Speaker 1: Well, well, we have our very first actual Next Pro
Speaker 1: contestant with us this week. Someone very near and dear
Speaker 1: to the Dancing with the Stars family, Please welcome to
Speaker 1: Stepping on Toes Stephanie soso H.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited.
Speaker 1: First, congratulations, thank your appearance on Next Pro. It is
Speaker 1: no shock to me, but we loved watching you dance.
Speaker 1: Thank you every week, and I know the viewers agreed
Speaker 1: with us. Thank you. Now that you've had a chance
Speaker 1: to settle in the episodes have aired, you're no longer
Speaker 1: on the show. What's your overall takeaway about the experience.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say like a lot of growth.
Speaker 4: Like I feel like even before I even went to
Speaker 4: Next Pro, I feel like I grew a lot, and then.
Speaker 3: Through that process I liked, I don't know, I left.
Speaker 4: A different person, and even like watching it back was
Speaker 4: also like very eye opening for me as well. So yeah,
Speaker 4: I feel like the whole experience for me was just growth.
Speaker 4: Like I I'm very happy with how everything like ended up.
Speaker 4: Like I feel like I've come to like I don't know,
Speaker 4: I'm like everything's meant to happen for a reason, and
Speaker 4: I just like I'm excited just to keep growing and
Speaker 4: just keep going.
Speaker 5: So that's great because you have I mean, I I
Speaker 5: have context just because I know you for longer than
Speaker 5: the audience of next Pro. And yeah, I mean I
Speaker 5: was telling Daniel, I'm so proud of the way you
Speaker 5: handled yourself. You know, not just as a performer dancer.
Speaker 5: I think your pedigree is up there. Obviously you need
Speaker 5: to continue to grow all but you as a person
Speaker 5: have displayed yourself perfectly.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: I'm proud of that because you haven't always.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: No, so I like I said, we talked about growth.
Speaker 5: I'm just the way you handle yourself with a plus
Speaker 5: and I said I'd work with her any day.
Speaker 2: Thank you. It means a lot coming from meself.
Speaker 1: Yes, so you mentioned being able to watch the show back, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and learning things from watching the show back. You have
Speaker 1: been able to watch the show back with your brother, Yes, Ezra,
Speaker 1: He's made it like a weekly thing of that, And
Speaker 1: so you guys watch together every week. What have been
Speaker 1: some of the things that you know, because we all
Speaker 1: know we've all worked in TV now for years editing,
Speaker 1: you don't know what your you know, what your experience
Speaker 1: was while you were there. Yeah, but obviously you're being
Speaker 1: recorded every second of every day, so you don't know
Speaker 1: what moments are going to make it to TV and
Speaker 1: what moments are going to make it to the cutting
Speaker 1: room floor. Yeah, what has been your impression of your
Speaker 1: experience there? What have you learned from watching it now
Speaker 1: that it's been on TV.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it definitely is like an out of body experience
Speaker 4: because I know the motions I felt in that moment,
Speaker 4: like we're very different when I was watching, and like
Speaker 4: even like i'd say, like on camera, like some of
Speaker 4: the dancing, like I thought I was like super full out,
Speaker 4: But then watching it back sometimes I'm like, oh, like
Speaker 4: you know, just like little things like that.
Speaker 2: But I think, yeah, it definitely.
Speaker 4: Was like really fun for me to watch it back
Speaker 4: and just like relive some of those like motions that
Speaker 4: I was going through because each week was crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Any regrets, any regrets?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say my losing my confidence. I think
Speaker 4: that last week for me, like I feel like I'm
Speaker 4: a pretty confident person, but that week for me, it
Speaker 4: was just really hard mentally, and I think I let
Speaker 4: it get to me a little bit, And that's probably
Speaker 4: my only regret, just not being able to keep that
Speaker 4: fire going.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Jen was like hearing watching that, Yeah, even watching
Speaker 5: it back now, because I mean obviously she lived through
Speaker 5: it live and she came back and kind of shared
Speaker 5: her experience on tour. Yeah, but watching it back now
Speaker 5: in person, yeah, I mean she was so sad for
Speaker 5: you because you, guys go even further back, and she
Speaker 5: knows you as a kid and the way you are
Speaker 5: as a person. I feel like you never love that
Speaker 5: youthful energy that you had, so yeah, so she was
Speaker 5: like really feeling it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And Jenna definitely knows me since I was a
Speaker 2: little girl.
Speaker 1: So yeah, You've been known by so many people since
Speaker 1: you were a little girl, and you feel like everybody's
Speaker 1: little sister. I want to know a little bit about
Speaker 1: the house, yeah, and all living together, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm happy that dancing, of course is the focus and
Speaker 1: that it didn't turn into Love Island, but like, also
Speaker 1: tell me about living with your dance opponents with that
Speaker 1: much pressure circling around you.
Speaker 4: It was hard for me because I've never lived with
Speaker 4: anyone other than Ezra my family, so I was like
Speaker 4: experiencing first things for myself.
Speaker 2: And we had roommates, and I wish they would have
Speaker 2: shown that more.
Speaker 4: But I was Nina's roommate, so having to navigate like
Speaker 4: everyone's like emotions as well, Like we would all go
Speaker 4: to rehearsal and go and sit in the dinny trable
Speaker 4: like and.
Speaker 3: It's just as crazy, Like I've never had that before.
Speaker 2: Usually you can go and like decompress totally.
Speaker 3: But it was it was cool. It was very eye
Speaker 3: opening for me too.
Speaker 4: I was like, oh wow, I also grew in that
Speaker 4: way too, Like as a person, I was like, okay.
Speaker 5: Yes, these type of people exist, Yeah, and this is
Speaker 5: what they're like in the morning.
Speaker 4: Yeah, different personalities, different energy, like different things that make
Speaker 4: people upset, like learning how to like not you know,
Speaker 4: be respectful, but also like put boundaries like was like
Speaker 4: a big thing too.
Speaker 1: When you say you had a roommate, did that you
Speaker 1: guys literally shared like a room, Like there were two
Speaker 1: beds in the same room.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like a bunk bed.
Speaker 6: Who got the top bunk?
Speaker 2: Nina, she let me have the bottom.
Speaker 1: So I was like happy, Oh my gosh, because when
Speaker 1: you have a roommate and you live in an apartment together,
Speaker 1: usually you're not sharing a room. You usually unless you're
Speaker 1: on the bus, you have your own space that even
Speaker 1: if you work with your roommate, and then you come
Speaker 1: home to the same house. You can walk into your
Speaker 1: bedroom and close the door and have like I don't want,
Speaker 1: I don't I can just be with myself. But to
Speaker 1: then be sharing a room, there's literally nowhere.
Speaker 5: Yeah, did you have a place that you would go
Speaker 5: zen out by yourself?
Speaker 4: No, that's the thing I didn't, And I kind of
Speaker 4: wish I would found that on the show because like,
Speaker 4: I'm very much a fan, Like usually I'll call Ezra
Speaker 4: like after a rehearsal, or like I'll call my people.
Speaker 4: So not being able to have that in the house
Speaker 4: was really hard because I'm I'm such a family person,
Speaker 4: so I but I was really grateful because me and
Speaker 4: Nina did, like we didn't like vent to each other
Speaker 4: a lot of the time, so it was nice to
Speaker 4: have her around me, like in the house and everything.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I also got really close close to Tristan,
Speaker 4: so he was also somebody i'd go to and be like,
Speaker 4: how are you feeling?
Speaker 6: Like right?
Speaker 1: So yeah, So would you say Tristan and Nina were
Speaker 1: like your two best friends in the house or yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: those are the two you connected with the most, considering
Speaker 1: you know the stress of Dancing with the Stars firsthand.
Speaker 1: You have been there. What was this process like in
Speaker 1: comparison to that show. You've got two days to nail
Speaker 1: a routine in front of Shirley Ballast isn't chill. So
Speaker 1: how do you think the stress level compares.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's probably the hardest thing I've ever
Speaker 2: done in my life. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because even it was harder than something you can dance.
Speaker 4: For me as well, like the fact that we had
Speaker 4: to choreograph in two days like on the show, I
Speaker 4: feel like it's a little bit longer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then like.
Speaker 5: Well, resources yeah, you can take a day go away. Hey, yo,
Speaker 5: let me borrow your body real quick. Let me see
Speaker 5: how we could break this out. And I believe you
Speaker 5: didn't have that right. I mean, you had your roommates,
Speaker 5: but I heard that people would stop you if it
Speaker 5: wasn't allocated time to rehearse, Like they couldn't just rehearse
Speaker 5: in the kitchen when they wanted to.
Speaker 6: It was like you get two hours and that's all
Speaker 6: you get.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I don't know if the show showcases that, Yeah they don't.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was timed so like we go and rehearsal.
Speaker 4: They start the clock and then as soon as over,
Speaker 4: like they came into a wide and it was like
Speaker 4: and then if they saw you rehearsing in the house,
Speaker 4: then they would stop you.
Speaker 3: And be like you will, we will, you will get
Speaker 3: in trouble.
Speaker 1: It looks like there's a home rehearsal space and like
Speaker 1: the garage or something, and that one was time to
Speaker 1: so that counts as part of your time because actually
Speaker 1: the way it's edited makes you believe that if you
Speaker 1: want to muscle like that, you can be rehearsing any
Speaker 1: time you want. No, No, it was so scary.
Speaker 6: I'm not quick, you know.
Speaker 1: Imagine us with tambourines if we only had two hours.
Speaker 5: I'm a late bloomer. But when I bloom, I blossom, right,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean? I really shine, But I need.
Speaker 6: Every second second. Yeah, on their clock like that. That's hard.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was definitely really hard.
Speaker 4: And like I couldn't like go to the other boys
Speaker 4: and be like hey, style of this like stylized wise
Speaker 4: for the guys, like what can I give Tristan here?
Speaker 4: Like we were just like but like we just couldn't
Speaker 4: like help each other, even though like we all really
Speaker 4: wanted to help each other, so that was hard because
Speaker 4: like we were all just like on go mode, like
Speaker 4: it felt like life or death.
Speaker 1: And you also didn't have your phones, right, No, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh.
Speaker 4: They took our phones, which is also really hard because
Speaker 4: like I usually go on YouTube and like the ideas
Speaker 4: for a lift here, or like I'm like, oh, musically,
Speaker 4: I kind of want to put something here, and I'm
Speaker 4: like I had no like literally just my talent.
Speaker 1: And my brain in the room.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my brain.
Speaker 1: Okay. I want to talk about your final week, and
Speaker 1: it was unique for many reasons. You were paired with Tristan,
Speaker 1: and I don't think it's talking out of school when
Speaker 1: I say he was the least experienced in ballroom on
Speaker 1: the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Was it rough all week during rehearsals or did you think, oh,
Speaker 1: I think we're going to pull this off.
Speaker 4: I will say when we started, it was an uphill
Speaker 4: battle for sure, because I know he was like kind
Speaker 4: of upset up me still, and I knew I just
Speaker 4: really wanted to like have that connection. But we do
Speaker 4: work well together, yeah, because I feel like I am
Speaker 4: also a hip hop dancer, so I kind of understand
Speaker 4: his brain when it comes to like choreography, and like
Speaker 4: how he taxed choreography as well.
Speaker 2: It's like we're very similar.
Speaker 4: But yeah, the rest of rehearsals were great, and we
Speaker 4: were just fighting, like we've really just wanted to stay.
Speaker 4: Like we were like we just give it. Are all
Speaker 4: like we don't know what the judges are going to
Speaker 4: be looking for. We also hadn't seen the other routines,
Speaker 4: so we just were kind of just going off of
Speaker 4: what we felt.
Speaker 5: It was definitely the better performance he had all season.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, sure it was a good dance. So yeah,
Speaker 6: you did that.
Speaker 2: Thanks.
Speaker 1: I think, and this is just my opinion here, I
Speaker 1: think having a couple's elimination wasn't exactly fair mine too,
Speaker 1: because this is about finding one next pro and it's
Speaker 1: not like you're with a celebrity in you know, walking
Speaker 1: in with a clean slate to the art forum. So
Speaker 1: like a partner can make or break you and in
Speaker 1: this case, and I don't love saying it, but Tristan
Speaker 1: did bring you down in this scenario. Do you agree
Speaker 1: with me?
Speaker 6: I do, of course.
Speaker 5: I mean you're only as good as your partner. That's
Speaker 5: kind of the juxtaposition here, is like, yes, they're choosing
Speaker 5: one pro, but that pro skill set has to you know,
Speaker 5: elevate the part in their way.
Speaker 6: That is just like, that's why I said that and
Speaker 6: you did. It's just, yeah, there was a lot of elimination.
Speaker 6: I agree with you.
Speaker 5: The partner thing. Yeah, it's not you're looking for one
Speaker 5: pro and I didn't think that you deserve to go
Speaker 5: so yeah, yeah, I don't get what they accomplished with that.
Speaker 1: So I know this week you posted a dance with
Speaker 1: you and Alan and it is remarkable. Oh, thank you
Speaker 1: so good. Have you seen it? Okay, you have to
Speaker 1: watch it. It's out of this world and it immediately
Speaker 1: gets you thinking, what if he had been your partner?
Speaker 1: And I'm not trying to totally make it seem like
Speaker 1: this was all Tristan's fault, because of course no, no,
Speaker 1: of course it's not, but it felt like it was
Speaker 1: not Stephanie's week to go home, No, not at all.
Speaker 5: That's that's the whole point, is it, Because as people
Speaker 5: getting eliminated, the challenges with where they'll shine actually the
Speaker 5: brightest are only coming up. Yeah, you know. That's the
Speaker 5: other thing is like we never got to see Stephanie
Speaker 5: in the episode we're going to be discussing. Yeah, thanks,
Speaker 5: yeah for that, you know, and that's a miss for
Speaker 5: the show and for what you could have brought to
Speaker 5: the table, wow moments as far as your arranged like
Speaker 5: things like that, you know what I mean. So, yeah,
Speaker 5: it's it's a timing and a luck thing as well,
Speaker 5: I think is the way the cards fell.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, sometimes that happens.
Speaker 1: What have you thought of AJ's journey on the show.
Speaker 4: I think he's really qualified, Like, yeah, you know, he
Speaker 4: did shrictly and I did try to learn a lot
Speaker 4: from him while I was in the house because like
Speaker 4: he I feel like he likes done it before. Yeah,
Speaker 4: but I don't know, I feel like he's danced really well,
Speaker 4: and you know, obviously like there's been like comments from
Speaker 4: the judges and everything, but I don't know, I try
Speaker 4: to really just focus on myself.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just curious if any of his and maybe
Speaker 1: it's earned arrogance. Let's call it earned arrogance. He's an
Speaker 1: incredible dancer. He's, like you said, he's kind of done
Speaker 1: this job already. Does any of that translate into his
Speaker 1: behavior in the house or is it more or just
Speaker 1: true confidence in his skills? As a dancer, I would.
Speaker 3: I would describe AG as very posh and very confident.
Speaker 4: Okay, but yeah, I definitely yes, I just I definitely
Speaker 4: just kept to myself, like there were definitely people in
Speaker 4: the house that I was like I were closer with,
Speaker 4: and he just like wasn't one of those people, but.
Speaker 2: I would have loved to dance with him.
Speaker 1: Though you've already told us a couple of things that
Speaker 1: were surprising for me to hear as a viewer of
Speaker 1: the show, I did not realize this rehearsal time was
Speaker 1: so precious. What else is something that might surprise a
Speaker 1: viewer of the show. What are we not seeing?
Speaker 4: I wish they would have shown our personalities in the
Speaker 4: house a little bit more, because there was a lot
Speaker 4: of funny things that would happen that I feel like
Speaker 4: people would love to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just to see you guys actually connecting as I mean,
Speaker 1: we did.
Speaker 6: We did see that though. Yeah, we did see a lot.
Speaker 5: Like one of my things was like, first of all,
Speaker 5: they're all very emotionally available on the show. I love
Speaker 5: to see you guys really opened up. Really just you
Speaker 5: were very vulnerable, all of you, every and so many
Speaker 5: of you, even Aj we were talking about agent, everybody
Speaker 5: opened up and allowed, uh, allowed themselves for the process.
Speaker 6: Yeah, like really genuinely you could feel that for better
Speaker 6: and for worse. But I really yeah that at the house.
Speaker 1: Most of what we see at the house, we saw
Speaker 1: a couple of confrontations, but to her point, there were
Speaker 1: moments of laughter and a lot of fun and maybe
Speaker 1: some bonding. Similarly to the way Dancing with the Stars
Speaker 1: wants to see us at Disneyland with our partner and
Speaker 1: you know, having a good time in the rehearsal space,
Speaker 1: laying on the floor laughing hysterically. It would have been
Speaker 1: nice also to see some of the moments where it's
Speaker 1: a little more light and fun.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially like our roommate's dynamics, Like all, yeah, have
Speaker 2: been fun.
Speaker 3: And then I know, like there's like a couple people
Speaker 3: that left, like we call it the villa, but then they're.
Speaker 4: Like dating now, so it's like so cool. It's like wow,
Speaker 4: like they did actually form genuine connections.
Speaker 1: So cute. That is cute. I bet I know who
Speaker 1: it is.
Speaker 6: Well, what do you mean we could talk?
Speaker 1: Okay, we do go for it.
Speaker 6: It's Eric and Bryan.
Speaker 3: They're so cute. They're so perfect each other. Yeah, like
Speaker 3: very like, how do you know that?
Speaker 1: I didn't know that?
Speaker 6: Well, it's on social media.
Speaker 1: Okay, I don't follow them on social Yeah, okay, that's
Speaker 1: She's like. I'm like, you guys are like, well yeah,
Speaker 1: because we all know, and I'm like, I didn't get
Speaker 1: a text.
Speaker 6: No, No, they they're they're open and social. I mean
Speaker 6: that's why I mentioned it. It was private.
Speaker 1: Got it very cute? We know that Ezra is your
Speaker 1: biggest cheerleader. What has it been like getting to share
Speaker 1: this experience with him?
Speaker 2: It's been like I don't know.
Speaker 4: I feel like because I wasn't really on the show
Speaker 4: last year, I think being able to do next Pro
Speaker 4: kind of like filled that void, if that makes sense.
Speaker 4: Like I was able to kind of experience like what
Speaker 4: it was like, what would it be like if I
Speaker 4: was a pro having a choreograph and like high stakes
Speaker 4: and so being able to show him like my dances
Speaker 4: and like and just have him like love them, like
Speaker 4: it really meant a lot to me because I can
Speaker 4: be crazy like when I'm dancing, and so for him
Speaker 4: to like see them and just be like really proud
Speaker 4: of them, like it really meant a lot to me
Speaker 4: because we did like go through a lot together growing up.
Speaker 1: So yeah, well I got to sit next to him
Speaker 1: on a couch for the super Bowl and he was like, guys,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to make everybody be quiet.
Speaker 1: He had his phone out he was recording. It was
Speaker 1: so sweet and I did want to talk to you
Speaker 1: about the super Bowl. It's obviously unrelated to its bro
Speaker 1: but what was it like being art?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would never, he would never.
Speaker 1: What was it like being a part of that Bad
Speaker 1: Bunny performance?
Speaker 5: It was?
Speaker 3: It was phenomenal. I think I was like telling my
Speaker 3: family like it was.
Speaker 4: I realized it was like the first time that I
Speaker 4: felt like I was around people that like spoke Spanish
Speaker 4: and we're from all different parts is like you know
Speaker 4: the country, but like had different Latin roots, and it
Speaker 4: was really healing for me and I. That whole process
Speaker 4: was really beautiful because they also took our phones, so
Speaker 4: it felt like from like January up until I was
Speaker 4: done with next prot like I didn't have a phone right,
Speaker 4: So it was like it was really I was so
Speaker 4: grateful and I feel like I grew a lot on
Speaker 4: that job, so it.
Speaker 1: Was it was It was awesome how the amount of
Speaker 1: time you have spent without a phone.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I kind of like it.
Speaker 1: I know it must be hard to get to get
Speaker 1: back into using a phone. Yeah, what do you think
Speaker 1: is next for you? Is this the end of your
Speaker 1: Dancing with the Stars journey or are we going to
Speaker 1: continue to see you in the ballroom? What's next for
Speaker 1: you and how can we support you?
Speaker 4: I'm just going to keep working hard and like every
Speaker 4: all my dreams, like you know, dans MIAs Stars and
Speaker 4: like acting like pretty much everything I can, and just
Speaker 4: keep trying to grow as a person. I honestly don't
Speaker 4: know what's going to happen with the show, Yeah, but
Speaker 4: I just want to keep showing up and just seeing
Speaker 4: what happens and what's six because I'm a firm believer
Speaker 4: that everything does happen for a reason if you, like
Speaker 4: are prepared and you put the hard work in. So
Speaker 4: I'm just gonna see what happens, and you know, if
Speaker 4: it's meant to be my path at will and if not,
Speaker 4: then I'll just continue going. But I'm just like really
Speaker 4: proud of how far I've come since like just growing up,
Speaker 4: and you talked to this point like like I don't know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm just really proud of myself, so you should.
Speaker 1: Be if we are proud of you too.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you did a lot of epic stuff.
Speaker 1: Yes you did.
Speaker 6: Yeah like that. That's the thing.
Speaker 5: And I kind of said that last week too, like, yes,
Speaker 5: you did not win the show. The point was to
Speaker 5: win the show, but you still won so many things
Speaker 5: along the way, and including you won me over. If
Speaker 5: I have a gig, I would happily love to share
Speaker 5: space with you based on that show.
Speaker 6: So that's a small dub.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's not winning the show, but listen, you
Speaker 5: could win the show and not grow and do it
Speaker 5: one time and then no one wants.
Speaker 6: To work with you.
Speaker 2: Yep, yeah, you know.
Speaker 5: Or you can potentially not win for the wind's sake
Speaker 5: and actually win an opportunity that then blossoms into a
Speaker 5: whole other career.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: So I think you're winning and reflecting on your life,
Speaker 5: you should be very proud because you have accomplished that stuff.
Speaker 5: I was at a Homies house watching the Super Bowl.
Speaker 5: I was like, yo, first of all, yes you saw
Speaker 5: little Alex Earl shout out Alex Earl, but you really
Speaker 5: saw a step the entire time, and your hair was
Speaker 5: out and I was like, I know that girl. She
Speaker 5: is so totally, so fun. You should be so proud
Speaker 5: and you look amazing. You have a great energy about you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, guys.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what's next for you, Stephanie.
Speaker 1: We are massive fans. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Thank you you guys.
Speaker 1: By