October 3, 2025 • 45 mins
With 20 seasons and 3 Mirrorball trophies to his name, fan favorite Val Chmerkovskiy joins Danielle just in time to reflect on the season’s first shocking elimination!
Find out what Val had to say about Lauren’s departure, his journey as a pro and where he sees his future on DWTS.
And while rumors swirl in the press, what’s his relationship with Alix really like?
Plus, Danielle has a ton of questions about that double cartwheel Alix and Val tried on TikTok. Find out about that, and so much more, on a new Danielle with the Stars…
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It's time for another Danielle with the Stars. I am
Danielle Fischel, a TV director, a podcaster to Panga on
Boy Meets World and its millennial reboot, plus a mom
of two. But right now I am a dedicated ballroom
dancer competing on season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars,
airing every Tuesday night on ABC and Disney Plus. I
(00:34):
know it's still weird for me too, And while I
chatcha salsa and foxtrot my little heart out, I am
recording this podcast, logging in my research and personal emotions
on trying to win my very own mirror Ball trophy,
and along the way, I'm talking to other contestants and
professionals in hopes that even just a small chat can
(00:54):
lead me in the right direction of success. And today
I know I'm onto something. He's the winner of three
mirror Ball trophies, leading Rumor Willis, Lori Hernandez, and Sochi
Gomez to the top spot. Over the whopping twenty seasons,
he has been a part of the show, and in
my opinion, there is no better week to talk to
(01:16):
him because he has been a part of a few
shocking eliminations himself also clocking in second or third place
finishes along the way. This season, he is paired with
social media Maven Alex Earl, helping her turn TikTok dance
skills into ballroom ballyho and they are killing it so far.
(01:38):
Please welcome to Danielle with the Stars. It's one of
the most talented and fashionable dancers in the game. Say
hello to Val Schmerkowsky. Wow, welcome. Hi. You are elusive
and hard to pin down. How many times have I
asked you to come on Danielle with the Stars the last.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Few weeks, so so many times.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I've pounded you. Stara has hounded you. Yeah, I'm so
honored you finally made it into my den of podcasting.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Thank you. I was, you know, maybe I was dodging
you because I was a little intimidated.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Now I'm ready, Okay, great, I'm actually I was happy
to confirm that you're not avoiding me, But I think
maybe you just confirmed you were avoiding me. Okay, So
I don't want to start with something heavy, but I
kind of have to. Can we talk about last night's elimination?
Were you as shocked as I was?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, yeah, I was very shocked. You know, Lauren to
me was a contender. Yeah, not just because of her
amazing dancing and just performance value. I mean, she's a
contender because of the massive fan base and just you know,
she's in it. She's a big star. Yeah, you know,
and I just thought that she was in it for
(02:48):
the long haul. But again, it's like you never know.
I was very shocked. You know, I feel again, respectfully
to you and your fellow celebrities. Yeah, my heart immediately
goes to the pro. You know, I feel for the
celeb obviously, but there's such a huge responsibility that is
(03:09):
put on the pro, so I my empathy was more
immediate with Brandon. Obviously, I feel bad for Lauren. But
you know, again, I just making sure that he, you know,
just knows that this isn't a reflection on his professional capabilities,
but rather, you know, things that potentially are out of
his control. Now, should he take some responsibility, of course
(03:31):
he will, regardless of what I tell him. But separating
those two things, like you know, understanding that your professional
integrity has nothing to do with this result, and if
you could separate that, because I know you're stressing about
that too, you know, just enjoy the hurt, loathing, the disappointment,
because it definitely is disappointing, but don't tie those two
(03:52):
things together.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, and you have experience with that, especially the season
as well, because your wife Jenna week one, So did
you have a very similar conversation with her? I know
she she described herself to me as psychotically competitive. So
what was that conversation like between the two of you
when she went home week one?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Difficult? Yeah, but also not the first time we've had
that conversation. I just think that the highs and lows
of the show and this industry in general. I mean
it's a reflection of being in the performing arts, but
then also in Hollywood. Then also just with the massive
appeal of the show right now, there's so many eyes,
so much just frequency around this project. It just it's hard.
(04:43):
You know, Plus, you were, you know what before used
to be, you were anxious about being validated once a
week in the form of judges' scores and potentially people's votes.
Now you are seeing direct validation or lack of in
every post that you post, right, and so you've you've
seen those views, you see in those comments, you've see
(05:04):
those likes. It's very hard not to pay attention to
the energy on on on social media. So yeah, with
all of that, there's a lot of pressure and so
you gotta, you gotta, you gotta have some some foundation
that can alleviate some of that stress. So the conversations
we've had, you know, we've had for many seasons now,
(05:27):
which is you know, there there's so much that you
can do. You are clearly good enough because last year
you have won in a very competitive season. You know,
this wasn't like a runaway win. This this is a battle,
and you know, just like this season is going to
be a battle. Last year she came out on top
(05:47):
and that was a really beautiful moment for our family. Yeah,
unfortunately this year that's not how it went. But yeah, yeah,
just keep moving.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
It's interesting what you said talking about working in the
entertainment industry. We have such a weird dichotomy of needing
to be very vulnerable with people who are very willing
to be vulnerable and wear our hearts on our sleeve
for performance value, and yet also need to have a
thick skin, you know, which is hard to be both.
It's hard to be the type of person that can
leave it all out there and show you everything that
(06:23):
we're feeling and emote, and then also walk off the
dance floor and be like, I'm not going to let
that negative comment or those lack of likes or those whatever,
or this loss affect me.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
It's yeah, I mean again, in the performing arts or
you know, you come from TV, I don't know if
you've done stage. I'm sure you have. You know, you
become vulnerable playing a character that then you go backstage
and you don't have to talk about it, you don't
have to reveal your natural self. Here. You're doing all
of that in a span of five minutes in front
(06:55):
of millions of people live and also you are setting
up the conversation in your package. Then you are going
all in revealing yourself. Again, if you want to have
a strong performance, you have to really throw yourself into it.
And then immediately it's like, how do you feel about that? Well,
I mean I don't. I can't even barely breathe. Yeah,
(07:15):
it's really hard to again, just all all of these
nights are so packed with intensity and just so many
emotions high low. Regardless, it's important to to have a
routine of the compression and like just just yeah, just
snapping out of it.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What is your decompression routine after a live show?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Do you go eat?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I do? I eat pasta? That's my comfort food.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I guess, yeah, what kind of pasta?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I'm a basic? Yeah, I'm like, you mean the special
sticks to of course, you got to get the garlic bread.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Okay, so that's that's good. Anything else do you try
to do? You have a hard time coming down. I
wasn't able to go to sleep until one am last night.
I'm on such an adrenaline high. I don't know how
to calm my body down.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, no, same, I stay up pretty late. Yeah, I
mean again, I preach more than I do, you know,
as far as decompress. Don't trust so much, don't you know?
But I was trussing the entire time already about next week.
And that's what's hard. It's like you become your own word,
you know, your biggest competition. When people are like, who's
(08:32):
your biggest competition? I mean there's obvious answers, but the bigger,
more honest answer is that it's yourself. As cliche as
it sounds, but you're only as good as your last performance,
you know, So after a night like last night for Us,
which was our best performance yet. Such a great moment.
It's very short lived because now I'm like, Okay, how
(08:54):
do I a moment? Yeah? So yeah, it's stressful.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Can we talk a little bit about Andy Richt's appeal?
The world has just fallen in love with him? How
much of that? Again, you mentioned that your empathy and
all of your your thoughts go to the pro I
also want to praise Emma.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
How much of what the audience sees about the celebrity,
how much of that is able to be shaped by you? Guys?
How quickly do you get to know your partners and say,
I'm able to spot this very specific thing that I
think America will fall in love with, and how do
you bring that to life?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah? So much. I think we have a lot to
deal with that. I mean, Emma give her nickname magician
because she just like makes something, you know, kind of
out of something that very few would would would would
create so many, you know, so many dynamic performances with Yeah.
(09:58):
But as far as Andy, yeah, I think she's want
a great job creating his story, you know, and introducing
different parts and layers of him to our audience. I
think she does that really well every year, and she's
just emotionally invested, you know. I think that's that's a
big part of what makes a pro successful on our
(10:22):
show is besides the expertise and the and the knowledge,
you gotta be really you gotta really love people. Yea,
you gotta love people. You gotta want to connect with people.
And Emma's one of those pros that really is emotionally
invested in her partners. And I think, yeah, and that's
why that happens. But yeah, I mean she's also got
(10:46):
a great sense of humor. He's obviously got an incredible
creative sense of humor and is also down to play.
But but again, yeah, he's he's relatable because he's every
man every man and and even our female demographic is
watching him and sees the uncle or the grandfather or
the father or the brother or whatever. Yeah, the guy
(11:08):
in there in their family that's down to play. Yeah,
you know, And I think that's what's so beautiful about
him is he's not a perfect dancer, but he's attempting
it holdheartedly and I think effort, curiosity, enthusiasm goes a
long way.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Totally as someone who is both a technically incredible dancer
and also a wonderful performer. Would you rather have the
best dance of the night or someone's favorite dance of
the night.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Mmmm, that's great. I'd rather have someone's favorite yeah night. Yeah, okay,
I do it for the people. For the scores, right,
it sounded.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So that was good. Put that on, Put that on
a T shirt.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, scores they matter, but obviously they matter. They you
know the position, you know, you know you don't want
to be eliminated, but I just want to be I
want to steal the night. You know. That's how I
call I just right now. It's hard because there's so
many great couples and so many of them, it's hard
to do that. But yeah, I'm just trying to steal
(12:16):
the show with a performance that people love and want
to watch again, whether the scores in line or not.
You know, I try to balance both, but that would
be more important to.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Me, okay. Carrie Anne said this past week that there
seemed to be two camps on the show, those with
prior dance experience who walked in here already very impressive,
and those who knew nothing but are learning every week
and hopefully getting better. Where would you rather be strategy wise?
And what do you think is kind of the spirit
(12:47):
of the show.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I mean, the show is a balance and act of
both of those things. We just spoke about Andy and
the you know, he might not look like him, but
believe it or not, he's not a trained dancer. Surprised,
But I think our show is not just about dance.
It's about performance. It's about connection, you know, And so
(13:12):
that's the great equalizer, you know. So yes, you could
come in with a lifelong dance education in your in
your you know bag, but if you're not someone that
that makes people gravitate to you, then none of that matters.
So I think I think that's that's what's great about
(13:34):
dances and art in general. It is like sometimes something honest,
something less but honest is more impactful than more and
just you know, it doesn't mean much to you. Sometimes
it's a disadvantage. I'll say that. I mean, again, it
doesn't sound like you know, it sounds like a hot take.
But sometimes having dance experience is a disadvantage because there's
(13:57):
charm in the imperfection, there is relatability in the imperfection,
you know, And I that's why I want to clean
you know, when we were working with Alex even like,
I try to also embrace her imperfections because I think
that's what makes that performance even more entertaining, rather than
(14:18):
clean her into.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
No polished perfect Danie.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
That it's numb. So I never want to do that.
But it's a balance. I mean again, it's a balance
and act. It's hard for the judges, but I think
for them, uh, you know, whether it's two camps that
the show's divice, I don't know about that comment, but
it's in general, I think you're judging based on relativity
to that person's yeah, you know where they at. So
(14:45):
if for Andy, I feel like it's not the same
standard as Hilario and and I don't think there's anything
wrong with that, right exactly, we're being graded on a curve.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yes, correct, correct. I want to talk a little bit
about Alex. Can you set the record straight here? You
guys have already done it. You guys get along, you
(15:16):
guys like each other, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I think she's all right most of the time.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
There's that sarcasm that keeps getting you guys into travel.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Well listen, you know again, my sarcasm has been getting
me in trouble my whole life.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It's not going to stop.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, And you know, context never reveals itself on social media,
so I'm sure I don't blame the speculations. Yeah, but no,
of course I like each other. I I'm grateful to Alex.
You know, I think she's a remarkable talent. The fact
that I have the opportunity to work with that talent
(15:51):
there is a huge privilege of mine, you know. So
those are the things that don't you know, they're not
just right, that's not as funny.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, exactly, come across.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
So yeah, So no, I don't just like her. I
am really proud of her, grateful to be her partner, teacher,
you know, I'm all in. Yeah, And I think there's
now even more common ground between me and my celebrity
partner because you guys don't get another chance to do
(16:21):
the show right, you know, every week is important, every
day is sacred for us. It's not guaranteed that we're
asked back, obviously, you know how fickle that relationship is.
But you know, there was a stretch, you know, this
is my twentieth season. There was a stretch where I
was like comfortable, you know, and I knew I was
(16:42):
going to come back next year. Now it's every season
feels very similar to how it feels for you. You know,
I don't know how many more.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Seasons I got so hi because you personally are starting
to think about doing something else, or you think they're
starting to think about needing other people.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I think a little bit of both. I'm not delusional
about the fact that my you know, my my tenure
on the show will eventually come to an end before
the show will come to an end, Okay, and I
want it that way, you know, I think my life
is better with the show around, whether I'm on it
(17:19):
or not. You know, I'm a huge champion of this project.
I love that it exists to change my life, first
through my brother Max, then through my own opportunities. But
having said that, I'm still killing it.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
You know where on earth? Thinking you were.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Going, well, because I don't want to. I don't.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
You don't want to take it for granted.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I don't. Well, first of all, I'm not taking it
for granted, But secondly, I I what is it? I
don't I don't want to overstay my welcome, you know,
So right now I'm still feeling pretty good. You know,
but eventually I understand there's going to be again. I
also don't want to be greedy, Like I don't want
to hog this really awesome opportunity. If there's a dancer
(18:05):
that's waiting for that slot, I will kindly give him
that slot. But you got to earn it.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Too, you know, as I say, you're so generous.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Look, Lebron James twenty three seasons into the league, like,
he's still the top ten player in the most competitive
sport in the world.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So so you've got at least three more years.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Oh little more than that.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Okay, I said, at least okay. Good. You mentioned your
brother Max, who had been on the show since season
two and you joined the show in season thirteen. Was
watching him be a part of the show something that
made you want to be a part of it as well?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah? Yeah, for sure. I mean, so there's so much
history with all the pro talent that came on the show.
Pretty much everybody knows each other, yeah, and knows all
of each other because the bom competitive Borum dance world
is so small. Yeah, So, you know, for from our perspective,
(19:01):
when this project came along, I was already you know,
a pretty solid name in the competitive ballroom dance world.
My brother was as well, and the pros that were recruited,
a lot of them were big names, but some of
the elite names, you know, still frowned upon this project
and the prospect of, you know, I'm going to go
and dance with celebrities on television. You know, it's like, yeah,
(19:26):
you know, I'm not gonna beyond that. And so yeah,
so there was that energy as well for me. But
but again that that's also partially joking. The point is
that I dedicate my whole life to pursuing this craft,
and I was already comfortable with being broke, you know.
So it's like I wasn't driven by the financial success
(19:48):
or the vanity of being in Hollywood. I was just
driven about being the best competitive ballroom dancing in the world.
And I wasn't there yet when they asked me to
be on the show or when my brother joined the show.
But so yeah, so I enjoyed it, if vicariously through him. Yeah,
he you know, we're really close. So you know, it's
like that Jay Z Lyric, Like I got on the billboard,
(20:11):
I took my boys with me, So it's the same thing.
You know, he made it out and he from his
first season, he already introduced me. They did a package
literally three weeks into his first season about how he
has this little dance school in New Jersey and his
brother is a part of that school, and so he
flew me out and I performed already. So but I'd
(20:33):
never wanted to full time, stop competing and do this
until I was like twenty five. So first, like six years,
I was watching and then Mark joined, Derek joined kind
of like that now my peers joined, and I was
watching that for a while, and again I was super happy,
(20:53):
but it was just and I said that before, like
at twenty five, there was a moment I just came
off the floor of competition, really prestigious event. I did
really well, but I walked away feeling kind of empty
and that curiosity of like what would it be like
to perform on this big stage in Hollywood and finally
(21:15):
have more than you know, four digits in my bank account?
You know, I just asked myself, like, the difference between
a hobby and a profession is a paycheck, and it
sounds kind of I don't know, maybe it sounds a
bit superficial, but like I said, you come to an
(21:35):
age where after you know, years of your life being
dedicated to a craft, seeing this opportunity to financially change
your life. But also I think also artistically, I was
done being just an athlete and I was excited to
start being more creative and more artistic. And the show
does allow for that totally. So once I joined the show,
(21:57):
I kind of built a different relationship with dance growing up.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
What other hobbies did you have besides dance?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Girls, that's not a hobby I know. I played. So
I played violin for fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yeah, I started playing when I was five, So that
was really my art and that was I took it seriously.
In any Eastern European family, especially immigrant family, they're like,
we ain't got time for games, you know. So everything
I did I did to be the best at.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
What do your parents do? Why are you guys so creative?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
They don't do anything creative. My mom she graduated college,
I think, with like an engineering degree, but then she
just didn't really pursue her career because she was taking
care of us. Huh. My dad was a merchant marine
out of college. Again. We were in Ukraine. Yessa as
a coastal city on the black seat. So everybody there
(22:55):
wanted to be you know, wanted to get out, and
that was a way to get out. They got to
travel the world by being a merchant marine. That means
they're working on a big ship carrying import export stuff.
And so he did that for like a year and
a half out of college. But my mom already had
Max and she was like, I'm not taking care of
this baby by myself because the trip is like six months.
(23:17):
He's might see and then comes back. So then he
stopped that and kind of committed to being an entrepreneur
by that time. Again, this is like a history lesson
Soviet Union. There's no capitalism under communism, so you know,
a lot of that import export kind of just with
commerce business in America. There was kind of tinkering on
(23:40):
being illegal. But he you know, again he would like
import jeans and sell them on the market there. He
would bring in leather goods from Turkey and then you know,
so it was a hustle and he was doing well financially,
but again there was a lot of instability, and so
that was one of the reasons why they you know,
they really wanted to immigrate to America, and we got lucky,
(24:02):
we want to, you know, a visa and packed up
our bags and in a matter of like a month
and left our entire I mean, I wasn't leaving anything.
I am eight years old. I'm like excited for the adventure.
I had no idea of what this means. But for them, yeah,
they left all their friends and lineage and history and
(24:23):
you know, comfort, and we moved to Brooklyn, New York.
And yeah, so that's it. They just to answer your question,
my dad is a business owner, that's it. And early
on he was looking you know, he started coding in
America because I was like leading up to the bubble,
right two thousands. We immigrated ninety four, so he learned
how to code, this dad, but then hated being in
(24:45):
a cubicle. And one day he quit his job and
opened up a dance studio with my brother. That's my
brother was sixteen years old. And that's it. Now we have, yeah,
we have fourteen dance studios around the country right now.
We just celebrated twenty years.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
But we had a kids school for a while and
then we opened up. Now what we have now, which
is a social dance studio catering to.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Adults, catering to adults like me, like yourself, want to
learn how to dance, and no experience in it at all.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
That again, that are using dance as a vehicle to
better themselves, challenge themselves, find community, find interaction. Right, We're
so connected, but we're so disconnected physically, you know. Dance
I think is a great way to just yeah, you know,
like feel another human and having that intimacy without you know,
(25:36):
the sexual intimacy, you know, And I think that's something
that there's a lot of loneliness. There's a lot of people,
you know, we have a lot of clients that you know,
maybe lost a lifelong partner and I just don't know
where to even begin to heal. I think dance allows
you to heal that way.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So it's so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
We had Jenna on the podcast recently, your Beautiful Wife,
and she was telling me that you had started dabbling
in stand up comedy. Yes, I need to know everything
about this. What made you want to do that? And
is it scarier than dancing in front of millions of
people live every single week?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, Well, let's start with the scary. It's definitely more
terrifying than dancing in front of millions of people. Part
of it is also putting myself in a position to
really feel how you guys feel as well. You know,
this project has put me into this position of authority
(26:43):
and direction and leadership, and I'm teaching you, and you know,
sometimes I want to learn teach me. You know. Sometimes
when I see a celeb on our show that's taking
it for granted, I'm like, what, Yeah, I wish I
was on a project where a master of their craft
took their entire life and gave me their undivided attention
(27:04):
and effort to teach me their expertise. Please. I mean,
I did a cooking show. It was the greatest experience
of my life because I was like, I had a
chef teaching me a craft that has always evaded me,
that only empowered me as a human. You know. So
I was like, so grateful that you're sharing that with me.
So same thing with this comedy thing. I preach a
lot like go out there and do it, you know,
(27:28):
go outside your comfort zone. I'm like, well, how often
do you go outside of a comfort zone? And so
this was my comfort zone that I exited because stand
up comedy. I just love storytelling. I love comedy. I
think it's a great vehicle for people to express their
trauma in a digestible way. I think it builds bridges
with people. It's a way to, you know, again, maybe
(27:52):
touch on a topic matter that people have felt but
never felt that way or never expressed that way. So yeah,
And I'm a big fan of others that do stand
up so yeah. And also my whole life, I've I'm
in partnership, you know, even when you tell three time
mirror bold Champion, world champion, this champion, I never I
(28:16):
didn't do any of these things by myself, right right,
you know. And I love that. I love camaraderie, I
love the laboration. I love that. It makes me so
happy because I as much as I want things to
be mine, I also want to be of service to others,
you know. And so I love being on a team
because I get to do both. You know, I get
to triumph or if it's a win, triumph and feel
(28:39):
great about myself, but also at the same time be
of service and and and share this feeling with somebody else.
So I love that.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
But again, it's I've been a partner with somebody and
everything I've accomplished, even creative projects. I you know, Max
and valtour we did three tours together. I teach a lot,
you know. I teach with my incredible wife, Jenna. That's
another partnership. So there's a lot of partnerships in my life.
(29:12):
I wanted to do something by myself. You know, when
I go out there, I can't rely on anybody. It's
just meet the mic and that's it, you know. And
that also was something that intrigued me, is like, put
put yourself out there. It's scary. And so I again,
I was on Dancing with the Stars. I was in
the finale with Sochi. It was a long blocking day.
(29:35):
We have stand ins, you know. So one of the standings,
her name is Sheila. Sheila Ratner. She's an amazing comedian,
which I didn't know at the time, but she did
stand and work on Dancing with the Stars. So she
was so chea for like a two hour blocking of
an opening and her and I were just sitting there
and just roasting everybody that we were watching, amazing to
each other, and I was just like, yo, you are
(29:56):
so freaking funny. You should do comedy. She was like,
I did I'm a stand up the media and I
was like what. I was like, that's on my bucket list,
like I've always wanted to do it. I just didn't
even know where to start. And she was like, what,
you're professional world renowned dancer who was real passion is.
It's like, well, actually that's the opening of my old set. Anyway,
(30:21):
So one thing led to another. Off season, she hit
me up and she invited me to you know, kind
of like an open mic, and I said, sure, this
is like Thursday. I was like sure, and it was
on Tuesday, and I again, I try to exercise that
spirit of like saying yes and then figuring it out.
So I was like, yes, I'm in. And then and
then Monday roll you know, Monday rolls around. I'm like
(30:42):
I need to work. Yeah, and so yeah, I mean,
I've always been a creative writer. I wrote poetry ideas
to Ukraine. Again, the city that I'm from was kind
of the New Orleans of the Soviet Union. There's a
big comedy scene. There's a huge like jazz comedy, just
melting pot of Jewish and Slavic and other cultures kind
(31:05):
of but the energy of the city that I'm from
is it's kind of in us to be sarcastic and funny,
and you know a lot of comedians came out of
that city, So yeah, I mean I on tours, I
gravitate to open mics and just kind of going off
the cuff. But anyway, the point is I was terrified
(31:26):
and I almost pulled out like a hundred times because
again in my mind, I'm like, Wow, you don't need
to do this, Like why are you putting yourself through
so much anxiety right now on a random Tuesday. It's like, because,
you know, because you have to do that. And then
I showed up and I did it, and I did
it pretty well. And the feeling that I felt driving
(31:47):
back home after literally a five minute set. Whether way,
I'm not doing a forty five minutes set, nothing in
the big scheme of things, but it was just such
a moment of accomplishment that I was like, I gotta
do this again. Been you know, I've done it like
six seven times. It's just been so fun and exhilarating,
and I've also learned a lot about myself like that.
(32:08):
The anxiety is until I got there. As soon as
I got there, I'm like, oh, okay, I feel natural here,
and rightfully so, I've been performing and entertaining people's since
I was twelve years old, right for money, you know,
like professionally, So I feel really comfortable in that space
(32:31):
of pressure.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Like you said, so much of dance is storytelling. Comedy
is storytelling. Acting is storytelling. It's all just different forms
of storytelling. So even if it's a form you've never
done before, once you get up there and start doing it,
you're like, actually, it feels very similar. It's just a
different dial or a different channel than I'm used to
being on. Talking about partnerships, I wanted to talk to
(32:53):
you about season sixteen when you were paired with Zendea,
arguably the biggest star to ever participate on the show
for where she is now. But a lot of people
consider you two coming in second to be a crime
against humanity. Did you guys assume that you would win
or do you know it by the time season sixteen
rules around to never assume?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah, No, I wasn't assuming that. Plus, I mean, first
of all, thank you to all the fans that you.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Know, crime against humanity has been said more than one time.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
That's a lot but again out of context. Yeah, sure,
that seems a little bit much, But if you paid
attention to that season, you knew that Kelly Pickler was
killing it, and Derek did an incredible job again creating
her season and telling her story and giving her a
(33:47):
chance against a juggernaut like Zendeia. But no, I don't
think we were so far ahead that this was a
huge shocker. It was edibly disappointing, and I take a
lot of responsibility for that, but they definitely you know, again,
(34:09):
in hindsight, you look back and just how massive she
is and how great her performances were, no doubt, But
seeing those isolated performances doesn't show you the big picture,
because Kelly also had some great performances and she did
a great job.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
What kind of teacher do you think you are? How
would you describe yourself to somebody who's never seen you
as a pro? How would you describe your teaching style?
Speaker 2 (34:34):
I again, you know, first of all, you you're at
least a reflection, maybe not a full product of the
guidance and the influence that that you were brought up with,
But you're gonna be a reflection of that unless you
make a very conscious choice not to write. So you
know I'm a product of you know, a preacher, preacher dad.
(34:58):
You know, you fail to prepare, you prepared to fail.
Like you know, he coached me through life as a father.
He never coached me in dance, but he you know,
I feel like his his coaching. You know, if it
doesn't hurt, you're not doing much. You know, you're not
doing enough. Like if you want to be successful, you
got to be hungry and desperate and you know, broke,
and you know it's just like all these socialist values
(35:21):
social No, he's the big I mean, this guy is
the biggest patriot. I mean, we love America just for
the record, and capitalism and you don't have to say that,
just don't import me. It's the truth. But he grew
up in an environment where again there are values, are
human values that are really great that come out of that.
(35:44):
There's no shame. And again where we're from, and the
Soviet values, whether they're practical to build a build a
community and structure around maybe not, but as a human being,
to hold yourself accountable to certain principles and hard work
and like those that's the household I grew up in
(36:05):
and then my brother was a coach, and he was
a coach that lacked information and experience. And what I
mean by that is how great of a coach can
you be at eighteen?
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah, you know, so he's figuring it out with me,
you know, as as a kid, he was coaching me.
And so then I had other teachers that were great.
So how am i as a teacher. I'm not the
type of person that is going to force you to
do anything. I want to inspire you. I want to
give you the tools, and then you have to pick
(36:39):
up these tools and do them. And that's the difference
between a teacher and a coach, you know. I think
a coach doesn't ask you much. He tells you and really,
you know, kind of pushes you to execute. A teacher
is someone that guides you and teaches you and gives
(37:00):
you and then you have to have the passion and
the and the work ethic to to actually execute that.
I try to find a balance because in this project,
it's you know, it's teaching, it's therapy, it's you know, nutrition,
it's like all of it. But I think that's where
I'm at, and I don't I wouldn't say I'm the
(37:20):
best teacher, you know, I try to be. I'm always
getting better. But yeah, I I love teaching, I love motivating, inspiring,
but I love performing, you know. I like back to Lebron.
You know, Lebron didn't dream of teaching one day or
(37:40):
coaching basketball one day. He dreamed about performing at the
highest level. So those were my aspirations. But I'm really
grateful that I'm able to enjoy all facets right. And
the core is dance and it has so many ways
that it's bettered my life and has shaped my life,
you know. But being a teacher is one of them.
(38:02):
Being a performer is another one. Being an entrepreneur in
the space of dance is another one, you know. But again,
my favorite part about teaching is being of service to
this person. And the truth is a great coach, I
don't think even approaches it that way. He's not at
the service. He's more of the service of the game.
(38:25):
And you gotta you know, we're all here to accommodate
the game. And in regards to dancing with the stars,
I don't have that type of approach, you know, I do.
I think we both should be invested in the bigger picture.
Which is, let's get the best performance out there. But
ultimately I still lean towards I'm here at your service.
(38:48):
You know, you only get this thing once. How can
I make this the best thing you've ever experienced and
exactly how you wanted to experience it in the first place?
You know? So what are those creatives? What are those
dresses you want to wear? What are the songs you
want to dance to? Whether I like them or not, obviously,
I'm going to give you my direction and opinion, but
really I'm here to make your dreams come to life.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Can we talk about the double cartwheel? Was that one
of Alex's dreams?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Yeah? Yes, that was Alex's dreams? It was it turned
into my nightmare, but it was definitely tell me what happened?
Speaker 1 (39:21):
What I I literally couldn't believe it when I saw
the video and you guys just slamming into the ground.
How did this start?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Well, we were doing our quick step and I was,
you know, I had like this one cartwheel, which ultimately
what we ended up.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Doing, which looked phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Thanks, And she was like, what if we went to
get like like I went, then you went? Then I
you know, it's like you probably saw it on TikTok somewhere.
I was like, that's really cool. I can't do it,
but you know, let's do it. Because again, so that's
(40:00):
things like, you know, there's pressure on us. I want
to be good, you know, I want to be good
enough for you, you know, and she's challenging me, which
is again, if I preach this the spiel of like,
then I got to walk the walk, you know. And
so that was one of those situations where I like,
(40:21):
that is the most terrifying thing in the world. I
have next surgery two years ago, Like, I definitely don't
want to land on my head, but I will do
this because you're doing this, So how can I not
do this? You know, So let's do this. How do
we do this? And so then I try to YouTube.
I'm mad. I immediately thought like, she'll slip on the
map because this would be worse. So yeah, so we
(40:44):
just youtubed some instructionals and I was like, let's go
for it, and yeah, we went forward a bunch of times,
and I mean, she you know that that's the part
that I wish showed up more in the packages, and
just like I want to communicate that to our audience
is like this pretty put together a young Barbie looking
(41:06):
thing is an animal in the studio. That's like, let's
go try to thrown her body around like I mean,
you saw her do the baby freeze in the jive,
Like she's down. You know, she's down a place she's
down to like get messy. And like I said, I
would be a hypocrite if fund and match that energy
and reciprocate that energy, even as irresponsible as it was
(41:30):
for us to do this week. But that move is
still there. There's still promise because we're close. I just
need to become significantly more flexible than my working on this.
I am, I am, and she just potentially needs to
be just a little bit stronger.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Okay, so she needs to need some strength training and
you need some flexibility work. But there's still a possibility
we could see a double cartwheel this season. Fingers crossed,
not even because I want to, not even because I
want to see it in the performance, but because I
want for both of you to feel like you pushed
yourself in the direction and that you checked that box,
(42:07):
like she presented something that was a challenge for me
and you got what you wanted out of it, like,
I'm so rooting for.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
That this show. You're not successful on the show unless
you have moments like that. Yeah, exactly, And that's what
I realized. It's like anytime I was successful, it's when
I said yes to some crazy thing and we pushed
through and we did it. Yeah, because that is so contagious.
People at home feel that they see that, they see
(42:34):
the stakes. Really, it was back to the two camps
and when we were talking about the quality of dance,
it doesn't matter. And that's where it could be a
little bit of a disadvantage because if you've already reached
the peak, what do we wear? Are the stakes? Where
are you headed now? Yeah? But you got to reach
for those peaks and that's what's fun to watch. So
I appreciate Alex for that idea, and again we'll still
(42:57):
execute it, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Can we talk fashion for just a brief second. What
are some of your influences? I think you have incredible style.
Every time we see each other, we do a full
little fit check. What are some of your influences and
what are you into right now?
Speaker 2 (43:12):
I'm influencing you know again, I'm a product of so much,
you know, combustion of different cultures. You know, I'm an
Eastern European kid that grew up in Brooklyn, New York,
listening to a hip hop while playing violin and being
you know, educated and dance, and dance introduced me to
a Latin culture in which so much of our bravado
(43:34):
because again I specialized in the Latin styles, not the
Borm styles. I did Borm, but the Latin styles were
my expertise. So I'm mimicking the Bravado of all these,
you know, Antonio Benderis's and that's Barrados, and so there's
a fashion and you know that kind of like peacocking
of that energy plus my dance aesthetic. You know, I've
(43:56):
been wearing chaffon since I was twelve years old, you know,
ten years. Oh, so it's it's a bit of everything.
It's it's so and I traveled to Europe for competitions
a lot as a kid through on my teens as well,
so I saw the you know, the kind of the
fitted fashion. Then I would come back to New York
and obviously be surrounded by i mean, late nineties jenko Is.
(44:20):
It's crazy to see all this wide fit now coming back.
So yeah, I mean, I love pop culture and I
love dance, but I you know, I live beyond dance,
you know, and ballroom dance. I love, like I said,
hip hop music, Latin music. You know. I played in
(44:42):
an orchestra, played classical music my whole life, you know.
So I just love it all. And I love where
we live now, where it's like anything goes, you know.
As soon as sneakers were acceptable with a three piece
suit my zone.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Yeah, I'm happy. Yeah, I want to thank you so
much for coming on the show. I can tell you
that from the moment I agreed to do Dancing with
the Stars, you and your brother were a major reason
why I have just been such a fan for so long,
and you guys are very inspiring. So I have so
appreciated getting to know you and spending time with you,
(45:17):
and you're just an absolute joy. So thank you for
doing this show.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
Thank you, Thank you for having me. I'm glad we
let it happen.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
You sure did.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Danielle with the Stars produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel.
Executive producers Jensen carp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge
of production, Danielle Romo producer, editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch.
Theme song by Justin Siegel. Follow us on Instagram at
Danielle with Stars and vote for me
It's time for another Danielle with the Stars. I am
Danielle Fischel, a TV director, a podcaster to Panga on
Boy Meets World and its millennial reboot, plus a mom
of two. But right now I am a dedicated ballroom
dancer competing on season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars,
airing every Tuesday night on ABC and Disney Plus. I
(00:34):
know it's still weird for me too, And while I
chatcha salsa and foxtrot my little heart out, I am
recording this podcast, logging in my research and personal emotions
on trying to win my very own mirror Ball trophy,
and along the way, I'm talking to other contestants and
professionals in hopes that even just a small chat can
(00:54):
lead me in the right direction of success. And today
I know I'm onto something. He's the winner of three
mirror Ball trophies, leading Rumor Willis, Lori Hernandez, and Sochi
Gomez to the top spot. Over the whopping twenty seasons,
he has been a part of the show, and in
my opinion, there is no better week to talk to
(01:16):
him because he has been a part of a few
shocking eliminations himself also clocking in second or third place
finishes along the way. This season, he is paired with
social media Maven Alex Earl, helping her turn TikTok dance
skills into ballroom ballyho and they are killing it so far.
(01:38):
Please welcome to Danielle with the Stars. It's one of
the most talented and fashionable dancers in the game. Say
hello to Val Schmerkowsky. Wow, welcome. Hi. You are elusive
and hard to pin down. How many times have I
asked you to come on Danielle with the Stars the last.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Few weeks, so so many times.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I've pounded you. Stara has hounded you. Yeah, I'm so
honored you finally made it into my den of podcasting.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Thank you. I was, you know, maybe I was dodging
you because I was a little intimidated.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Now I'm ready, Okay, great, I'm actually I was happy
to confirm that you're not avoiding me, But I think
maybe you just confirmed you were avoiding me. Okay, So
I don't want to start with something heavy, but I
kind of have to. Can we talk about last night's elimination?
Were you as shocked as I was?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, yeah, I was very shocked. You know, Lauren to
me was a contender. Yeah, not just because of her
amazing dancing and just performance value. I mean, she's a
contender because of the massive fan base and just you know,
she's in it. She's a big star. Yeah, you know,
and I just thought that she was in it for
(02:48):
the long haul. But again, it's like you never know.
I was very shocked. You know, I feel again, respectfully
to you and your fellow celebrities. Yeah, my heart immediately
goes to the pro. You know, I feel for the
celeb obviously, but there's such a huge responsibility that is
(03:09):
put on the pro, so I my empathy was more
immediate with Brandon. Obviously, I feel bad for Lauren. But
you know, again, I just making sure that he, you know,
just knows that this isn't a reflection on his professional capabilities,
but rather, you know, things that potentially are out of
his control. Now, should he take some responsibility, of course
(03:31):
he will, regardless of what I tell him. But separating
those two things, like you know, understanding that your professional
integrity has nothing to do with this result, and if
you could separate that, because I know you're stressing about
that too, you know, just enjoy the hurt, loathing, the disappointment,
because it definitely is disappointing, but don't tie those two
(03:52):
things together.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, and you have experience with that, especially the season
as well, because your wife Jenna week one, So did
you have a very similar conversation with her? I know
she she described herself to me as psychotically competitive. So
what was that conversation like between the two of you
when she went home week one?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Difficult? Yeah, but also not the first time we've had
that conversation. I just think that the highs and lows
of the show and this industry in general. I mean
it's a reflection of being in the performing arts, but
then also in Hollywood. Then also just with the massive
appeal of the show right now, there's so many eyes,
so much just frequency around this project. It just it's hard.
(04:43):
You know, Plus, you were, you know what before used
to be, you were anxious about being validated once a
week in the form of judges' scores and potentially people's votes.
Now you are seeing direct validation or lack of in
every post that you post, right, and so you've you've
seen those views, you see in those comments, you've see
(05:04):
those likes. It's very hard not to pay attention to
the energy on on on social media. So yeah, with
all of that, there's a lot of pressure and so
you gotta, you gotta, you gotta have some some foundation
that can alleviate some of that stress. So the conversations
we've had, you know, we've had for many seasons now,
(05:27):
which is you know, there there's so much that you
can do. You are clearly good enough because last year
you have won in a very competitive season. You know,
this wasn't like a runaway win. This this is a battle,
and you know, just like this season is going to
be a battle. Last year she came out on top
(05:47):
and that was a really beautiful moment for our family. Yeah,
unfortunately this year that's not how it went. But yeah, yeah,
just keep moving.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
It's interesting what you said talking about working in the
entertainment industry. We have such a weird dichotomy of needing
to be very vulnerable with people who are very willing
to be vulnerable and wear our hearts on our sleeve
for performance value, and yet also need to have a
thick skin, you know, which is hard to be both.
It's hard to be the type of person that can
leave it all out there and show you everything that
(06:23):
we're feeling and emote, and then also walk off the
dance floor and be like, I'm not going to let
that negative comment or those lack of likes or those whatever,
or this loss affect me.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
It's yeah, I mean again, in the performing arts or
you know, you come from TV, I don't know if
you've done stage. I'm sure you have. You know, you
become vulnerable playing a character that then you go backstage
and you don't have to talk about it, you don't
have to reveal your natural self. Here. You're doing all
of that in a span of five minutes in front
(06:55):
of millions of people live and also you are setting
up the conversation in your package. Then you are going
all in revealing yourself. Again, if you want to have
a strong performance, you have to really throw yourself into it.
And then immediately it's like, how do you feel about that? Well,
I mean I don't. I can't even barely breathe. Yeah,
(07:15):
it's really hard to again, just all all of these
nights are so packed with intensity and just so many
emotions high low. Regardless, it's important to to have a
routine of the compression and like just just yeah, just
snapping out of it.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What is your decompression routine after a live show?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Do you go eat?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I do? I eat pasta? That's my comfort food.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I guess, yeah, what kind of pasta?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I'm a basic? Yeah, I'm like, you mean the special
sticks to of course, you got to get the garlic bread.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Okay, so that's that's good. Anything else do you try
to do? You have a hard time coming down. I
wasn't able to go to sleep until one am last night.
I'm on such an adrenaline high. I don't know how
to calm my body down.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, no, same, I stay up pretty late. Yeah, I
mean again, I preach more than I do, you know,
as far as decompress. Don't trust so much, don't you know?
But I was trussing the entire time already about next week.
And that's what's hard. It's like you become your own word,
you know, your biggest competition. When people are like, who's
(08:32):
your biggest competition? I mean there's obvious answers, but the bigger,
more honest answer is that it's yourself. As cliche as
it sounds, but you're only as good as your last performance,
you know, So after a night like last night for Us,
which was our best performance yet. Such a great moment.
It's very short lived because now I'm like, Okay, how
(08:54):
do I a moment? Yeah? So yeah, it's stressful.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Can we talk a little bit about Andy Richt's appeal?
The world has just fallen in love with him? How
much of that? Again, you mentioned that your empathy and
all of your your thoughts go to the pro I
also want to praise Emma.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
How much of what the audience sees about the celebrity,
how much of that is able to be shaped by you? Guys?
How quickly do you get to know your partners and say,
I'm able to spot this very specific thing that I
think America will fall in love with, and how do
you bring that to life?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah? So much. I think we have a lot to
deal with that. I mean, Emma give her nickname magician
because she just like makes something, you know, kind of
out of something that very few would would would would
create so many, you know, so many dynamic performances with Yeah.
(09:58):
But as far as Andy, yeah, I think she's want
a great job creating his story, you know, and introducing
different parts and layers of him to our audience. I
think she does that really well every year, and she's
just emotionally invested, you know. I think that's that's a
big part of what makes a pro successful on our
(10:22):
show is besides the expertise and the and the knowledge,
you gotta be really you gotta really love people. Yea,
you gotta love people. You gotta want to connect with people.
And Emma's one of those pros that really is emotionally
invested in her partners. And I think, yeah, and that's
why that happens. But yeah, I mean she's also got
(10:46):
a great sense of humor. He's obviously got an incredible
creative sense of humor and is also down to play.
But but again, yeah, he's he's relatable because he's every
man every man and and even our female demographic is
watching him and sees the uncle or the grandfather or
the father or the brother or whatever. Yeah, the guy
(11:08):
in there in their family that's down to play. Yeah,
you know, And I think that's what's so beautiful about
him is he's not a perfect dancer, but he's attempting
it holdheartedly and I think effort, curiosity, enthusiasm goes a
long way.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Totally as someone who is both a technically incredible dancer
and also a wonderful performer. Would you rather have the
best dance of the night or someone's favorite dance of
the night.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Mmmm, that's great. I'd rather have someone's favorite yeah night. Yeah, okay,
I do it for the people. For the scores, right,
it sounded.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So that was good. Put that on, Put that on
a T shirt.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, scores they matter, but obviously they matter. They you
know the position, you know, you know you don't want
to be eliminated, but I just want to be I
want to steal the night. You know. That's how I
call I just right now. It's hard because there's so
many great couples and so many of them, it's hard
to do that. But yeah, I'm just trying to steal
(12:16):
the show with a performance that people love and want
to watch again, whether the scores in line or not.
You know, I try to balance both, but that would
be more important to.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Me, okay. Carrie Anne said this past week that there
seemed to be two camps on the show, those with
prior dance experience who walked in here already very impressive,
and those who knew nothing but are learning every week
and hopefully getting better. Where would you rather be strategy wise?
And what do you think is kind of the spirit
(12:47):
of the show.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I mean, the show is a balance and act of
both of those things. We just spoke about Andy and
the you know, he might not look like him, but
believe it or not, he's not a trained dancer. Surprised,
But I think our show is not just about dance.
It's about performance. It's about connection, you know, And so
(13:12):
that's the great equalizer, you know. So yes, you could
come in with a lifelong dance education in your in
your you know bag, but if you're not someone that
that makes people gravitate to you, then none of that matters.
So I think I think that's that's what's great about
(13:34):
dances and art in general. It is like sometimes something honest,
something less but honest is more impactful than more and
just you know, it doesn't mean much to you. Sometimes
it's a disadvantage. I'll say that. I mean, again, it
doesn't sound like you know, it sounds like a hot take.
But sometimes having dance experience is a disadvantage because there's
(13:57):
charm in the imperfection, there is relatability in the imperfection,
you know, And I that's why I want to clean
you know, when we were working with Alex even like,
I try to also embrace her imperfections because I think
that's what makes that performance even more entertaining, rather than
(14:18):
clean her into.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
No polished perfect Danie.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
That it's numb. So I never want to do that.
But it's a balance. I mean again, it's a balance
and act. It's hard for the judges, but I think
for them, uh, you know, whether it's two camps that
the show's divice, I don't know about that comment, but
it's in general, I think you're judging based on relativity
to that person's yeah, you know where they at. So
(14:45):
if for Andy, I feel like it's not the same
standard as Hilario and and I don't think there's anything
wrong with that, right exactly, we're being graded on a curve.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yes, correct, correct. I want to talk a little bit
about Alex. Can you set the record straight here? You
guys have already done it. You guys get along, you
(15:16):
guys like each other, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I think she's all right most of the time.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
There's that sarcasm that keeps getting you guys into travel.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Well listen, you know again, my sarcasm has been getting
me in trouble my whole life.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It's not going to stop.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, And you know, context never reveals itself on social media,
so I'm sure I don't blame the speculations. Yeah, but no,
of course I like each other. I I'm grateful to Alex.
You know, I think she's a remarkable talent. The fact
that I have the opportunity to work with that talent
(15:51):
there is a huge privilege of mine, you know. So
those are the things that don't you know, they're not
just right, that's not as funny.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, exactly, come across.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
So yeah, So no, I don't just like her. I
am really proud of her, grateful to be her partner, teacher,
you know, I'm all in. Yeah, And I think there's
now even more common ground between me and my celebrity
partner because you guys don't get another chance to do
(16:21):
the show right, you know, every week is important, every
day is sacred for us. It's not guaranteed that we're
asked back, obviously, you know how fickle that relationship is.
But you know, there was a stretch, you know, this
is my twentieth season. There was a stretch where I
was like comfortable, you know, and I knew I was
(16:42):
going to come back next year. Now it's every season
feels very similar to how it feels for you. You know,
I don't know how many more.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Seasons I got so hi because you personally are starting
to think about doing something else, or you think they're
starting to think about needing other people.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I think a little bit of both. I'm not delusional
about the fact that my you know, my my tenure
on the show will eventually come to an end before
the show will come to an end, Okay, and I
want it that way, you know, I think my life
is better with the show around, whether I'm on it
(17:19):
or not. You know, I'm a huge champion of this project.
I love that it exists to change my life, first
through my brother Max, then through my own opportunities. But
having said that, I'm still killing it.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
You know where on earth? Thinking you were.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Going, well, because I don't want to. I don't.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
You don't want to take it for granted.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I don't. Well, first of all, I'm not taking it
for granted, But secondly, I I what is it? I
don't I don't want to overstay my welcome, you know,
So right now I'm still feeling pretty good. You know,
but eventually I understand there's going to be again. I
also don't want to be greedy, Like I don't want
to hog this really awesome opportunity. If there's a dancer
(18:05):
that's waiting for that slot, I will kindly give him
that slot. But you got to earn it.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Too, you know, as I say, you're so generous.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Look, Lebron James twenty three seasons into the league, like,
he's still the top ten player in the most competitive
sport in the world.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So so you've got at least three more years.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Oh little more than that.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Okay, I said, at least okay. Good. You mentioned your
brother Max, who had been on the show since season
two and you joined the show in season thirteen. Was
watching him be a part of the show something that
made you want to be a part of it as well?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah? Yeah, for sure. I mean, so there's so much
history with all the pro talent that came on the show.
Pretty much everybody knows each other, yeah, and knows all
of each other because the bom competitive Borum dance world
is so small. Yeah, So, you know, for from our perspective,
(19:01):
when this project came along, I was already you know,
a pretty solid name in the competitive ballroom dance world.
My brother was as well, and the pros that were recruited,
a lot of them were big names, but some of
the elite names, you know, still frowned upon this project
and the prospect of, you know, I'm going to go
and dance with celebrities on television. You know, it's like, yeah,
(19:26):
you know, I'm not gonna beyond that. And so yeah,
so there was that energy as well for me. But
but again that that's also partially joking. The point is
that I dedicate my whole life to pursuing this craft,
and I was already comfortable with being broke, you know.
So it's like I wasn't driven by the financial success
(19:48):
or the vanity of being in Hollywood. I was just
driven about being the best competitive ballroom dancing in the world.
And I wasn't there yet when they asked me to
be on the show or when my brother joined the show.
But so yeah, so I enjoyed it, if vicariously through him. Yeah,
he you know, we're really close. So you know, it's
like that Jay Z Lyric, Like I got on the billboard,
(20:11):
I took my boys with me, So it's the same thing.
You know, he made it out and he from his
first season, he already introduced me. They did a package
literally three weeks into his first season about how he
has this little dance school in New Jersey and his
brother is a part of that school, and so he
flew me out and I performed already. So but I'd
(20:33):
never wanted to full time, stop competing and do this
until I was like twenty five. So first, like six years,
I was watching and then Mark joined, Derek joined kind
of like that now my peers joined, and I was
watching that for a while, and again I was super happy,
(20:53):
but it was just and I said that before, like
at twenty five, there was a moment I just came
off the floor of competition, really prestigious event. I did
really well, but I walked away feeling kind of empty
and that curiosity of like what would it be like
to perform on this big stage in Hollywood and finally
(21:15):
have more than you know, four digits in my bank account?
You know, I just asked myself, like, the difference between
a hobby and a profession is a paycheck, and it
sounds kind of I don't know, maybe it sounds a
bit superficial, but like I said, you come to an
(21:35):
age where after you know, years of your life being
dedicated to a craft, seeing this opportunity to financially change
your life. But also I think also artistically, I was
done being just an athlete and I was excited to
start being more creative and more artistic. And the show
does allow for that totally. So once I joined the show,
(21:57):
I kind of built a different relationship with dance growing up.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
What other hobbies did you have besides dance?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Girls, that's not a hobby I know. I played. So
I played violin for fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yeah, I started playing when I was five, So that
was really my art and that was I took it seriously.
In any Eastern European family, especially immigrant family, they're like,
we ain't got time for games, you know. So everything
I did I did to be the best at.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
What do your parents do? Why are you guys so creative?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
They don't do anything creative. My mom she graduated college,
I think, with like an engineering degree, but then she
just didn't really pursue her career because she was taking
care of us. Huh. My dad was a merchant marine
out of college. Again. We were in Ukraine. Yessa as
a coastal city on the black seat. So everybody there
(22:55):
wanted to be you know, wanted to get out, and
that was a way to get out. They got to
travel the world by being a merchant marine. That means
they're working on a big ship carrying import export stuff.
And so he did that for like a year and
a half out of college. But my mom already had
Max and she was like, I'm not taking care of
this baby by myself because the trip is like six months.
(23:17):
He's might see and then comes back. So then he
stopped that and kind of committed to being an entrepreneur
by that time. Again, this is like a history lesson
Soviet Union. There's no capitalism under communism, so you know,
a lot of that import export kind of just with
commerce business in America. There was kind of tinkering on
(23:40):
being illegal. But he you know, again he would like
import jeans and sell them on the market there. He
would bring in leather goods from Turkey and then you know,
so it was a hustle and he was doing well financially,
but again there was a lot of instability, and so
that was one of the reasons why they you know,
they really wanted to immigrate to America, and we got lucky,
(24:02):
we want to, you know, a visa and packed up
our bags and in a matter of like a month
and left our entire I mean, I wasn't leaving anything.
I am eight years old. I'm like excited for the adventure.
I had no idea of what this means. But for them, yeah,
they left all their friends and lineage and history and
(24:23):
you know, comfort, and we moved to Brooklyn, New York.
And yeah, so that's it. They just to answer your question,
my dad is a business owner, that's it. And early
on he was looking you know, he started coding in
America because I was like leading up to the bubble,
right two thousands. We immigrated ninety four, so he learned
how to code, this dad, but then hated being in
(24:45):
a cubicle. And one day he quit his job and
opened up a dance studio with my brother. That's my
brother was sixteen years old. And that's it. Now we have, yeah,
we have fourteen dance studios around the country right now.
We just celebrated twenty years.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
But we had a kids school for a while and
then we opened up. Now what we have now, which
is a social dance studio catering to.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Adults, catering to adults like me, like yourself, want to
learn how to dance, and no experience in it at all.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
That again, that are using dance as a vehicle to
better themselves, challenge themselves, find community, find interaction. Right, We're
so connected, but we're so disconnected physically, you know. Dance
I think is a great way to just yeah, you know,
like feel another human and having that intimacy without you know,
(25:36):
the sexual intimacy, you know, And I think that's something
that there's a lot of loneliness. There's a lot of people,
you know, we have a lot of clients that you know,
maybe lost a lifelong partner and I just don't know
where to even begin to heal. I think dance allows
you to heal that way.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So it's so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
We had Jenna on the podcast recently, your Beautiful Wife,
and she was telling me that you had started dabbling
in stand up comedy. Yes, I need to know everything
about this. What made you want to do that? And
is it scarier than dancing in front of millions of
people live every single week?
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, Well, let's start with the scary. It's definitely more
terrifying than dancing in front of millions of people. Part
of it is also putting myself in a position to
really feel how you guys feel as well. You know,
this project has put me into this position of authority
(26:43):
and direction and leadership, and I'm teaching you, and you know,
sometimes I want to learn teach me. You know. Sometimes
when I see a celeb on our show that's taking
it for granted, I'm like, what, Yeah, I wish I
was on a project where a master of their craft
took their entire life and gave me their undivided attention
(27:04):
and effort to teach me their expertise. Please. I mean,
I did a cooking show. It was the greatest experience
of my life because I was like, I had a
chef teaching me a craft that has always evaded me,
that only empowered me as a human. You know. So
I was like, so grateful that you're sharing that with me.
So same thing with this comedy thing. I preach a
lot like go out there and do it, you know,
(27:28):
go outside your comfort zone. I'm like, well, how often
do you go outside of a comfort zone? And so
this was my comfort zone that I exited because stand
up comedy. I just love storytelling. I love comedy. I
think it's a great vehicle for people to express their
trauma in a digestible way. I think it builds bridges
with people. It's a way to, you know, again, maybe
(27:52):
touch on a topic matter that people have felt but
never felt that way or never expressed that way. So yeah,
And I'm a big fan of others that do stand
up so yeah. And also my whole life, I've I'm
in partnership, you know, even when you tell three time
mirror bold Champion, world champion, this champion, I never I
(28:16):
didn't do any of these things by myself, right right,
you know. And I love that. I love camaraderie, I
love the laboration. I love that. It makes me so
happy because I as much as I want things to
be mine, I also want to be of service to others,
you know. And so I love being on a team
because I get to do both. You know, I get
to triumph or if it's a win, triumph and feel
(28:39):
great about myself, but also at the same time be
of service and and and share this feeling with somebody else.
So I love that.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
But again, it's I've been a partner with somebody and
everything I've accomplished, even creative projects. I you know, Max
and valtour we did three tours together. I teach a lot,
you know. I teach with my incredible wife, Jenna. That's
another partnership. So there's a lot of partnerships in my life.
(29:12):
I wanted to do something by myself. You know, when
I go out there, I can't rely on anybody. It's
just meet the mic and that's it, you know. And
that also was something that intrigued me, is like, put
put yourself out there. It's scary. And so I again,
I was on Dancing with the Stars. I was in
the finale with Sochi. It was a long blocking day.
(29:35):
We have stand ins, you know. So one of the standings,
her name is Sheila. Sheila Ratner. She's an amazing comedian,
which I didn't know at the time, but she did
stand and work on Dancing with the Stars. So she
was so chea for like a two hour blocking of
an opening and her and I were just sitting there
and just roasting everybody that we were watching, amazing to
each other, and I was just like, yo, you are
(29:56):
so freaking funny. You should do comedy. She was like,
I did I'm a stand up the media and I
was like what. I was like, that's on my bucket list,
like I've always wanted to do it. I just didn't
even know where to start. And she was like, what,
you're professional world renowned dancer who was real passion is.
It's like, well, actually that's the opening of my old set. Anyway,
(30:21):
So one thing led to another. Off season, she hit
me up and she invited me to you know, kind
of like an open mic, and I said, sure, this
is like Thursday. I was like sure, and it was
on Tuesday, and I again, I try to exercise that
spirit of like saying yes and then figuring it out.
So I was like, yes, I'm in. And then and
then Monday roll you know, Monday rolls around. I'm like
(30:42):
I need to work. Yeah, and so yeah, I mean,
I've always been a creative writer. I wrote poetry ideas
to Ukraine. Again, the city that I'm from was kind
of the New Orleans of the Soviet Union. There's a
big comedy scene. There's a huge like jazz comedy, just
melting pot of Jewish and Slavic and other cultures kind
(31:05):
of but the energy of the city that I'm from
is it's kind of in us to be sarcastic and funny,
and you know a lot of comedians came out of
that city, So yeah, I mean I on tours, I
gravitate to open mics and just kind of going off
the cuff. But anyway, the point is I was terrified
(31:26):
and I almost pulled out like a hundred times because
again in my mind, I'm like, Wow, you don't need
to do this, Like why are you putting yourself through
so much anxiety right now on a random Tuesday. It's like, because,
you know, because you have to do that. And then
I showed up and I did it, and I did
it pretty well. And the feeling that I felt driving
(31:47):
back home after literally a five minute set. Whether way,
I'm not doing a forty five minutes set, nothing in
the big scheme of things, but it was just such
a moment of accomplishment that I was like, I gotta
do this again. Been you know, I've done it like
six seven times. It's just been so fun and exhilarating,
and I've also learned a lot about myself like that.
(32:08):
The anxiety is until I got there. As soon as
I got there, I'm like, oh, okay, I feel natural here,
and rightfully so, I've been performing and entertaining people's since
I was twelve years old, right for money, you know,
like professionally, So I feel really comfortable in that space
(32:31):
of pressure.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Like you said, so much of dance is storytelling. Comedy
is storytelling. Acting is storytelling. It's all just different forms
of storytelling. So even if it's a form you've never
done before, once you get up there and start doing it,
you're like, actually, it feels very similar. It's just a
different dial or a different channel than I'm used to
being on. Talking about partnerships, I wanted to talk to
(32:53):
you about season sixteen when you were paired with Zendea,
arguably the biggest star to ever participate on the show
for where she is now. But a lot of people
consider you two coming in second to be a crime
against humanity. Did you guys assume that you would win
or do you know it by the time season sixteen
rules around to never assume?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah, No, I wasn't assuming that. Plus, I mean, first
of all, thank you to all the fans that you.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Know, crime against humanity has been said more than one time.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
That's a lot but again out of context. Yeah, sure,
that seems a little bit much, But if you paid
attention to that season, you knew that Kelly Pickler was
killing it, and Derek did an incredible job again creating
her season and telling her story and giving her a
(33:47):
chance against a juggernaut like Zendeia. But no, I don't
think we were so far ahead that this was a
huge shocker. It was edibly disappointing, and I take a
lot of responsibility for that, but they definitely you know, again,
(34:09):
in hindsight, you look back and just how massive she
is and how great her performances were, no doubt, But
seeing those isolated performances doesn't show you the big picture,
because Kelly also had some great performances and she did
a great job.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
What kind of teacher do you think you are? How
would you describe yourself to somebody who's never seen you
as a pro? How would you describe your teaching style?
Speaker 2 (34:34):
I again, you know, first of all, you you're at
least a reflection, maybe not a full product of the
guidance and the influence that that you were brought up with,
But you're gonna be a reflection of that unless you
make a very conscious choice not to write. So you
know I'm a product of you know, a preacher, preacher dad.
(34:58):
You know, you fail to prepare, you prepared to fail.
Like you know, he coached me through life as a father.
He never coached me in dance, but he you know,
I feel like his his coaching. You know, if it
doesn't hurt, you're not doing much. You know, you're not
doing enough. Like if you want to be successful, you
got to be hungry and desperate and you know, broke,
and you know it's just like all these socialist values
(35:21):
social No, he's the big I mean, this guy is
the biggest patriot. I mean, we love America just for
the record, and capitalism and you don't have to say that,
just don't import me. It's the truth. But he grew
up in an environment where again there are values, are
human values that are really great that come out of that.
(35:44):
There's no shame. And again where we're from, and the
Soviet values, whether they're practical to build a build a
community and structure around maybe not, but as a human being,
to hold yourself accountable to certain principles and hard work
and like those that's the household I grew up in
(36:05):
and then my brother was a coach, and he was
a coach that lacked information and experience. And what I
mean by that is how great of a coach can
you be at eighteen?
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah, you know, so he's figuring it out with me,
you know, as as a kid, he was coaching me.
And so then I had other teachers that were great.
So how am i as a teacher. I'm not the
type of person that is going to force you to
do anything. I want to inspire you. I want to
give you the tools, and then you have to pick
(36:39):
up these tools and do them. And that's the difference
between a teacher and a coach, you know. I think
a coach doesn't ask you much. He tells you and really,
you know, kind of pushes you to execute. A teacher
is someone that guides you and teaches you and gives
(37:00):
you and then you have to have the passion and
the and the work ethic to to actually execute that.
I try to find a balance because in this project,
it's you know, it's teaching, it's therapy, it's you know, nutrition,
it's like all of it. But I think that's where
I'm at, and I don't I wouldn't say I'm the
(37:20):
best teacher, you know, I try to be. I'm always
getting better. But yeah, I I love teaching, I love motivating, inspiring,
but I love performing, you know. I like back to Lebron.
You know, Lebron didn't dream of teaching one day or
(37:40):
coaching basketball one day. He dreamed about performing at the
highest level. So those were my aspirations. But I'm really
grateful that I'm able to enjoy all facets right. And
the core is dance and it has so many ways
that it's bettered my life and has shaped my life,
you know. But being a teacher is one of them.
(38:02):
Being a performer is another one. Being an entrepreneur in
the space of dance is another one, you know. But again,
my favorite part about teaching is being of service to
this person. And the truth is a great coach, I
don't think even approaches it that way. He's not at
the service. He's more of the service of the game.
(38:25):
And you gotta you know, we're all here to accommodate
the game. And in regards to dancing with the stars,
I don't have that type of approach, you know, I do.
I think we both should be invested in the bigger picture.
Which is, let's get the best performance out there. But
ultimately I still lean towards I'm here at your service.
(38:48):
You know, you only get this thing once. How can
I make this the best thing you've ever experienced and
exactly how you wanted to experience it in the first place?
You know? So what are those creatives? What are those
dresses you want to wear? What are the songs you
want to dance to? Whether I like them or not, obviously,
I'm going to give you my direction and opinion, but
really I'm here to make your dreams come to life.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Can we talk about the double cartwheel? Was that one
of Alex's dreams?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Yeah? Yes, that was Alex's dreams? It was it turned
into my nightmare, but it was definitely tell me what happened?
Speaker 1 (39:21):
What I I literally couldn't believe it when I saw
the video and you guys just slamming into the ground.
How did this start?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Well, we were doing our quick step and I was,
you know, I had like this one cartwheel, which ultimately
what we ended up.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Doing, which looked phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Thanks, And she was like, what if we went to
get like like I went, then you went? Then I
you know, it's like you probably saw it on TikTok somewhere.
I was like, that's really cool. I can't do it,
but you know, let's do it. Because again, so that's
(40:00):
things like, you know, there's pressure on us. I want
to be good, you know, I want to be good
enough for you, you know, and she's challenging me, which
is again, if I preach this the spiel of like,
then I got to walk the walk, you know. And
so that was one of those situations where I like,
(40:21):
that is the most terrifying thing in the world. I
have next surgery two years ago, Like, I definitely don't
want to land on my head, but I will do
this because you're doing this, So how can I not
do this? You know, So let's do this. How do
we do this? And so then I try to YouTube.
I'm mad. I immediately thought like, she'll slip on the
map because this would be worse. So yeah, so we
(40:44):
just youtubed some instructionals and I was like, let's go
for it, and yeah, we went forward a bunch of times,
and I mean, she you know that that's the part
that I wish showed up more in the packages, and
just like I want to communicate that to our audience
is like this pretty put together a young Barbie looking
(41:06):
thing is an animal in the studio. That's like, let's
go try to thrown her body around like I mean,
you saw her do the baby freeze in the jive,
Like she's down. You know, she's down a place she's
down to like get messy. And like I said, I
would be a hypocrite if fund and match that energy
and reciprocate that energy, even as irresponsible as it was
(41:30):
for us to do this week. But that move is
still there. There's still promise because we're close. I just
need to become significantly more flexible than my working on this.
I am, I am, and she just potentially needs to
be just a little bit stronger.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Okay, so she needs to need some strength training and
you need some flexibility work. But there's still a possibility
we could see a double cartwheel this season. Fingers crossed,
not even because I want to, not even because I
want to see it in the performance, but because I
want for both of you to feel like you pushed
yourself in the direction and that you checked that box,
(42:07):
like she presented something that was a challenge for me
and you got what you wanted out of it, like,
I'm so rooting for.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
That this show. You're not successful on the show unless
you have moments like that. Yeah, exactly, And that's what
I realized. It's like anytime I was successful, it's when
I said yes to some crazy thing and we pushed
through and we did it. Yeah, because that is so contagious.
People at home feel that they see that, they see
(42:34):
the stakes. Really, it was back to the two camps
and when we were talking about the quality of dance,
it doesn't matter. And that's where it could be a
little bit of a disadvantage because if you've already reached
the peak, what do we wear? Are the stakes? Where
are you headed now? Yeah? But you got to reach
for those peaks and that's what's fun to watch. So
I appreciate Alex for that idea, and again we'll still
(42:57):
execute it, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Can we talk fashion for just a brief second. What
are some of your influences? I think you have incredible style.
Every time we see each other, we do a full
little fit check. What are some of your influences and
what are you into right now?
Speaker 2 (43:12):
I'm influencing you know again, I'm a product of so much,
you know, combustion of different cultures. You know, I'm an
Eastern European kid that grew up in Brooklyn, New York,
listening to a hip hop while playing violin and being
you know, educated and dance, and dance introduced me to
a Latin culture in which so much of our bravado
(43:34):
because again I specialized in the Latin styles, not the
Borm styles. I did Borm, but the Latin styles were
my expertise. So I'm mimicking the Bravado of all these,
you know, Antonio Benderis's and that's Barrados, and so there's
a fashion and you know that kind of like peacocking
of that energy plus my dance aesthetic. You know, I've
(43:56):
been wearing chaffon since I was twelve years old, you know,
ten years. Oh, so it's it's a bit of everything.
It's it's so and I traveled to Europe for competitions
a lot as a kid through on my teens as well,
so I saw the you know, the kind of the
fitted fashion. Then I would come back to New York
and obviously be surrounded by i mean, late nineties jenko Is.
(44:20):
It's crazy to see all this wide fit now coming back.
So yeah, I mean, I love pop culture and I
love dance, but I you know, I live beyond dance,
you know, and ballroom dance. I love, like I said,
hip hop music, Latin music. You know. I played in
(44:42):
an orchestra, played classical music my whole life, you know.
So I just love it all. And I love where
we live now, where it's like anything goes, you know.
As soon as sneakers were acceptable with a three piece
suit my zone.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Yeah, I'm happy. Yeah, I want to thank you so
much for coming on the show. I can tell you
that from the moment I agreed to do Dancing with
the Stars, you and your brother were a major reason
why I have just been such a fan for so long,
and you guys are very inspiring. So I have so
appreciated getting to know you and spending time with you,
(45:17):
and you're just an absolute joy. So thank you for
doing this show.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
Thank you, Thank you for having me. I'm glad we
let it happen.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
You sure did.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Danielle with the Stars produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel.
Executive producers Jensen carp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge
of production, Danielle Romo producer, editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch.
Theme song by Justin Siegel. Follow us on Instagram at
Danielle with Stars and vote for me
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