September 3, 2025 • 25 mins
It’s true! Podcast host, TV director and forever Topanga from Boy Meets World, Danielle Fishel will be competing on Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars!
As the premiere looms in the distance, Danielle can finally talk about her upcoming ballroom debut. Why did she finally say yes? How has practice been going? Is she getting along with her partner? And what was up with all the superhero masks?
Can she become the belle of the ballroom without any prior dance experience? She thinks so! But no matter what, let’s make this journey fun. Welcome to…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 (00:16):
That's my airhorn, sirens, because welcome to Danielle with the Stars,
who there is absolutely no turning back now the news
is out. I'm daniel Fischel, and I'm going to be
on season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars. I
am a TV director, a podcaster forever tapanga, and a
(00:37):
mom of two boys. But as we speak, I am
learning how to ballroom dance one step at a time.
You are going to see me on season thirty four
of Dancing with the Stars, which premieres September sixteenth on
ABC and Disney Plus. And throughout it all, I will
be recording this podcast chronicling my journey, giving you the
(00:58):
inside story of just one celebrities quest for the Mirror
Ball Trophy. In addition to the recaps, I will be
interviewing fellow contestants, past competitors, and professionals from the show
in an attempt to both help me become a better
dancer and also give you an experience like you have
never had before. And listen, even if and when my
(01:19):
time on Dancing with the Stars ends, I will be
recording until the finale because now I am invested and
just as excited as you are. To see who comes
out on top. Spoiler it could be me. Dream big, dream,
try do good. As mister Feenie would say. So this
has been a very hard secret for me to keep.
(01:41):
I have known now for quite some time that I
am going to be doing Dancing with the Stars. I
have always wanted to do the show. It's been on
now for twenty years. I have thought about it many
times over the twenty years. They have even asked me
a few times to be on Dancing with the Stars,
and I have said no in the past for many
(02:02):
different reasons. Something was going on in my personal life
that didn't make it feel like it was the right time,
or something was going on in my professional life that
made it seem like it was impossible. And then this year,
after having cancer last year, after deciding you know what,
I really just want to say yes to more things.
I want to have more fun, I want to take
(02:24):
more risks. The podcast doing Podmeats World has allowed me
such a beautiful second act in my career now as
a director and a podcast host and a producer, and
I just wanted to do more stuff that feels like that,
that feels authentic to me, that allows me to be me,
and this show felt like the answer for that, and
(02:46):
so they asked me this year and it was the
easiest yes ever. With that said, I'm absolutely terrified. I
have no dance experience. None. When I was very little,
I don't even think I really took a dance class.
I was in some singing choir thing as a six
(03:07):
seven year old, and as part of that we had to,
you know, do some little hand movements or something on
a stage. That's literally the extent of it. I have
no other dance training. I think that that would have
been very helpful to have going into a show called
Dancing with the Stars. So yeah, I'm very nervous. With
that said, what's the worst that can happen? You know,
(03:28):
you fall on your face in front of millions of people.
Now that they say it out loud, it actually sounds
pretty bad. But I was trying to make myself feel better,
but I don't. So this year just felt right for
so many different reasons. My husband has been incredible, he's
so excited for me, and my boys have been very excited.
I waited to tell my sons until we got closer
(03:50):
and closer to the announcement day, which is today, because
you know how kids are. They just you tell them
something is a secret. And first of all, I don't
like telling kids things or secrets, but if you do
and then the next day they go on the playground
and they're like, it is what my mom's doing dancing
with the stars. So I couldn't take that risk, so
I waited to tell my boys a little later. But
my husband has been great about picking up everything that
(04:10):
needs to be done for them around the house, just
managing all the stuff that needs to be managed so
that I'm able to fully throw myself into this. If
you have found this podcast because you are a listener
of podmeets World, you have probably gathered by my personality
and my organizational skills and my keeping the boys on
track that I'm a little type A. I'm a little controlling.
(04:34):
Everything I take on, I take on to the nth degree.
And as much as I want this experience to be fun,
and it already has been, I will get into that
in a little bit. But as much as I want
this experience to be fun, I'm also here to win
it all if I can, and I know that's a
(04:54):
big if. If I can. My dream is that I
have a permanent shelf in my house that a mirror
ball trophy lives on that has its own little light,
and that when people come over, I go come see
my mirror ball. So we'll see. As for my odds
of that, well, my competition this year is pretty pretty stiff.
(05:20):
Let's talk about who the other celebrities are this year.
The people that were announced before today's date were Whitney
leave It and Jen Affleck from the Secret Lives of
Mormon Wives on Hulu, Robert Erwin, who is Bindy Erwin's brother,
and Bendy Irwin won her season of Dancing with the Stars,
and Alex Earl influencer and podcaster, And so they were
(05:44):
all announced. They have been able to promote the show.
They've been able to talk about the fact that they're
a part of it. The rest of us have not
been able to. The full cast is Jordan Chiles, myself,
Baron Davis, Dylan Efron, Jenn Affleck, Whitney leave At, Alex Earl,
Robert Erwin, Corey Feldman, Hilaria Baldwin, Lauren from Fifth Harmony.
(06:10):
I just met her tonight. She was a totally last
second addition to our wonderful cast and so I don't
even know her last name. She unfortunately wasn't then at
our promo shoots with us. She hasn't been at rehearsal
with us yet, so I just met her tonight very briefly,
so I don't actually know her last name. But Lauren
from Fifth Harmony is joining us. Scott from Pentatonics, who's wonderful.
(06:30):
I met Scott and his husband Mark the other day,
not in an ideal way. So when we show up
to rehearsals, there have been a lot of paparazzi outside.
The show draws a lot of attention, and everyone's been
trying to figure out who's on the show and who's
partnered with who and all of that stuff. And so
they ask us to come disguised, and they have these
(06:52):
face shields that they will give us when we arrive
in our cars. But they want us to wear like
baggy oversized sweats to hide our shape or or as
much of us as we can. Well you know I
heard that, and I was like, face shield, huh, you
don't say, I have two boys. We've got some masks.
So I showed up every day in a different character mask.
(07:13):
I wore a big black oversized hoodie, black sweatpants, and
the first day I wore a Hulk mask. The second
day I think I wore an Iron Man mask. I
wore a black panther mask, I wore a Spider Man mask,
and there was a fifth mask I wore that. Now
I don't remember what that mask was, but anyway, I
(07:33):
had to disguise myself, which was really funny. And so
after wearing all those masks, I saw online a post
that said who is this? Who was this person in
a Frankenstein mask? Guess what that was? Me in a
Hulk mask. Wah oh man. That made me so happy.
Let me tell you anyway, I tell you all of
(07:54):
that to let you know that I had fully worn
my Hulk mask and my oversized sweatshirt and gloves baseball gloves,
my kids' baseball gloves, and was getting ready to leave
when Scott from Pentatonics was like, hi, good y'alla. I
was like, hold on, this isn't exactly how I wanted
to meet you. I couldn't see him, I could barely
talk because the mask was pushed up against my face.
(08:16):
And you know what he said, He said, you know what,
this is better? It's way more memorable this way, and
he's not wrong, so he absolutely will have that memory forever.
So all of those celebrities are paired with incredible professional dancers.
Some of us started meeting our pros about a week ago,
others met a little less than a week. I'm in
(08:36):
the little less than a week camp. I had no
idea who I was going to be partnered with. None
of us do little behind the scenes stuff about how
it works. Celebrities are allowed to make requests, but they
tell you right off the bat there are no guarantees.
If you request somebody, we will take it into consideration.
(08:58):
But they really pride themselves on having done this for
twenty years and thirty four seasons now, and there's a
science that goes into it. They know personalities. They really
are very thoughtful about who they partner up and so
you could request somebody, it doesn't mean you're going to
get the person at all. So I had no idea
who was going to be partnered with. I think he's
(09:20):
the perfect personality for me, but I didn't know that
until I started hanging out with him. But within the
first five minutes of us being in a room together,
we were laughing. We were joking. We have an easy camaraderie.
We get along just very very well. And he is
a perfectionist and I am a perfectionist. So I think
(09:41):
that makes us a really good team because we still
have a lot of fun, but we want it to
be as close to perfect as possible. So that's what
we are reaching out to do. I am going to
be stepping up my social media game so much. A
part of this show is you, the fans. You don't
know the exact science behind the votes and the judges
(10:03):
scores and then the votes. You the people who who
text or vote on ABC dot com or whatever the
website is I'll link below. I'll figure out what that
is before we put this out into the world. But
those of you who vote make up the other fifty
percent of it. And you know, I do not have
the largest social media following on this cast by a
(10:24):
long shot. My competition is very young and very talented. Oh,
Elaine Hendrix, I forgot Elaine Hendrix and Andy Richter, two
other cast mates on the season who are so fun.
So a lot of me Elaine and Andy a lot
of our competition and Hilaria, A lot of our competition
(10:46):
is significantly younger, and a lot of them have dance
training and know what they're doing. Everyone wants to know,
when did you tell your friends? When did you tell
your family? I had to be very, very very tight lipped,
but I did tell Will and Writer sometime in August
(11:06):
because it was time for us to start planning the
scheduling for Podmeats World, and I knew I wasn't really
going to be available as much as I had been. Normally,
they send out the emails and They're like, okay, let's
pick some dates, and I'm like, I'm free, em free,
em free, or you know, I block out this date,
but mostly I'm free, and this time it was going
to be a little different. So I did tell them
(11:27):
very early. They were both very surprised. Writer especially Writer,
was just shocked what you were doing? What Will? I
think knew that it was something that I would do
eventually and that it was just a matter of when
the time was right, but Writer was really shocked. They
(11:48):
have been so fun about it, They have been so supportive.
As a matter of fact, I think we're going to
have some very funny and wonderful bonus content coming for
you from them related to my journey on Dancing with
the Stars, and I'm looking forward to hearing that because
the two of them together just make me laugh so much.
Podmeets World is going to continue as normal, as much
(12:11):
as normal as we can possibly do it. There may
be times I'm there for a recap, but I'm not
there for an interview, or I'm not there for the
second episode that week, and that's just because this schedule
for Dancing with the Stars is nut. So so I've
only had four days of rehearsal, and as of right now,
(12:34):
there is a limit on how much they'll let us rehearse.
That limit is four hours a day, six days a week.
That's what they're limiting us to. So I have only
had four days of rehearsal for four hours each day.
But then on top of that, you have wardrobe b
dtings interviews that they call otfs, which are on the fly,
(12:57):
so like in the middle of your rehearsal period, say
you're like I need to drink of water. Sometimes they'll
just pull you off to the side and interview you
real quick, like how's it going, how are you feeling?
You know, what's this week? What's the stress? So there
are those interviews, and then there are something called a
master interview, where you go and you sit down with
them and you tell them about your journey, how it's been,
(13:19):
and why you're here, and what you're looking forward to
and what your fears are and all of those things.
And then there's spray tanning, and you know, there's I
gotta wash my hair and I'm not sure when I'm
ever going to get another nail. My nail's done again.
That the time is crazy. My body is so sore.
I know that a massage sounds like a pampering experience,
(13:43):
but I have had to get multiple very deep tissue,
incredibly painful, one hour massages just to work out some
of the kinks in my neck and my back. So yeah,
it's a very busy schedule, and this is on It's
only four hours, six days a week for right now
at the beginning of the season. As we go along,
(14:05):
and of course, my hope is that I make it
to the very end. You start rehearsing eight hours a day,
six days a week, and even then that's just the
rehearsal day, but on camera blocking day and on shoot day,
you're arriving at six am and you're not leaving until
nine pm, so there's going to be press lines and
it's a whole it's a whole new thing. And guys,
(14:26):
I haven't been in front of a camera in so long.
The last time I was a performer in front of
the camera was a Girl Meets World, which at this
point was eleven years ago. Started eleven years ago now.
So on the one hand, it's a little like riding
a bike. I'm very comfortable in front of a camera.
But on the other hand, there's a lot of vulnerability
(14:48):
with it. I just I'm not used to it, so
I'm taking my time adjusting. But it's going to be
a whole new ballgame. So tonight was the night before
(15:14):
our Good Morning America announcement. We had a gorgeous rooftop
Dancing with the Stars kickoff party with Julianne and Alfonso
and all of the judges, Carrie, Anne Bruno, Derek Huff.
We had all of the cast, all of the incredible
pros and some spouses, some people from the BBC, some
(15:39):
people from ABC. Everyone is so warm and welcoming and
they truly want every person who's a part of the
show and a part of each season to feel valued
and to have a great time. And it's like the
number one thing. The more people I talk to and
I say like, oh, you know, what do you like
(16:01):
about the show or what are your favorite aspects, everybody
comes back to the same thing, which is like, we
want everyone to walk away from this experience saying that's
some of the greatest fun I've ever had in my life.
And this sounds insane considering I've only had four days
of rehearsal. I've had a photo shoot and four days
of rehearsal, and now this welcome party in less than
(16:25):
a week. It's already been one of the most fun
weeks I've ever had. Has it been hard, has it
been kind of stressful? Has it been nerve wracking? Of course?
But it has been so much fun. And we're just
getting started, so I'm already you know that feeling when
somebody is about ready to start your favorite show and
they've never seen it, Like when somebody's like, oh, I've
(16:45):
never seen Breaking Bad and you're like, what, you've never
seen it? Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous that you
get to watch it for the first time. I have
that feeling about me that I get to be doing
Dancing with the Stars for the very first time. But
I'm already envisioning myself in the future sad that I
don't ever get to do again. Now I'm like trying
to live in the moment, but also already said that
it started and that means it'll eventually be over. So
(17:07):
this party was unbelievable, lots of great food, everybody mingling.
I have said it before and I'm going to say
it again. The pros on this show. So we have Brandon,
We have Gleb. We have my partner Pasha, his wife Danny.
We have Mark Ballas who came back this year after
(17:28):
retiring from the dance floor. He came back very exciting.
We have new dancer Yan who was a Taylor Swift
dancer on the Eras tour. He is tall and very
dream bodie. Let's see. We have Whitney Carson, who is
one of easily one of the most beautiful people I've
(17:49):
ever seen in my entire life. We have Riley Arnold
who is paired with Scott from Pentatonics. We have Emma
and Alan. Emma is dancing with Andy Richter and Alan
is dancing with Elaine Hendrix. They are a really fun pair.
By the way, Elaine and I have been able to
spend some time together. We had our photo shoot on
(18:10):
the same day at the same time, so we sat
next to each other in the hair and makeup chair
for a little bit. And then we had the same
flight out here to New York together, so we got
to chat a little bit in the airport, and then
at JFK when we were walking to meet our cars.
We got to talk then, and her and Alan seemed
like they were really fun pairing. Alan is very funny.
Gleb and Hilaria are paired. They're a very good looking couple.
(18:33):
And then we have Ezra and Jenna and Val, another
married couple. Val was very sweet tonight. So I met
Val very briefly at a rehearsal the other day. You
know what, I think that's why it was we didn't
actually meet. I saw him and thought, oh, there's Val,
and because I have been a fan of the show
and I've seen him on the show. To me, that
(18:55):
was like we know each other already, but I don't
think we actually were formally introduced. So to he came
up to me and he said, Hi, I'm Val. It's
nice to meet you, and I said, oh, hi, you know,
nice to meet you. And I gave him a hug
and he said, is it inappropriate for me to tell
you how much I love you? And I said, no,
that is so sweet. I will take it. I will
(19:15):
listen to it all the time. That's very kind of you.
His wife Jenna also she and I got to spend
a little bit of time together at the photo shoot
as well. She is paired with Corey Feldman, and Val
is paired with Alex Earl, who is actually the only
person I have yet to meet face to face. We
also have Britt, who recently got married. She was the
(19:36):
most gorgeous bride. Every photo I have seen of her,
she is like just glowing. And then tonight at the party,
they were giving speeches like a Conrad and Dina Kats
were giving speeches, and I looked across the room and
Britt was just sitting there listening to the speeches. And
she's just other worldly beautiful, just outstandingly gorgeous. So Britt
(19:59):
is one of the dam She is dancing with Baron Davis,
who is so fun. Can I tell you what kind
of feels a little bit like a secret and I'm
not sure how it plays out on this show yet,
but I obviously love my partner Pasha. We have a
great relationship. We really connect. He's so smart, he's so funny,
(20:21):
and I'm completely equally as obsessed with his wife, Danny,
and the feeling is mutual. She loves me so already.
I'm like, Jensen, you just get to know these two
because I'm never letting them out of our sight. They
have like a two year old daughter named Nikita who
they call Keiki. I have a four year old son
named Keaton, who we call Keke. I was like, we've
(20:41):
got to get our kids together. We kind of live
close to each other. It just feels like this is
a match made in heaven. And then to add on
top of that, Danny's partner is Dylan Efron. Dylan and
I'm on day one, same day we met our partners,
(21:04):
and we just clicked. He is so smart, so funny,
so sweet, has a Samsung, you know, all the things
that to me make a good friend. And I just
knew that Danny and Dylan and Danielle and Pasha are going.
(21:24):
I was like, how do we how do we make
this an alliance of sorts? You know, I don't know
how alliances work on this Dancing with the Stars. I
don't know that it really does. But I want one.
I want the four of us if I could. This
is day one, guys, this is insane day one planning.
But I'm going to say it here because where else
would I say it other than with Danielle with the Stars.
(21:47):
My goal, my dream on day one is that Dylan
and Danny and Pasha and I are in the finals together.
That's my true That's it. You know what I'll feel like.
That's a victory period. If the four of us are
in a finals. I can't even get myself to say
out loud. I don't care who gets the mirror ball,
(22:09):
because I do I care, But if the four of
us make it to the finals, I will consider that
a mirror ball like victory. I will be thrilled with that.
So that's my big goal. I've got a lot of
work to do. I am in this process trying to
heal a part of me that has spent my entire
(22:30):
life chasing perfection, being very hard on myself, and I
wanted to take out of this experience at the end
the ability to give myself grace and maybe not be perfect.
Guess what, Danielle, you don't have a year to become
(22:51):
a dancer. You have a few weeks, and so enjoy
the road, enjoy the process, but know that you're not
going to be perfect. That has been harder, harder on
me than I wanted it to be. I was hoping
I was just gonna suddenly be a different person and
be nice to myself, but I haven't been. With that said,
we have time before this first dance, and I'm working really,
(23:15):
really hard, but I have a lot of weaknesses. I'm
not a dancer. I'm not graceful, I'm not long, I'm
not elegant. I'm you know, five foot one and I
have a very short neck, and I don't have a
whole lot of ballroom elegance. But I'm going to do
my best. So we are going to talk with Pasha
(23:36):
in my next episode. I can't wait for you guys
to meet him. If you're a fan of Dancing with
the Stars, you already know and love him. He is
so beloved. Everybody I meet who's a part of the
show says to me, who are you partnered with? And
when I tell them Pasha, everyone says, Oh my gosh,
you are in great hands. He's the best. He's a
great teacher. I had multiple people say to me if
(23:57):
I ever had the chance to be on the show, Pasha,
who I'd want as my partner. So I know I
really lucked out. And I can't wait for you guys
to get to know him. I can't wait for you
to get to know us as a team. We have
to come up with our team name. You heard it here.
My goal is for Dylan, Danny, Danielle and Pasha to
be in the finals together. Gosh. I hope that comes true.
(24:18):
So Dancing with the Stars Season thirty four will debut
live on both ABC and Disney Plus on September sixteenth
at five pm and eight pm Eastern and Pod Meets
World listeners. I would love your support, so please make
sure you watch live. Text your votes for me and
(24:38):
Pasha and also Dylan and Danny make my dream for
the finals come true. Please also follow along with us
on Instagram at Danielle with Stars. Know the at Danielle
with Stars and I will see you on Friday with
Pasha Pashkov on the next Danielle with the Stars. Bye,
(25:00):
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 Sudbasch.
Theme song by Justin Siegel. Follow us on Instagram at
Danielle with Stars and vote for me
That's my airhorn, sirens, because welcome to Danielle with the Stars,
who there is absolutely no turning back now the news
is out. I'm daniel Fischel, and I'm going to be
on season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars. I
am a TV director, a podcaster forever tapanga, and a
(00:37):
mom of two boys. But as we speak, I am
learning how to ballroom dance one step at a time.
You are going to see me on season thirty four
of Dancing with the Stars, which premieres September sixteenth on
ABC and Disney Plus. And throughout it all, I will
be recording this podcast chronicling my journey, giving you the
(00:58):
inside story of just one celebrities quest for the Mirror
Ball Trophy. In addition to the recaps, I will be
interviewing fellow contestants, past competitors, and professionals from the show
in an attempt to both help me become a better
dancer and also give you an experience like you have
never had before. And listen, even if and when my
(01:19):
time on Dancing with the Stars ends, I will be
recording until the finale because now I am invested and
just as excited as you are. To see who comes
out on top. Spoiler it could be me. Dream big, dream,
try do good. As mister Feenie would say. So this
has been a very hard secret for me to keep.
(01:41):
I have known now for quite some time that I
am going to be doing Dancing with the Stars. I
have always wanted to do the show. It's been on
now for twenty years. I have thought about it many
times over the twenty years. They have even asked me
a few times to be on Dancing with the Stars,
and I have said no in the past for many
(02:02):
different reasons. Something was going on in my personal life
that didn't make it feel like it was the right time,
or something was going on in my professional life that
made it seem like it was impossible. And then this year,
after having cancer last year, after deciding you know what,
I really just want to say yes to more things.
I want to have more fun, I want to take
(02:24):
more risks. The podcast doing Podmeats World has allowed me
such a beautiful second act in my career now as
a director and a podcast host and a producer, and
I just wanted to do more stuff that feels like that,
that feels authentic to me, that allows me to be me,
and this show felt like the answer for that, and
(02:46):
so they asked me this year and it was the
easiest yes ever. With that said, I'm absolutely terrified. I
have no dance experience. None. When I was very little,
I don't even think I really took a dance class.
I was in some singing choir thing as a six
(03:07):
seven year old, and as part of that we had to,
you know, do some little hand movements or something on
a stage. That's literally the extent of it. I have
no other dance training. I think that that would have
been very helpful to have going into a show called
Dancing with the Stars. So yeah, I'm very nervous. With
that said, what's the worst that can happen? You know,
(03:28):
you fall on your face in front of millions of people.
Now that they say it out loud, it actually sounds
pretty bad. But I was trying to make myself feel better,
but I don't. So this year just felt right for
so many different reasons. My husband has been incredible, he's
so excited for me, and my boys have been very excited.
I waited to tell my sons until we got closer
(03:50):
and closer to the announcement day, which is today, because
you know how kids are. They just you tell them
something is a secret. And first of all, I don't
like telling kids things or secrets, but if you do
and then the next day they go on the playground
and they're like, it is what my mom's doing dancing
with the stars. So I couldn't take that risk, so
I waited to tell my boys a little later. But
my husband has been great about picking up everything that
(04:10):
needs to be done for them around the house, just
managing all the stuff that needs to be managed so
that I'm able to fully throw myself into this. If
you have found this podcast because you are a listener
of podmeets World, you have probably gathered by my personality
and my organizational skills and my keeping the boys on
track that I'm a little type A. I'm a little controlling.
(04:34):
Everything I take on, I take on to the nth degree.
And as much as I want this experience to be fun,
and it already has been, I will get into that
in a little bit. But as much as I want
this experience to be fun, I'm also here to win
it all if I can, and I know that's a
(04:54):
big if. If I can. My dream is that I
have a permanent shelf in my house that a mirror
ball trophy lives on that has its own little light,
and that when people come over, I go come see
my mirror ball. So we'll see. As for my odds
of that, well, my competition this year is pretty pretty stiff.
(05:20):
Let's talk about who the other celebrities are this year.
The people that were announced before today's date were Whitney
leave It and Jen Affleck from the Secret Lives of
Mormon Wives on Hulu, Robert Erwin, who is Bindy Erwin's brother,
and Bendy Irwin won her season of Dancing with the Stars,
and Alex Earl influencer and podcaster, And so they were
(05:44):
all announced. They have been able to promote the show.
They've been able to talk about the fact that they're
a part of it. The rest of us have not
been able to. The full cast is Jordan Chiles, myself,
Baron Davis, Dylan Efron, Jenn Affleck, Whitney leave At, Alex Earl,
Robert Erwin, Corey Feldman, Hilaria Baldwin, Lauren from Fifth Harmony.
(06:10):
I just met her tonight. She was a totally last
second addition to our wonderful cast and so I don't
even know her last name. She unfortunately wasn't then at
our promo shoots with us. She hasn't been at rehearsal
with us yet, so I just met her tonight very briefly,
so I don't actually know her last name. But Lauren
from Fifth Harmony is joining us. Scott from Pentatonics, who's wonderful.
(06:30):
I met Scott and his husband Mark the other day,
not in an ideal way. So when we show up
to rehearsals, there have been a lot of paparazzi outside.
The show draws a lot of attention, and everyone's been
trying to figure out who's on the show and who's
partnered with who and all of that stuff. And so
they ask us to come disguised, and they have these
(06:52):
face shields that they will give us when we arrive
in our cars. But they want us to wear like
baggy oversized sweats to hide our shape or or as
much of us as we can. Well you know I
heard that, and I was like, face shield, huh, you
don't say, I have two boys. We've got some masks.
So I showed up every day in a different character mask.
(07:13):
I wore a big black oversized hoodie, black sweatpants, and
the first day I wore a Hulk mask. The second
day I think I wore an Iron Man mask. I
wore a black panther mask, I wore a Spider Man mask,
and there was a fifth mask I wore that. Now
I don't remember what that mask was, but anyway, I
(07:33):
had to disguise myself, which was really funny. And so
after wearing all those masks, I saw online a post
that said who is this? Who was this person in
a Frankenstein mask? Guess what that was? Me in a
Hulk mask. Wah oh man. That made me so happy.
Let me tell you anyway, I tell you all of
(07:54):
that to let you know that I had fully worn
my Hulk mask and my oversized sweatshirt and gloves baseball gloves,
my kids' baseball gloves, and was getting ready to leave
when Scott from Pentatonics was like, hi, good y'alla. I
was like, hold on, this isn't exactly how I wanted
to meet you. I couldn't see him, I could barely
talk because the mask was pushed up against my face.
(08:16):
And you know what he said, He said, you know what,
this is better? It's way more memorable this way, and
he's not wrong, so he absolutely will have that memory forever.
So all of those celebrities are paired with incredible professional dancers.
Some of us started meeting our pros about a week ago,
others met a little less than a week. I'm in
(08:36):
the little less than a week camp. I had no
idea who I was going to be partnered with. None
of us do little behind the scenes stuff about how
it works. Celebrities are allowed to make requests, but they
tell you right off the bat there are no guarantees.
If you request somebody, we will take it into consideration.
(08:58):
But they really pride themselves on having done this for
twenty years and thirty four seasons now, and there's a
science that goes into it. They know personalities. They really
are very thoughtful about who they partner up and so
you could request somebody, it doesn't mean you're going to
get the person at all. So I had no idea
who was going to be partnered with. I think he's
(09:20):
the perfect personality for me, but I didn't know that
until I started hanging out with him. But within the
first five minutes of us being in a room together,
we were laughing. We were joking. We have an easy camaraderie.
We get along just very very well. And he is
a perfectionist and I am a perfectionist. So I think
(09:41):
that makes us a really good team because we still
have a lot of fun, but we want it to
be as close to perfect as possible. So that's what
we are reaching out to do. I am going to
be stepping up my social media game so much. A
part of this show is you, the fans. You don't
know the exact science behind the votes and the judges
(10:03):
scores and then the votes. You the people who who
text or vote on ABC dot com or whatever the
website is I'll link below. I'll figure out what that
is before we put this out into the world. But
those of you who vote make up the other fifty
percent of it. And you know, I do not have
the largest social media following on this cast by a
(10:24):
long shot. My competition is very young and very talented. Oh,
Elaine Hendrix, I forgot Elaine Hendrix and Andy Richter, two
other cast mates on the season who are so fun.
So a lot of me Elaine and Andy a lot
of our competition and Hilaria, A lot of our competition
(10:46):
is significantly younger, and a lot of them have dance
training and know what they're doing. Everyone wants to know,
when did you tell your friends? When did you tell
your family? I had to be very, very very tight lipped,
but I did tell Will and Writer sometime in August
(11:06):
because it was time for us to start planning the
scheduling for Podmeats World, and I knew I wasn't really
going to be available as much as I had been. Normally,
they send out the emails and They're like, okay, let's
pick some dates, and I'm like, I'm free, em free,
em free, or you know, I block out this date,
but mostly I'm free, and this time it was going
to be a little different. So I did tell them
(11:27):
very early. They were both very surprised. Writer especially Writer,
was just shocked what you were doing? What Will? I
think knew that it was something that I would do
eventually and that it was just a matter of when
the time was right, but Writer was really shocked. They
(11:48):
have been so fun about it, They have been so supportive.
As a matter of fact, I think we're going to
have some very funny and wonderful bonus content coming for
you from them related to my journey on Dancing with
the Stars, and I'm looking forward to hearing that because
the two of them together just make me laugh so much.
Podmeets World is going to continue as normal, as much
(12:11):
as normal as we can possibly do it. There may
be times I'm there for a recap, but I'm not
there for an interview, or I'm not there for the
second episode that week, and that's just because this schedule
for Dancing with the Stars is nut. So so I've
only had four days of rehearsal, and as of right now,
(12:34):
there is a limit on how much they'll let us rehearse.
That limit is four hours a day, six days a week.
That's what they're limiting us to. So I have only
had four days of rehearsal for four hours each day.
But then on top of that, you have wardrobe b
dtings interviews that they call otfs, which are on the fly,
(12:57):
so like in the middle of your rehearsal period, say
you're like I need to drink of water. Sometimes they'll
just pull you off to the side and interview you
real quick, like how's it going, how are you feeling?
You know, what's this week? What's the stress? So there
are those interviews, and then there are something called a
master interview, where you go and you sit down with
them and you tell them about your journey, how it's been,
(13:19):
and why you're here, and what you're looking forward to
and what your fears are and all of those things.
And then there's spray tanning, and you know, there's I
gotta wash my hair and I'm not sure when I'm
ever going to get another nail. My nail's done again.
That the time is crazy. My body is so sore.
I know that a massage sounds like a pampering experience,
(13:43):
but I have had to get multiple very deep tissue,
incredibly painful, one hour massages just to work out some
of the kinks in my neck and my back. So yeah,
it's a very busy schedule, and this is on It's
only four hours, six days a week for right now
at the beginning of the season. As we go along,
(14:05):
and of course, my hope is that I make it
to the very end. You start rehearsing eight hours a day,
six days a week, and even then that's just the
rehearsal day, but on camera blocking day and on shoot day,
you're arriving at six am and you're not leaving until
nine pm, so there's going to be press lines and
it's a whole it's a whole new thing. And guys,
(14:26):
I haven't been in front of a camera in so long.
The last time I was a performer in front of
the camera was a Girl Meets World, which at this
point was eleven years ago. Started eleven years ago now.
So on the one hand, it's a little like riding
a bike. I'm very comfortable in front of a camera.
But on the other hand, there's a lot of vulnerability
(14:48):
with it. I just I'm not used to it, so
I'm taking my time adjusting. But it's going to be
a whole new ballgame. So tonight was the night before
(15:14):
our Good Morning America announcement. We had a gorgeous rooftop
Dancing with the Stars kickoff party with Julianne and Alfonso
and all of the judges, Carrie, Anne Bruno, Derek Huff.
We had all of the cast, all of the incredible
pros and some spouses, some people from the BBC, some
(15:39):
people from ABC. Everyone is so warm and welcoming and
they truly want every person who's a part of the
show and a part of each season to feel valued
and to have a great time. And it's like the
number one thing. The more people I talk to and
I say like, oh, you know, what do you like
(16:01):
about the show or what are your favorite aspects, everybody
comes back to the same thing, which is like, we
want everyone to walk away from this experience saying that's
some of the greatest fun I've ever had in my life.
And this sounds insane considering I've only had four days
of rehearsal. I've had a photo shoot and four days
of rehearsal, and now this welcome party in less than
(16:25):
a week. It's already been one of the most fun
weeks I've ever had. Has it been hard, has it
been kind of stressful? Has it been nerve wracking? Of course?
But it has been so much fun. And we're just
getting started, so I'm already you know that feeling when
somebody is about ready to start your favorite show and
they've never seen it, Like when somebody's like, oh, I've
(16:45):
never seen Breaking Bad and you're like, what, you've never
seen it? Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous that you
get to watch it for the first time. I have
that feeling about me that I get to be doing
Dancing with the Stars for the very first time. But
I'm already envisioning myself in the future sad that I
don't ever get to do again. Now I'm like trying
to live in the moment, but also already said that
it started and that means it'll eventually be over. So
(17:07):
this party was unbelievable, lots of great food, everybody mingling.
I have said it before and I'm going to say
it again. The pros on this show. So we have Brandon,
We have Gleb. We have my partner Pasha, his wife Danny.
We have Mark Ballas who came back this year after
(17:28):
retiring from the dance floor. He came back very exciting.
We have new dancer Yan who was a Taylor Swift
dancer on the Eras tour. He is tall and very
dream bodie. Let's see. We have Whitney Carson, who is
one of easily one of the most beautiful people I've
(17:49):
ever seen in my entire life. We have Riley Arnold
who is paired with Scott from Pentatonics. We have Emma
and Alan. Emma is dancing with Andy Richter and Alan
is dancing with Elaine Hendrix. They are a really fun pair.
By the way, Elaine and I have been able to
spend some time together. We had our photo shoot on
(18:10):
the same day at the same time, so we sat
next to each other in the hair and makeup chair
for a little bit. And then we had the same
flight out here to New York together, so we got
to chat a little bit in the airport, and then
at JFK when we were walking to meet our cars.
We got to talk then, and her and Alan seemed
like they were really fun pairing. Alan is very funny.
Gleb and Hilaria are paired. They're a very good looking couple.
(18:33):
And then we have Ezra and Jenna and Val, another
married couple. Val was very sweet tonight. So I met
Val very briefly at a rehearsal the other day. You
know what, I think that's why it was we didn't
actually meet. I saw him and thought, oh, there's Val,
and because I have been a fan of the show
and I've seen him on the show. To me, that
(18:55):
was like we know each other already, but I don't
think we actually were formally introduced. So to he came
up to me and he said, Hi, I'm Val. It's
nice to meet you, and I said, oh, hi, you know,
nice to meet you. And I gave him a hug
and he said, is it inappropriate for me to tell
you how much I love you? And I said, no,
that is so sweet. I will take it. I will
(19:15):
listen to it all the time. That's very kind of you.
His wife Jenna also she and I got to spend
a little bit of time together at the photo shoot
as well. She is paired with Corey Feldman, and Val
is paired with Alex Earl, who is actually the only
person I have yet to meet face to face. We
also have Britt, who recently got married. She was the
(19:36):
most gorgeous bride. Every photo I have seen of her,
she is like just glowing. And then tonight at the party,
they were giving speeches like a Conrad and Dina Kats
were giving speeches, and I looked across the room and
Britt was just sitting there listening to the speeches. And
she's just other worldly beautiful, just outstandingly gorgeous. So Britt
(19:59):
is one of the dam She is dancing with Baron Davis,
who is so fun. Can I tell you what kind
of feels a little bit like a secret and I'm
not sure how it plays out on this show yet,
but I obviously love my partner Pasha. We have a
great relationship. We really connect. He's so smart, he's so funny,
(20:21):
and I'm completely equally as obsessed with his wife, Danny,
and the feeling is mutual. She loves me so already.
I'm like, Jensen, you just get to know these two
because I'm never letting them out of our sight. They
have like a two year old daughter named Nikita who
they call Keiki. I have a four year old son
named Keaton, who we call Keke. I was like, we've
(20:41):
got to get our kids together. We kind of live
close to each other. It just feels like this is
a match made in heaven. And then to add on
top of that, Danny's partner is Dylan Efron. Dylan and
I'm on day one, same day we met our partners,
(21:04):
and we just clicked. He is so smart, so funny,
so sweet, has a Samsung, you know, all the things
that to me make a good friend. And I just
knew that Danny and Dylan and Danielle and Pasha are going.
(21:24):
I was like, how do we how do we make
this an alliance of sorts? You know, I don't know
how alliances work on this Dancing with the Stars. I
don't know that it really does. But I want one.
I want the four of us if I could. This
is day one, guys, this is insane day one planning.
But I'm going to say it here because where else
would I say it other than with Danielle with the Stars.
(21:47):
My goal, my dream on day one is that Dylan
and Danny and Pasha and I are in the finals together.
That's my true That's it. You know what I'll feel like.
That's a victory period. If the four of us are
in a finals. I can't even get myself to say
out loud. I don't care who gets the mirror ball,
(22:09):
because I do I care, But if the four of
us make it to the finals, I will consider that
a mirror ball like victory. I will be thrilled with that.
So that's my big goal. I've got a lot of
work to do. I am in this process trying to
heal a part of me that has spent my entire
(22:30):
life chasing perfection, being very hard on myself, and I
wanted to take out of this experience at the end
the ability to give myself grace and maybe not be perfect.
Guess what, Danielle, you don't have a year to become
(22:51):
a dancer. You have a few weeks, and so enjoy
the road, enjoy the process, but know that you're not
going to be perfect. That has been harder, harder on
me than I wanted it to be. I was hoping
I was just gonna suddenly be a different person and
be nice to myself, but I haven't been. With that said,
we have time before this first dance, and I'm working really,
(23:15):
really hard, but I have a lot of weaknesses. I'm
not a dancer. I'm not graceful, I'm not long, I'm
not elegant. I'm you know, five foot one and I
have a very short neck, and I don't have a
whole lot of ballroom elegance. But I'm going to do
my best. So we are going to talk with Pasha
(23:36):
in my next episode. I can't wait for you guys
to meet him. If you're a fan of Dancing with
the Stars, you already know and love him. He is
so beloved. Everybody I meet who's a part of the
show says to me, who are you partnered with? And
when I tell them Pasha, everyone says, Oh my gosh,
you are in great hands. He's the best. He's a
great teacher. I had multiple people say to me if
(23:57):
I ever had the chance to be on the show, Pasha,
who I'd want as my partner. So I know I
really lucked out. And I can't wait for you guys
to get to know him. I can't wait for you
to get to know us as a team. We have
to come up with our team name. You heard it here.
My goal is for Dylan, Danny, Danielle and Pasha to
be in the finals together. Gosh. I hope that comes true.
(24:18):
So Dancing with the Stars Season thirty four will debut
live on both ABC and Disney Plus on September sixteenth
at five pm and eight pm Eastern and Pod Meets
World listeners. I would love your support, so please make
sure you watch live. Text your votes for me and
(24:38):
Pasha and also Dylan and Danny make my dream for
the finals come true. Please also follow along with us
on Instagram at Danielle with Stars. Know the at Danielle
with Stars and I will see you on Friday with
Pasha Pashkov on the next Danielle with the Stars. Bye,
(25:00):
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 Sudbasch.
Theme song by Justin Siegel. Follow us on Instagram at
Danielle with Stars and vote for me
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