week was so special being there for the twentieth anniversary,
Speaker 1: and Dylan made such a sweet point of telling me
Speaker 1: how nice it was to be able to see me
Speaker 1: right before he went out and did his dance. And
Speaker 1: as you guys have heard us talk, we have a
Speaker 1: great friendship and a strong alliance. And he was like,
Speaker 1: you know, now, he said, superstition wise, I feel like
Speaker 1: I need to be able to see you before I
Speaker 1: go out on the dance floor. And he texted me
Speaker 1: over the weekend and said, are you going to come
Speaker 1: on Tuesday? And I said probably not. You know, unfortunately
Speaker 1: my kids are sick and I'm not feeling great this weekend,
Speaker 1: so probably not. And he just didn't He didn't respond
Speaker 1: in any way. He didn't like say that's okay, or
Speaker 1: even thumbs up it or anything. There was just like silence.
Speaker 1: And then my kids recovered. I recovered, And so I
Speaker 1: texted him today the day of the show, and I said,
Speaker 1: we recovered. If you want me there tonight, I am
Speaker 1: free and can go. And he was like, oh my gosh, yes,
Speaker 1: please come. And so I texted the wonderful Dina Cats
Speaker 1: and I said, I know it's last minute. I feel
Speaker 1: like such a heel. I'm so sorry, but if you
Speaker 1: have room for me to come tonight, I would love
Speaker 1: love to be there. And she said, let me get
Speaker 1: right on this, and then she got back to me
Speaker 1: and said that we could come. So thank you, Dinah,
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad I was there. It was it
Speaker 1: was it was quite a night. At this point. You
Speaker 1: guys all know Dylan's brother Zach was there. It was
Speaker 1: so nice to meet him. He is just delightful, beautiful, sweet,
Speaker 1: bubbly personality, sat with Olivia the whole time. They just
Speaker 1: have such a beautiful family. I also awkwardly inserted myself
Speaker 1: into their family. I went and sat with them during
Speaker 1: the elimination time and someone I don't even know who
Speaker 1: someone was like, let's take a family picture. And they
Speaker 1: stood up and took a picture, and I was like, guys,
Speaker 1: I'm now in your family picture. I'm apparently an honorary
Speaker 1: family member. And I said, the unfortunate thing is that
Speaker 1: that probably could have been like a really cute Christmas card,
Speaker 1: and now it just can't be. And Zach turned around
Speaker 1: and was like, no, now it's a better card, which
Speaker 1: is so cute, just so cute. Love their family so
Speaker 1: much so I'm really happy I was there tonight and
Speaker 1: forced myself into their family. We will be taping a
Speaker 1: live episode of Danielle with at Disney California Adventure Park
Speaker 1: on December fourth, twenty twenty five. If you live in
Speaker 1: the Southern California area, or if you can be in
Speaker 1: the Southern California area on December fourth, we have an
Speaker 1: opportunity for you to join us between now and November
Speaker 1: twenty fourth, of twenty twenty five, you can enter for
Speaker 1: your chance to win tickets to attend the Coast one
Speaker 1: oh three point five Private Holiday Party at Disney California
Speaker 1: Adventure Park on December fourth, twenty twenty five, including an
Speaker 1: overnight stay at the Disneyland Resort Hotel for a family
Speaker 1: of four and two day one park per day tickets
Speaker 1: to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park. Plus you
Speaker 1: will have the chance to meet us while we are
Speaker 1: taping an episode of Danielle With inside Disney California Adventure Park.
Speaker 1: Visit Coast one oh three five dot com forward slash
Speaker 1: Danielle With now to enter for your chance to win.
Speaker 1: You know, the ballroom tonight felt different without Andy. I
Speaker 1: know that is like, you know, it should feel different
Speaker 1: every time somebody's gone home, and of course it does.
Speaker 1: And also the energy was probably a little bit different
Speaker 1: because it is the semifinals, so there was like a
Speaker 1: heightened amount of pressure. There was some tension in the air.
Speaker 1: I think everyone's just running on fumes and adrenaline. And yeah,
Speaker 1: the ballroom just kind of felt different and I don't
Speaker 1: know how to describe it. It was a little less
Speaker 1: electric tonight. Then I think it has felt previously and
Speaker 1: I cannot put my finger on what that would have
Speaker 1: been about, other than the fact that Andy's not there.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Okay, let's talk about the dances. Robert
Speaker 1: or did a jive, and I saw some people were
Speaker 1: annoyed by the amount of repeat dances because they tonight
Speaker 1: having to do two print songs. You got to do
Speaker 1: an original song and then you got to do a repeat.
Speaker 1: And this technically is Robert's third jive if you count
Speaker 1: the relay race with Soci last week. I don't care
Speaker 1: that it's a repeat. Watching Robert Irwin do a jive
Speaker 1: is one of the most joyous experiences you can have.
Speaker 1: It just suits his personality and his vibe and his
Speaker 1: energy so well, and he's so good at it. I
Speaker 1: was just so impressed. I loved it. I loved that
Speaker 1: trick they did where he went over Whitney's back. I
Speaker 1: thought that was just spectacular. I thought that was amazing.
Speaker 1: So he did a jive routine to Baby I'm a
Speaker 1: Star and a Viennese waltz to Wow I Was Not
Speaker 1: Those are not two of my favorite print songs. I
Speaker 1: know a lot of people love them. But when I
Speaker 1: first saw that he was doing those songs, I was like, huh,
Speaker 1: I wonder how that's gonna work. Knocked it out of
Speaker 1: the park, really absolutely loved that. His jive was the
Speaker 1: first perfect score of the night. He got ten ten ten.
Speaker 1: The gold confetti cannon went off, very exciting, super proud
Speaker 1: of him, just thrilled. It was very sweet. I went
Speaker 1: and said hello to Mama Terry, and I walked up
Speaker 1: and I gave her a hug, and she said, I
Speaker 1: have to thank you so much for running up into
Speaker 1: the skybox and congratulating Robert last week. He came home
Speaker 1: and told me how much that meant to him. My heart.
Speaker 1: I just love him so much. And then Whitney Levitt
Speaker 1: did a cha cha to nineteen ninety nine and a
Speaker 1: Viennese waltz to Slow Love. I thought her purple outfit
Speaker 1: for the cha cha was stunning. I love her red hair,
Speaker 1: the way it was like crimped or waved, just so good.
Speaker 1: She was giving. I saw Mayan Lopez commented on one
Speaker 1: of her Instagram posts. On Whitney's Instagram posts that she
Speaker 1: was giving Daphne from Scooby Doo and it was so perfect.
Speaker 1: She totally was just absolutely stunning. Whitney is one of
Speaker 1: the most beautiful dancers I have ever seen in twenty
Speaker 1: years of Dancing with the Stars. I just think she
Speaker 1: is spectacular. There's no denying it. You can not be
Speaker 1: a Whitney fan for whatever reason. You cannot deny that
Speaker 1: she is an incredible dancer. And Mark has really pushed her.
Speaker 1: And some people think, like watching the packages, like, oh,
Speaker 1: Mark is pushing her too hard. Let me tell you something,
Speaker 1: Whitney wants that. Whitney wants that. Whitney's been a Mark
Speaker 1: fan for years, somebody who she's somebody who's watched the show.
Speaker 1: She knows how Mark coaches. She wants to be pushed,
Speaker 1: she wants to be challenged. She really, you know, this
Speaker 1: is what she's built for. She's very clearly a performer.
Speaker 1: And Whitney being the best dancer on the show, as
Speaker 1: anybody who's watched this show knows, being the best dancer
Speaker 1: or one of the best dancers on this season or
Speaker 1: on the show is never a guarantee that you're gonna win.
Speaker 1: So am I surprised that Whitney isn't in the finals. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm surprised that Whitney isn't in the finals. I thought
Speaker 1: she was going to make it to the final round.
Speaker 1: I did not think Whitney was going to win Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars, even though I think she's one of
Speaker 1: the best dancers. I am surprised she didn't make it
Speaker 1: to the finals. I will say that the way the
Speaker 1: package was set up, and with the season premiere of
Speaker 1: Secret Lives of Mormon Wives coming out this week, it
Speaker 1: felt to me while I was watching the show, it
Speaker 1: felt to me like if we look at reality TV
Speaker 1: as a storytelling mechanism, the same way dance is a
Speaker 1: storytelling mechanism, the way acting is a storytelling mechanism. If
Speaker 1: we look at that, what makes the most compelling storytelling
Speaker 1: was for Whitney to go home tonight, for her ambition
Speaker 1: to be on the show on Dancing with the Stars
Speaker 1: to have been played out in the premiere episode of
Speaker 1: Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and for that to then
Speaker 1: be shown in her package and talked about in the skybox,
Speaker 1: and I just thought, you know, the craziest storytelling is
Speaker 1: somebody being that honest about the things that they want
Speaker 1: and about their dreams and having no shame about it,
Speaker 1: which I applaud but storytelling wise, what makes the most
Speaker 1: captivating TV is seeing all of that and then immediately
Speaker 1: seeing that person go home. So I had a bad
Speaker 1: feeling throughout the day, like throughout the show, that it
Speaker 1: might be Whitney's time to go home. And I was
Speaker 1: hoping I was wrong, but I was not. Alex did
Speaker 1: an Argentine tango to Little Red Corvette and a Viennese
Speaker 1: waltz to Purple Rain. Her Viennese waltz was so unbelievably
Speaker 1: beautiful and man Alex's journey on this show is one
Speaker 1: of my absolute favorites. I see it personally, I see
Speaker 1: it personally, and I see it reflected on the show.
Speaker 1: When I very first met Alex was in New York
Speaker 1: for Good Morning America and we were in the same
Speaker 1: room a couple of times, she didn't make eye contact
Speaker 1: with me. I kept trying to make eye contact with
Speaker 1: her to like find find a time to introduce myself
Speaker 1: and say hi, and I kept like looking at her
Speaker 1: and she wouldn't make eye contact with me, And then
Speaker 1: we almost crashed into each other in the hallway, and
Speaker 1: instead of like using that as the opportunity to say hi,
Speaker 1: she kind of like ugh, like diverted around me, and
Speaker 1: I had to go out of my way and be like, hey, Hi,
Speaker 1: by the way, I'm Danielle. I'm going to be on
Speaker 1: the season of the show with you. And she was
Speaker 1: like hi, and immediately so nice and gave me a hug.
Speaker 1: And I could tell that whatever was stopping her from
Speaker 1: making eye contact with me before or from saying hello,
Speaker 1: was definitely not that she was a rude person. It
Speaker 1: was that she was either nervous or she was uncomfortable
Speaker 1: or something. There was something going on that had nothing
Speaker 1: to do with her trying to be snooty or rude.
Speaker 1: I could tell that right away. But I could also
Speaker 1: tell that she wasn't like necessarily super comfortable. And then
Speaker 1: as the weeks progressed and we started seeing each other
Speaker 1: more and more in the dance rehearsal space, and we
Speaker 1: got to know each other better, and we would make
Speaker 1: tiktoks together or we would do things together. Her personality
Speaker 1: just started developing more. And I'm not saying she didn't
Speaker 1: have a personality and it was developing, let's say it
Speaker 1: say it a different way. Her personality started. She started
Speaker 1: feeling more comfortable showing her personality and being her authentic self.
Speaker 1: And the more I got to know her and the
Speaker 1: more I just she is you want to wrap her
Speaker 1: up in your arms or in a blanket and cuddle
Speaker 1: her and hug her and laugh with her and have
Speaker 1: a good time with her. And there's a real sensitivity
Speaker 1: to her that I just absolutely love. And I think
Speaker 1: I think seeing her emotional journey where she first started
Speaker 1: and you could tell that maybe her face was a
Speaker 1: little more stoic and she wasn't super comfortable, you know,
Speaker 1: really revealing who she was. And now to see her
Speaker 1: tonight with tears streaming down her face, and those are
Speaker 1: tears that I know so well because I felt exactly
Speaker 1: the same way about the show. That going there every
Speaker 1: single day and meeting up with your dance partner and
Speaker 1: learning a new dance and being with the friends that
Speaker 1: we made on the season, you forget that, like, oh,
Speaker 1: this isn't my every day. This is going to end,
Speaker 1: and it is hard when it ends. So I felt
Speaker 1: for her and I thought it was really great. As
Speaker 1: much as I don't want to see her cry, I
Speaker 1: thought it was really great that she was willing to
Speaker 1: open up and show everyone that and then for her
Speaker 1: come out and just do two such beautiful dances. I
Speaker 1: thought it was really it's really nice. Her journey and
Speaker 1: her evolution on this show has been just really fun
Speaker 1: to watch. I'm so proud of her. And then he
Speaker 1: Laan did a foxtrot to I Want to Be Your Lover,
Speaker 1: and she opened the show again, and I thought, oh man,
Speaker 1: it's tough to open the show. Opening the show is
Speaker 1: so hard, so I felt for her having to be
Speaker 1: in that position again, and the judges gave it three nines.
Speaker 1: And when the show first started, it seemed like there
Speaker 1: was a lot of pressure coming from the judges now
Speaker 1: that we were in the semifinals to up our games,
Speaker 1: like everybody's game needed to be elevated and raised and
Speaker 1: upped because it was the semifinals. And I thought there
Speaker 1: were quite a few dances that deserved higher scores than
Speaker 1: they got, but they were saying, like, listen, it's the semifinals.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna let little mistakes go. If I see
Speaker 1: a slip up, i'm gonna mark you down for it,
Speaker 1: which I can also appreciate, like at this point in
Speaker 1: the competition, you are fighting for your place in the finale.
Speaker 1: So I also understood that, and then they said she
Speaker 1: wanted they wanted to see more fight from her, and
Speaker 1: she went up into the skybox and she said, the
Speaker 1: next thing you're gonna see for me is some fight.
Speaker 1: And they had a perfect dance to do that with.
Speaker 1: They had Apasa Doble to win Doves Cry. I loved
Speaker 1: their costumes. I thought their costumes were just great. I
Speaker 1: thought Elaine killed this dance. And you know, you'd never know,
Speaker 1: like you see people as graceful and elegant as Whitney
Speaker 1: and Alex and Elaine, and you see them in the
Speaker 1: ballroom styles and you see them with their long arms
Speaker 1: and it's so beautiful and flowing, and then you think,
Speaker 1: how are they gonna do stomping around? And then you're like, wow,
Speaker 1: you're good at that too. So that was great, and
Speaker 1: sure enough the judges were just thrilled, and Carrie Anne
Speaker 1: came out from behind the judge's table and fell down
Speaker 1: to her knees and said, that's what I wanted to see.
Speaker 1: And I thought right away, like, all right, Elaine's going
Speaker 1: to be in the finals for sure. Based on these reactions,
Speaker 1: Elaine is going to be in the finals. And she
Speaker 1: got three perfect tens for that dance, which I know
Speaker 1: meant the world to her, because, if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 1: the only other ten did she she must have gotten
Speaker 1: a ten last week, but maybe not. I think her
Speaker 1: only other ten may have been a flav of Flave ten,
Speaker 1: which not to say that a flav of Flave ten
Speaker 1: is not the same as any other ten, But if
Speaker 1: you're one of the core three judges and you're a
Speaker 1: contestant on this show, you probably place a little more
Speaker 1: weight into what they think, So getting a ten from them,
Speaker 1: or three tens, as it were, really means a lot.
Speaker 1: So I'm sure she was absolutely thrilled about that. And
Speaker 1: then my girl, Jordan, she did a jive to Ratsberry
Speaker 1: Beret Oh, one of my favorite songs, and you saw
Speaker 1: them set up in her package. How badly she wanted
Speaker 1: a perfect score. She wanted it so bad she was
Speaker 1: calling it out. I was rooting for and she did
Speaker 1: the jive. I thought her jive was amazing. I thought
Speaker 1: her kicks and flicks were on point. It was so enjoyable.
Speaker 1: I loved her costume, I loved her hair. I just
Speaker 1: I thought it was great. I thought it was a
Speaker 1: great jive. I thought the choreography was incredible. Ezra killed it.
Speaker 1: That little like breakout moment they had over on the
Speaker 1: side I thought was unbelievable, very exciting. And then they
Speaker 1: called out a mistake and she got three nines and
Speaker 1: I thought, oh my gosh, I just want her to
Speaker 1: get her perfect score so badly, and she made sure
Speaker 1: she got it. She came out with an Argentine tango
Speaker 1: in a pose upside down. She looked incredible. Ezra has
Speaker 1: really become one of my favorite choreographers on this show.
Speaker 1: I love how risky he is. I love the risks
Speaker 1: he takes, and I love that Jordan trusts him enough
Speaker 1: and goes, yeah, I know this doesn't look like a
Speaker 1: conventional you know, this doesn't look like conventional choreography I've
Speaker 1: seen done by a bunch of other people. I don't care.
Speaker 1: That's exactly why I want to do it. I want
Speaker 1: to stand out. I want it to be different, like
Speaker 1: I just love it. So they came out and absolutely
Speaker 1: killed an Argentine tango to you got the look. It
Speaker 1: was so well done, and she got her perfect score
Speaker 1: and I cried. It was the only time I cried
Speaker 1: in the ballroom. Tonight. You'll be happy to know. I
Speaker 1: think everybody thinks I'm just a giant softie who cries
Speaker 1: all the time, But that was the only time I cried.
Speaker 1: I was so I was just so immensely proud of her,
Speaker 1: really truly so proud of her. And she got her
Speaker 1: perfect score, and I was sitting not too far behind
Speaker 1: her family, and so I got to congratulate them on
Speaker 1: not only making the finals, but on the perfect score.
Speaker 1: And Jordan's dad was so kind and he said, I
Speaker 1: am so grateful that you guys are friends, which is
Speaker 1: just so sweet. How did this cast luck out so
Speaker 1: much that not only do we all love each other
Speaker 1: so much and support each other so much, but we
Speaker 1: love all of our families too, Like what it's you,
Speaker 1: It's it's not this is not easy to have this
Speaker 1: many people spend this much time together during a competition show,
Speaker 1: and for everyone to just be so supportive and loving
Speaker 1: to one another. And it's very genuine. Speaking of things
Speaker 1: that are very genuine, Connor, Whitney's husband. Immediately after Whitney
Speaker 1: had been Whitney and Mark had been eliminated, Connor turned
Speaker 1: like he watched Whitney walk off stage with Mark, and
Speaker 1: I gave him a hug, and I told him the
Speaker 1: same thing I told Whitney, which is she has already won.
Speaker 1: Being in the finale is not going to change the
Speaker 1: fact that Whitney Levitt is going to be a massive star.
Speaker 1: It just she already is. And I think the opportunities
Speaker 1: for her to be a performer are going to if
Speaker 1: they have not already started, they are just going to continue,
Speaker 1: and she is going to have her pick of anything
Speaker 1: she wants to do in the entertainment industry. And one
Speaker 1: more week making it to the finale wouldn't have made
Speaker 1: it moren't It wouldn't have changed it. She's already one.
Speaker 1: And he said that he was really proud of her,
Speaker 1: and I said I was proud of her too, And
Speaker 1: immediately after I was done talking to him, he turned
Speaker 1: to Jordan's family and just with so much enthusiasm and
Speaker 1: like genuine support, said, I am so excited and I'm
Speaker 1: so proud of Jordan. Congratulations to you and your family.
Speaker 1: It was so nice because no one would have judged
Speaker 1: him for just kind of being in his own head
Speaker 1: and not saying anything or even just saying like hey,
Speaker 1: congratulations and being down, and he just didn't he is
Speaker 1: Connor is the hype man in the audience for everybody's family,
Speaker 1: and especially for Whitney. His love and support for her
Speaker 1: is unmatched. I also really want to specially acknowledge Mark.
Speaker 1: Everyone knows that Mark is one of the best dancers
Speaker 1: and the best choreographers the dance world has ever seen.
Speaker 1: Definitely one of the best dancers and choreographers Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars has ever seen. He started on Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars in season five and has been there for
Speaker 1: fifteen years. He has been around for a lot. And
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm speaking out of turn when I
Speaker 1: say that this season has been the most difficult season
Speaker 1: to manage opinions and online criticism and hate and you know,
Speaker 1: death threats, the things people will say online about his
Speaker 1: family and just truly insane and through it all, I
Speaker 1: think I'm the most amazed by is how well Mark
Speaker 1: handles it all. And I know it's difficult. I know
Speaker 1: it's not easy, But his strength of character and the
Speaker 1: goodness of his heart, oh boy, it's he is a
Speaker 1: special He's a special d vial, he really is. He.
Speaker 1: He is a great, great friend, and he is a
Speaker 1: friend to every single person and every single celebrity, every
Speaker 1: single pro that's on this season, and I believe probably
Speaker 1: of every season in the past that he's that he
Speaker 1: has been a part of. He is there for and
Speaker 1: if you need a pep talk, if you need advice,
Speaker 1: if you want help with something. I don't know how
Speaker 1: he has the bandwidth, but he he's just he's a
Speaker 1: really special man. And I told him that tonight. I
Speaker 1: told him that, you know, his choreography the season was incredible,
Speaker 1: his dancing the season was incredible. All of it's great,
Speaker 1: and yet none of it, to me, is as beautiful
Speaker 1: as the character he showed throughout this year. And I
Speaker 1: told him I would continue to scream it from the
Speaker 1: rooftops to anybody who would listen, because I just think
Speaker 1: it should be known what an amazing man he is.
Speaker 1: And then my boy Dylan, he did a tango too.
Speaker 1: I would die for you. I thought his tango was amazing.
Speaker 1: I will say I did not see the feet. I
Speaker 1: wasn't super paying attention to his feet because I was
Speaker 1: so focused on his sharp head turns because I remember
Speaker 1: from when I did my tango, like knowing how important
Speaker 1: those sharp head turns were. I was watching his elbow
Speaker 1: because I saw that something they were talking about in
Speaker 1: his package, I was really paying attention to like everything
Speaker 1: other than he'll leads, and I know that he'll leads
Speaker 1: are important. Derek called it out tonight, and I can't
Speaker 1: say that I paid any attention to that, so I
Speaker 1: can't even say, like what, But I will say because
Speaker 1: I did not without seeing that, I thought this stance
Speaker 1: deserved at least one ten. Call me crazy. I thought
Speaker 1: this dance was a little underscored. I really liked it.
Speaker 1: I thought the tango was great. I thought he did
Speaker 1: a great job keeping his booty tucked, and then they
Speaker 1: did a cha cha to kiss, which I was so
Speaker 1: proud of him for doing a chat cha because they
Speaker 1: didn't decide to do his best dance. They decided to
Speaker 1: do a dance that would really show how far he's come,
Speaker 1: which is you know, you're calling it out. You're saying, hey,
Speaker 1: look at me, this is gonna be good. That's why
Speaker 1: I'm doing it, because I want you to compare it
Speaker 1: to my other one and notice how much better it is.
Speaker 1: I just I think that kind of stuff is really
Speaker 1: I love that. I think that, you know, it's what
Speaker 1: Whitney and Mark said, why they decided to do their
Speaker 1: dance as well. I thought this dance was incredible. Danny's
Speaker 1: choreography for this Cha Cha was spectacular, the way they
Speaker 1: used the musicality to punctuate the dance moves. I just
Speaker 1: thought it was great. And it didn't get as high
Speaker 1: of a score as I thought, and they were on
Speaker 1: the bottom of the leaderboard. And although that made me nervous,
Speaker 1: if there is one thing this season has showed us,
Speaker 1: it's that being at the bottom of the leaderboard doesn't
Speaker 1: mean it doesn't mean that you're going home. So I
Speaker 1: wasn't too worried, but I was just a little bit worried.
Speaker 1: And when it came time to the elimination, I looked
Speaker 1: at Jensen, who was sitting next to me, and I said,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but I need to go sit with Dylan's family.
Speaker 1: And he was like, okay, go, go go, And I
Speaker 1: got up and I ran across to the other side
Speaker 1: and that's when I sat myself down in the chair
Speaker 1: and inserted myself into what eventually became a family photo,
Speaker 1: but without Dylan, so they wouldn't use it for a
Speaker 1: Christmas card anyway. Dylan's not in it. Oh maybe they
Speaker 1: could just replace me with Dylan. They can photoshop me,
Speaker 1: or they can photoshop Dylan over me. That's a good idea.
Speaker 1: I'll give him that suggestion. Anyway, I still ran over there,
Speaker 1: and I sat down next to Dylan's stepmom, and I
Speaker 1: held Dylan's girlfriend's shoulder. I held Courtney, she was sitting
Speaker 1: in front of me. I held Courtney's shoulder, and I
Speaker 1: had my arm around Dylan's stepmom and we sat there
Speaker 1: holding our breath. And Elaine was the first one called
Speaker 1: safe when Alfonso said she's fifty four, and the whole
Speaker 1: place erupted celebration for her, and she ran off, and
Speaker 1: then Alex and Val were next. They were called safe,
Speaker 1: and then Robert and Whitney were called safe and left
Speaker 1: standing up. There was Jordan and Ezra, Dylan and Danny,
Speaker 1: Whitney and Mark. And the second there was silence, I
Speaker 1: said out loud, Dylan and Danny, Dylan and Danny, Dylan
Speaker 1: and Danny, Dylan and Danny, Dylan and Danny, and they
Speaker 1: announced that Dylan and Danny were safe, and they walked off.
Speaker 1: And the minute I knew that it was down to
Speaker 1: Jordan and Whitney, I said Whitney's going home, And sure
Speaker 1: enough they called Jordan and Ezra safe and that was it.
Speaker 1: Whitney came walking down and I was wondering if she
Speaker 1: was surprised, but I also know that she told me
Speaker 1: last week that she really thought she was going home
Speaker 1: last week. And you know, I went out onto the
Speaker 1: ballroom floor and she seemed very composed, and I said,
Speaker 1: I told you what I told her. I said, you
Speaker 1: know you've already won. She said, I know I have.
Speaker 1: She gave everybody a hug, and then her and Mark walked,
Speaker 1: you know, after they talked to everybody, her and Mark
Speaker 1: walked up and then walked off the stage, and she
Speaker 1: seemed very composed. She seemed like she was, you know,
Speaker 1: probably a little bit in shock and taking it all in.
Speaker 1: And then she changed clothes and she was on her
Speaker 1: way to go do the Dancing with the Stars podcast,
Speaker 1: and I saw her. I saw her one more time
Speaker 1: outside and then, you know, she was more emotional at
Speaker 1: that point. I think she had had some time to
Speaker 1: be with Connor and to let some of the emotions
Speaker 1: hit her. And it's never easy. It's never easy when this,
Speaker 1: when this journey ends, even if you make it all
Speaker 1: the way through the semifinals. You know it won't be
Speaker 1: easy next week for the people in the finals. The
Speaker 1: show has a weird It has a weird emotional hold
Speaker 1: over all of us. And I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: just dance. I think it's the immersion. I think it's
Speaker 1: the full immersion of our lives and our time and
Speaker 1: our physical bodies and the amount of vulnerability and trust
Speaker 1: it takes to do this kind of a schedule and
Speaker 1: in front of millions of people, and to like really
Speaker 1: let the world see you for who you are. The pros,
Speaker 1: the cons, the skills, the lack of skills, the flaws,
Speaker 1: all of it. And it's I think maybe we're all
Speaker 1: trauma bonded. But like good trauma, is there such a thing.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's such a thing as good trauma,
Speaker 1: but like, you know, it's such a unique experience and
Speaker 1: it is so like in the trenches. I just think, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's a weird bond. But I'm sad for Whitney.
Speaker 1: I'm sad for all of us who didn't get to
Speaker 1: do it for all eleven weeks, and even when it's
Speaker 1: over at eleven weeks. So I'm gonna be sad for
Speaker 1: just all of us that it's over. I can't believe
Speaker 1: we don't get to like do this for the rest
Speaker 1: of our lives. I know that sounds insane. I sound
Speaker 1: like an insane person. I'm gonna stop. It's late. It's
Speaker 1: nine thirty. This is, you know, almost my bedtime. I
Speaker 1: mean minutes away from my bedtime. So, guys, we're at
Speaker 1: the finals. I can't even believe it. We're at the finals.
Speaker 1: It's just gonna be incredible. We get an Ezra freestyle,
Speaker 1: we get an Alan Burston freestyle, we get a Daniella
Speaker 1: Kara Gosh freestyle. We get a Val Schberkowsky free style,
Speaker 1: we get a Whitney Carson free style. Guys, we are
Speaker 1: going to be just floating in free style goodness. I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see them. It's gonna be it's gonna
Speaker 1: be spectacular. I cannot wait. Also, in the finale, you girl,
Speaker 1: that's me, I'm your girl. I get to dance in
Speaker 1: the finale. It's a very small little thing. I think
Speaker 1: there's like an opening number that I get to be
Speaker 1: a part of, and then there's some sort of bumper
Speaker 1: that I get to do. I don't know who I'm
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously I'm paired with Pasha. Pasha's my forever,
Speaker 1: forever partner, but I don't know like who I'm going
Speaker 1: to be in a grouping with. I think there's like
Speaker 1: two other couples. I don't know who they are. I
Speaker 1: will find out soon. Rehearsals for that start later this week,
Speaker 1: and then, I mean, it's a week from now. It
Speaker 1: is a week from now the finale, and I can't
Speaker 1: wait to be there. I can't wait to tell you
Speaker 1: you all about it immediately after it's over. I hope
Speaker 1: you guys are looking forward to it. And while we wait,
Speaker 1: I am going to be sitting down with one half
Speaker 1: of the dynamic duo that hosts Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 1: That's right, he's nineties royalty, he's two thousands royalty. He's
Speaker 1: just American royalty. It's Alfonso Rivero. Can't wait to sit
Speaker 1: down and talk with Alfonso about what it's like to
Speaker 1: host Dancing with the Stars. It really does seem like
Speaker 1: a total dream job. And I want to know is
Speaker 1: is it as dreamy as it looks? And I want
Speaker 1: to talk to about his dance schedule too. I want
Speaker 1: to know what kind of classes? Is he in? What's
Speaker 1: he up to? What's he doing anyway? Thank you all
Speaker 1: for listening to this episode of Danielle with I will
Speaker 1: see you all next time. Bye. Danielle with the Stars
Speaker 1: Produced and hosted by Danielle Fischl. Executive producer Jensen Carpon,
Speaker 1: Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer,
Speaker 1: editor and engineer Tara Sudbasch. Theme song by Justin Siegel.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at Danielle with Stars and vote
Speaker 1: for me