Sharna Burgess Meets Twirl'd

With Danielle out of the competition, the Daniettes aren’t quite ready to call it quits on Dancing with the Stars. Mostly because there are still questions that need answers. And that means it’s time to call in an expert - Sharna Burgess.

The Danielle With universe unites to try and make sense of judging strategy, song & dance selection and the concept of choreography.

And it’s never been more relevant to talk about her Mirrorball trophy with partner Bobby Bones. Hold your paddles - it’s time for Pod Meets Twirl’d…

Follow @podmeetsworldshow on Instagram and TikTok!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to pod meets Twirled, the Dancing with the Stars
recap hosted by two guys who can't dance, don't want
to dance, and have now seen eight episodes of Dancing
with the Stars. But since our best friend Danielle joined
the cast for season thirty four, we're going all in.
We are Wilfred, Ellen, Ryder Strong aka the two dudes
standing next to Topanga aka daniel Fishal's backup aka the Daniyettes.

(00:39):
How you doing well?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I'm sad, Daniyet Ryder, how are you pretty? Said too, Yeah,
I guess we'll get more into that on our official
recap regular recap, But I'm it was a blue day.
It was a melancholy day. He has very little pleas
in my day to day, is what.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
I would say. Yeah, normally there's a lot of pleas.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
There's a jive, there's an occasional foxtrot, and today was
a life without dance. It's like a life without color.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, today we're gonna be interviewing Sharna Burgess. Sharna Burgess
is an Australian ballroom dancer who is best known for
being a pro on Dancing with the Stars. She is
the winner of season twenty seven with her celebrity partner
Bobby Bones. She has also been a judge on the
Australian version of the show since twenty nineteen. She has
been on fourteen seasons of Dancing with the Stars, but
has only won once. Some of her previous partners included

(01:32):
Nick Carter, Antonio Brown, and her now fiance who she
met on the show, Brian Austin Green. Sharna has her
own mini series on the Danielle with Feed Sharna Burgess
in the Fourth Chair, where she breaks down every dance
after each week's show. You can listen every Thursday at
six am Pacific Standard time. Please welcome to Podmates Tworld.

(01:52):
Sharna Burgess.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Hi, Hi, you don't look like Yeah, it's not Brian Green.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Your name says Brian Green. We expected Brian. I don't
know what's going on here.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's currently fixing our Christmas tree.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, we're so glad to have you. You are, for me,
the first pro that I've spoken to.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, Field, privileged, amazing.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
We began Dancing with the Stars journey having no clue
what the show was, how it worked, and we still
don't really know. We're just kind of figuring it out
as we go along.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
So what do you feel you've learned waiting when do they.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Hand out the roses? Yeah, okay, yeah, we've learned a lot.
I mean one of the things I've learned is that
the judging seems to be completely and totally arbitrary. That
it's just week zero's in week one actually mean five.

(02:54):
In week two it means six, in week three it
means seven. So if you get an eight now it's
like you might as well have gotten So, yeah, we're
learning as we go.

Speaker 5 (03:03):
Yeah, it's sort of listen, you kind of get that
every season. You know, there's no real rubric for it.
It's the judges have their opinions. It is subjective to
their opinion what they're watching on the night. As a
judge and someone that does it in Australia, there have
been times when I've judged and thought I've seen everything
and the judge next to me will say something.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
I'm like, holy crap, how did I miss that?

Speaker 5 (03:25):
Because as a judge, you're trying to watch everything all
at once, the technique, the footwork, did they miss anything up?

Speaker 3 (03:30):
But did they misshand connections?

Speaker 5 (03:32):
The styling, the personality, like all of it and sometimes
your eyeballs can't be in all.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
The places at the one time, and so sometimes you
just miss stuff. Man, it happens human error.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well, I mean you said you said you're human, which
is obviously we all are. But as a judge, do
you have your favorites? I mean, do you try not
to be like, Wow, I love this person, I'm not
going to judge them as harshly as I am this
other person who.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Maybe I just don't like, Like, say, if someone becomes
your fiance to judge, I think that might.

Speaker 3 (04:02):
Be a conflict of interest.

Speaker 5 (04:03):
But you know, as a judge, look, we all start
on even playing field right at the start of the season,
so you're kind of removed from it. You've done your
research on who's on the show, but unless you actually
have a personal connection with them, everyone.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Is the same.

Speaker 5 (04:17):
But then, yeah, you know, it's not that you get biased,
but you start to get to know people, and then
you start to understand their story or where they're coming from,
and it's a lot harder to be so objective sometimes
because you're like, oh, I know you're a car accident,
or I see how hard you're working, or you're sick,
this cleek you start to know the personal details that
can sometimes work their way into how you feel, and

(04:41):
you have to step back and go, Okay, it's not
my job to judge on how I feel. That's the audience.
That's why there is an audience vote. It is my
job to purely judge the dancing. Now, that does mean
performance and how it made me feel, because that's dance,
but it very much also means the technical aspect of
it and what we're looking at.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
But again, they're all human.

Speaker 5 (05:02):
You have to pull yourself back sometime and be Okay,
I loved the story, but I can't give Andy a ten.
I love Andy, but I can't give Andy a ten.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
You know, does all the.

Speaker 5 (05:11):
Flavor flavor felt every time?

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Every single time? Yeah? So, I mean how much interaction
do the judges have with the contestants during the week
or do they just see them at the show?

Speaker 5 (05:27):
Just see them at the show. Judges don't have an interaction.
I like to as I've never experienced it here. You
might sometimes catch them for thirty seconds at the end
of the show, which I know we heard Elaine talk
about how she feeled Derek in on her injuries because
we just won't seeing those things in the packages unfortunately,
but they don't have interaction when I judge in Australia,

(05:49):
because I've known the pro dancers for such a long time,
sometimes I'll come down at the end of the show
and have a chat with them and say, you know,
any questions you know, or like, hey, I really loved it,
but I didn't get to dive into this because you know,
that's what I try and do with the fourth chair,
right is give more airtime to what they're saying because
they have very limited time, so I think it would
be nice for them to have a little interaction. But

(06:09):
then maybe they're trying to keep that separation so they
don't get biased, you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
You don't want to.

Speaker 5 (06:15):
Go in and start chatting with a couple about something
or working with them on it, and then have to
judge that at the end of the week because you
might feel biased to the fact that they improved on it,
you know. So I understand them feeling more removed from
the actual contestants and create and having space.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Well, so you started as a prow What season did
you start on?

Speaker 5 (06:36):
Ah, it was twenty eleven. It was season thirteen.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
My god, this show has truly been on forever. It's
been on forever.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
So I'm curious, how did you come into being a pro?

Speaker 4 (06:48):
Like?

Speaker 1 (06:49):
How was it? Did you know what you were getting into?
What was how was the job pitched to you?

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Like?

Speaker 5 (06:54):
The show had been around for a while, and so
I knew about it. And at the time, I was
touring with a dance show called Burn the Floor, so
I was I had already shifted from being a competitive
ballroom dancer and found my love in theater and performance.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
And I loved this show.

Speaker 5 (07:13):
I absolutely loved what it was doing for ballroom dancing,
and so when they offered it to me, I was
still under contract for a year with Burn the Floor
doing a tour through Europe. We were finishing Broadway and
then I was contracted to go to the UK, to
the West End, and so I finished that out and
in twenty eleven I was able to join. I had
no idea what I was getting myself into. I had
not television. I got told to get social media accounts,

(07:36):
which I didn't have, and at the time I think
it was Twitter and Instagram, but like, it was a
whole other ball game, and I, thankfully at the time
had a couple seasons on the Troupe where I really
got to learn the ropes of how to.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Be a pro.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
I would be in there assisting and helping the pros
then choreograph their routines and get to see how they work,
or standing in when people were injured, and so I
got to learn the ropes a little bit before I
had my very first season, and my very first season
was Andy Dick and I did not know what I
was in for.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
That was like that I did a show with Andy.
You never know what you're in for. That was a
wild ride and it absolutely is.

Speaker 5 (08:13):
It was, and it was also beautiful at the same
time because he's an addictive personality.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
He'd switched out substance for.

Speaker 5 (08:19):
Dance, so he was all in, obsessively all in, and
I had his full attention at all times, and he
gave it everything. I had a beautiful experience with him,
chaotic but beautiful. But I think I also learned a
lot at the time too of how to be a pro,
what it takes.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
I had that.

Speaker 5 (08:35):
Ground the groundwork with being on the Troope, and then
when I started as a pro, I made it my
absolute business to watch the best of the best on
the floor, and at the time that was really Mark
and Derek that were doing some of my favorite things
I'd ever seen, and I made sure that I studied
them and learned everything that they did and so to
try and be the best pro that I could.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Was there a reputation in the dance community. I mean,
was it like did you have dancers come up to
you being you're going to do dancing with the stars?
Or is it like, oh my god, you get to
do dancing with the stars. I mean, how is it
thought about?

Speaker 3 (09:06):
So both ways?

Speaker 5 (09:08):
To be honest, there are the purists, the competitive purists
that are like, ugh, dancing with the stars, you know,
because it's not pure ballroom dancing, and the technique will
never be as spectacular as it is on a ballroom
dancing glory.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
It cannot be, you know.

Speaker 5 (09:21):
We dedicate our entire lives to just a simple rumble walk,
which is how to walk Like there's no possible way
we can do that in ten weeks with the person.
So yeah, there's two ways of thinking. There are those
that say that they don't like it andugh, but I
honestly think that's driven by a lot of jealousy because
it's the best dance job in the world that you
can possibly have, highest paying, greatest everything that comes with

(09:45):
it in a platform. And then there are those that
are just hungry to be on it, which is you know,
I think you see a lot of that now, and
it's now not just ballroom dances that are hungry to
be on it.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
It is dances across the board of every.

Speaker 5 (09:57):
Single style that are now getting in there and learning
much like what we see our troop dances are now
they're like hybrids of everything. They can tumble and flip
like a gymnast, and do a rumble walk like a
ballroom dancer, and everything in between.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
That's spectacular.

Speaker 5 (10:11):
I am a ballroom purist and then I got into
contemporary jazz later. But this new generation everyone wants to
be on Dancing with the Stars, so everyone is doing
ballroom dancing in their training.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, well, I mean reality TV writer and I are
very new to reality TV, but it obviously if you know,
if it's a show where you take a bunch of
and you throw them in a room and you play
them with alcohol and you film it, that's one kind
of reality show. But really reality has done at so
much for dance with so you think you can dance

(10:45):
and dancing with the stars. It really has kind of
helped to shape an entire new generation of dancers, hasn't it.
Oh well, yes, and why.

Speaker 5 (10:52):
I remember when I was a kid, my thing was
ballroom dancing, but I didn't tell people that because ballroom
dancing was what your grandparents did, Like it was not
the cool style to do. You wanted to do hip hop,
maybe ballet, you know, But I was like, oh, I'm
a dancer.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
I just wouldn't be specific about it. But now it's
the cool thing to do.

Speaker 5 (11:10):
Dancing with the stars or strictly come dancing the mothership
of it in England. Worldwide, it has put dancing now
opening the door for all other forms of dance now,
so you're thinking you dance and other shows to be
in people's living rooms, to find fitness through it, to
find mental health help through it.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
Like it's really help people understand how amazing this can be.
That it's cathartic. You don't have to compete, you don't
even have to be good, but.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
It is something that everyone can enjoy and everyone can
give a fair crack.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
And I think that's what's so amazing about dancing. With
the Stars and that's why people love.

Speaker 5 (11:43):
Watching it for twenty years because not only do we
have the people that come on with dance talent, and
this season is very, very stacked, but look at how
well Andy's doing. He is the one that people relate to.
He's the one that people see themselves in though I
could never possibly try it, but he's doing it.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
You know.

Speaker 5 (12:01):
That speaks to everyone sitting at home that has whatever
insecurity about trying something new. It is this, but this
Dancing with the Star's concept is magical in itself and
I don't think they've ever recreated it in any other
reality TV platform. Maybe singing, but you're taking people that
can actually sing right, you know, but this is every

(12:21):
day people. Okay, they're celebrities, but they're not dancers. They're
stepping outside their comfort zone in front of America. And
it's that's why it's lasted so long, because there is
a magic in that vulnerability.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
It.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Being a pro in this context seems like the hardest
and most thankless job because you you you have to
put so much work into it, clearly creative work, physical work.
But then even if you do incredibly well, the star
takes all the Thumber like they get awesome and the

(12:53):
other person sending it right. But then on the other
side too, I'm also curious about there must be times
when you get in there and you have ideas and
the person just can't do it, They just can't rise
to there, and then you have to adjust and sort
of lower your own standards or what you expected to
be able to do that that week. So do you have,

(13:14):
maybe without naming names, like, have you ever had an
experience where you literally just had to completely throw out
what you would plan to do because somebody wasn't capable
of rising to what you wanted.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Name names, name names, name names.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Honestly most seasons.

Speaker 5 (13:29):
So because that's the process, right you you prep we
have three weeks in the beginning of the season to
try everything out on our celebrity to see what's good
now what I used to do as a pro is
within that time, I'm trying to find out what their
strengths and weaknesses are.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
How do they learn? Are they visual?

Speaker 5 (13:46):
Do they need to hear me say it right down
to do I look in their eyeballs when I say it?
Or do we need an activity when I'm doing it?
Everybody listens differently. You are studying human behavior.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
On how to be a coach.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
Now, what that comes with is putting your checking your
ego at the door and knowing it has absolutely nothing
to do with your amazing ideas or how cool your
choreography is or how awesome your ideas were this week.
It had everything to do with the human being standing
in front of you and that you are trying to
get them, teach them how to dance and how to
last in this competition.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
That is both the.

Speaker 5 (14:19):
Physical aspect, the emotional aspect, the connection with the audience.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
It is everything.

Speaker 5 (14:24):
So if you go into it selfish about your creative ideas,
you're never going to go anywhere as a pro because
A your celebs won't enjoy it.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
B you'll only be good with people that.

Speaker 5 (14:33):
Are actually talented and see people won't connect with you
because you're solely going to be selfish about your own ideas.
It is the most selfless job because it has to
be about the person that's in front of you. Every
person I taught, I was a different coach when I
had football players.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
I was a football coach. I was a drill sergeant.

Speaker 5 (14:50):
I had absolutely no mercy when I had actors or
an Andy Dick. I was much more sympathetic, much more empathetic,
much more understanding.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Right, those your actors are like that that we need
to be held with kid gloves. It's so true, Like
we're a little biggest babies.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
Lie so well, you're doing so well.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
I have such a big ego, but it's so weak.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
Oh, that's absolutely true. Now. One of the things that
we've been told because again and we've done this specifically,
we have not gone back and watched any of the
old Dancing with the Stars, this is we have done
eight episodes of Dancing with the Stars and eight episodes
of Dancing with the Stars. Only we have been told
that the show has evolved quite a bit. So what
my my other co host of another podcast I do

(15:35):
is Sabrina Bryan, who was on The Cheetah Girls, who
was on the show. She's one of my favorite people
in the world. But she has told me, without being specific,
that the show has evolved even from when she was
on it. So we know that. But my question is,
we do a segment on our show called Will's History
of Dance, where I have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything dance.

(15:55):
I am not googling it at all. It's not on Wikipedia,
it's all up here. But it's seems like every dance
was kind of created anywhere from the eighteen forties to
the nineteen twenties. So while the show has evolved, have
the dances evolved. I mean, if we watch a Viennese
waltz from season one and it's really great, is that

(16:16):
going to look the same as it does from this season?

Speaker 3 (16:19):
Completely different? Completely different.

Speaker 5 (16:22):
Everything has absolutely evolved, just like it's evolved in the
competition world too. By the way, you know, those peurists
that are doing ballroom dancing, a lot of them have
ballet training, a lot of the content doing. Yes, they
stick to the syllabus that you need to in the
competition world, but they're adding flourishers left, right and center.
If you watch Dancing with the Stars twenty years ago,
you were seeing straight up ballroom dancing. We did not

(16:43):
have jazz, we did not have contemporary, we didn't have
any of those things. It was the ten ballroom dancers,
chuch our, samba, rumba, passaba, jive, waltz, fox trot, quick step, vinie, waltzon, tango.
Now we've added an Argentine tango, Lindy hop, jazz, contemporary,
and not only that, were we're also incorporating those different
flavors within the dance.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Like Mark Ballas's choreography.

Speaker 5 (17:06):
While true to the style that he is doing, he
puts a different flare on it every single time. You
would never have seen that, even probably maybe you did
see it with Mark back in Sabrina's time, who was
his partner, but you definitely saw.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
A much more traditional version of it.

Speaker 5 (17:21):
Everything has to evolve because people, First of all, everything
just naturally does.

Speaker 3 (17:26):
It's the way of the world.

Speaker 5 (17:26):
But people are going to get bored if it's the
same thing all the time. So the show felt it
needed to evolve. Then we had so thinking and dance
come into the picture and we're like, oh man, everyone's
doing contemporary and jazz and hip hop.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
But we tried hip hop one time. Not so great.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
We shall not you, no, no, it didn't really work
out well for us on the few times we did
hip hop.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
Oh God, please tell me that was Andy Dick's season that.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
We did jazz though.

Speaker 5 (17:50):
And if you do watch one, we did a Queen
of Hearts and the Mad had a jazz routine and
it was so twisted and fun. It was amazing, but yes,
to answer your question, it would not look the same.
And another layer on that is since we lost our
amazing Len Goodman, who was really the traditionalist, who was
really the stickler.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
For the rules, we've sort of lost the rules a
little bit too.

Speaker 5 (18:12):
And some of the discrepancies that you're seeing even this
season is that people.

Speaker 3 (18:16):
Are like, well, who's supposed to break hold? And when
are you supposed to break and why are you're not?

Speaker 5 (18:21):
The rules are blurry now because things are evolving, and
I think we haven't found what that really means yet,
Like what are our new sets of rules? Let's all
know them and all have them, like carry Ann will
forever not want lifts, right, That's always been her thing.
But unless it's a jazz or a contemporary, right, But
in the specific dance, it's no lifts.

Speaker 3 (18:40):
And Len was the one that always said.

Speaker 5 (18:42):
You're not supposed to break hold in tango. You know,
you're not supposed to break hold in quickstep, and he
would take a point off for it. But now we
have some judges doing it and some judges not, or
some weeks a couple gets called out and other weeks
a couple doesn't, and that's making people be like, well, what.

Speaker 3 (18:56):
The heck is going on? What are the rules? And
this seems unfair.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
That's mostly how I feel. But yeah, but you know,
but that's just because I came in as a complete newbie.
So when I'm watching it and I'm like, oh, I
don't understand what they're judging, I kind of want right
to like learn, and I've and I feel like the
first five weeks I was kind of figuring it out.
I was like, Oh, this is supposed to be that way,
and now I've lost all track. I'm like, but wait
a minute.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
Now you're like, yeah, so do you feel I mean,
do you you?

Speaker 1 (19:22):
It sounds like you you kind of crave a little
bit more structure too. Do you feel like it's evolved
a little too far into the like wishy washy or
whatever whatever goes category?

Speaker 5 (19:34):
I say that as now a judge, right, I say
I want rules, But believe me, when I was a pro,
I bended and broke.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
I bent and all of those rules like it was.

Speaker 5 (19:44):
I loved breaking them and taking risks because I always
loved that style and that kind of energy, and I
would value the crowd pleasing public vote over that one
point that I was going to lose from the judge.
It was strategic whether I thought we could take that
risk or not, you know. And then I also didn't
want to look like I was taking the piss out
of the rules, so I would again choose when to
take the risks or not. But as a judge, what

(20:06):
makes it easier for me to judge and to be
fair and to be consistent is rules. And it's only
fair to consist to contestants that they have the same
rules and they can then choose.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
To break them right.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, that's one of the things that Cheryl mentioned when
she was the guest judge, Cheryl Burke because this is
the first time rider or night, because we talked about
it on our show that we'd ever heard what you
just said, breaking the hold, Yeah, and we were wondering
does that mean ever because they started side by side,
so are they already breaking the hold? Then if they're
dancing side by side or is it the second you
then touch each other, you're not allowed to then break away.

Speaker 5 (20:41):
The second basically, so if you have there are some
dances that we've taken on the American Smooth Rules, which
is where you can open hold and do all different
sorts of frames. And then there are a couple dances,
be it tango and quick step where we have the
traditional international rules where one to take up frame you
are in frame, so you can generally on Dancing with

(21:04):
the stars, get away with it was around a fifteen
to twenty second intro of some sort of flourished to
get into it, and then you have yourself an ending
of whatever five to ten seconds, however long it goes for.
But once you are in frame, you are supposed to
stay in frame, and that means both sides being.

Speaker 3 (21:20):
Connected, not letting go of one and doing a little twelve.

Speaker 5 (21:23):
That's like both sides being connected, and so we are
not necessarily seeing that anymore.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
And so it's interesting. Maybe it's evolved, And I was.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
Just gonna say, is that evolution or is that breaking
the rules?

Speaker 1 (21:35):
But yeah, evolution.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, they don't know what the rules are going in
I guess, I guess if the rules don't up. Bliss
is again where I find the judging to be very arbitrary,
where it's like if the rules don't apply to anybody,
it's fine, But if the rules apply to some people
and not to others that's not okay totally. So then
I guess that's where it becomes a question of it's like, Okay,

(21:58):
what are we doing here because this person did this,
this person did that, one of them is an eight
and one of them is a ten. How are we
as people watching this show supposed to know what the
hell just happened? And then it's what you said too,
where it's like, then the judges and this is this
is you know, a detriment to them where they're not
really given any opportunity to explain themselves. So it's like

(22:19):
you got twenty five seconds to say, I love you,
you're great, here's an eight, and then you can't explain
why you really gave that score, so you're kind of
just thrown to the they're thrown to the wolves as well. Yeah,
and we've been guilty of it as well. We called
out Carrie in for what it seemed like was something
we even said it's probably not personal. It seemed like
it was because you get a snippet of something that
happens and then you're on to the next So yeah,

(22:43):
I mean, I guess that's how do you how do
you then, with the evolution of the dance. How do
you then formalize the rules so that they are followed
by everyone? Is that even a possibility anymore?

Speaker 3 (22:55):
I think it's a.

Speaker 5 (22:56):
Good question, and maybe it's something that the show will
look at and refresh, because I certainly think fans are
calling for it. People and we have new viewers like
yourselves that are like, wait a second.

Speaker 3 (23:05):
What does all this mean?

Speaker 5 (23:07):
But then we have the old school viewers that are like, well,
these were the rules, but it's kind of a bit
weird now, and I'm not so sure, but they have
a bit more of an understanding of it. I think
we just need to go back to clarify, you know,
like where do we sit. Are we wiping the don't
break hold thing? Because cool, but let's just put it
across the board and be super clear. But I think
what you're also seeing too is while this is evolving

(23:27):
and changing and people are taking risks. Some people like
there was one week it was Gleb and Ilaria and
they broke hold and they did a quick step and
you're not supposed to and that Derek said something about
not enough in hold and whatnot.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
To be fair, he didn't say that you broke hold.

Speaker 5 (23:42):
He just said there wasn't enough of it, and then
someone else did a dance where there was a lot
of broken hold but didn't get pulled up.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
I think it was the way Gleb's dance was structured.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
It was so obvious that there was so little of
the content in frame that it really stuck out so
much that Derek felt called to talk on it. But
the other one maybe a little bit more on went
in and out. I think while it's blurry, it just
it was a moment where it really stuck out for
Derek and he's like, oh wait, that doesn't feel like
enough in hold.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
I didn't get what I needed. But again, it doesn't
make it right. It's still blurry. It's not clear for everyone, and.

Speaker 5 (24:14):
I would love moving forward for them to like hash
it out a little, like, what are our new rules?

Speaker 3 (24:19):
Cool, let's have new rules.

Speaker 5 (24:20):
Let's let it evolve, but let's have new rules so
we know what it is for everybody. Or throw them
all out the window, say no rules and just go
for how much you love it and was there technique
in it?

Speaker 4 (24:30):
You know? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (24:31):
See that's cool.

Speaker 6 (24:37):
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Speaker 6 (24:53):
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(25:16):
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Speaker 1 (25:42):
You mentioned uh having a strategy, which seems like so
essential to this. You know, it's something that when we
our first answer with the Stars, we were actually there
for the first episode of the season and got to
see it live and you know, Robert Irwin came out
and just like blew the house out and brushed it. Afterwards,
we started talking to people and they were like, well,
strategy wise, you might have might have come out too hot,

(26:04):
you know, And we were like, what what is That's
a thing? So do you have like an overall when
you like, in general, do you go into a season
being like, we gotta we gotta show that we can
do traditional dances for the first couple of weeks and
then break the Do you have like an overall strategy
or is it just based on who you're dancing.

Speaker 5 (26:20):
With, Based on who you're dancing with, knowing their strengths
and weaknesses, planning out which dances you want to save
because they'll be better at them and you want to
save them for later down the line.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's definitely in the strategy. Back in my back in
my day. Wow, when I was competing, that felt weird
to say.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
It wasn't even contemporary at the time. Yeah, yeah, there
was none.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
We never did it.

Speaker 5 (26:44):
We did I was in that time, but we would
have we would be able to really tailor their journeys
a little bit more. Sometimes with all the theme weeks,
you're not so sure, how to like I think plan
that out, but we would have most memorable year and
you know, like dedication, So you would want to get
to know your celebrity, know those stories and know how
to bring those things out just to give the audience

(27:05):
a little bit more every week that they wanted to
come back for, right, And so there's a strategy. But yes,
it's different for everyone, but in those persons, that person's
response to Robert, I don't know, man, his natural arc
that he's now had because he came out so strong
and everyone was like, holy, he's so good, and then

(27:25):
he had a moment where it fell right and it
lulled and everyone's like, oh no, But remember he's not
really a dancer. He's never done this before. He wrestles
crocodiles for a living. And now he's blowing it out
of the water again. Like that arc and that momentum
that Kerry and just commented on is actually phenomenal to
shoot him all the way to the mirror ball, especially
because like Joey won last season, right, and it was

(27:48):
the same similar thing with him.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
He's not a dancer.

Speaker 5 (27:52):
He's good enough that he can fool you that he's
a dancer, but he has enough awkwardness and imperfection to
remind you that he's not that every week. He's this
from the ground up, unlike someone who's a Whitney, which
people tend to have lots of thoughts and opinions on the.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
Fact that she is a trying to dance.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
She's a professional. It's two professionals that are dancing together.

Speaker 3 (28:11):
Sure, but it doesn't mean she's gonna win.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
No, But I think that's it that's gonna end up
being a detriment frankly, because I think people that's why
Andy's still there is because I look at her. I'm
sure she's a lovely human being. I obviously have nothing
against her personally, but I was show I don't neither
do I. But at the same time, you know, I
was watching with my parents, and I've seen two episodes
with my parents, and both times my parents are like, so, wait,

(28:35):
which one is the pro? Like they literally they don't
they can't tell the difference. They don't know which one
is the pro. And that's why I think shows like
so you think he can dance and a stuff? Again,
nobody wants to watch American Idol. Well, I take that back.
People obviously like watching her and they're voting for her.
But I'll say for myself, I don't want to watch
American Idol and see the person who's getting there really

(28:55):
far has already had a record contractact kind of does
it beats the purpose of the show for me? Yeah,
But this brings me to an interesting kind of series
of questions about your celebrity that you get when you
first find out who's coming on the show. Do you
get a whole list of people that are coming on

(29:17):
the show and you yet don't know who you're partnered with,
and you're kind of like, Ooh, I wish I was
this person, or I wish I was it, and then
they hand you someone and you're like, or or is
it kind of like you don't know the other people
coming on the show and they just go, you're with
Andy Dick this year, And then you go, because I
know Andy, But it's a whole different thing.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
Ye different, It's different, right, No one gets a list, right,
You don't get to say, we're all checking the media
releases and seeing what's been leaked, just the same as
anyone else. There were a few key moments where I
was brought in and they said, Hey, this is who
I have for you, and one of those was Andy Dick.
For two reasons, it was my first season being promoted

(29:58):
to PRO and also of a do you.

Speaker 3 (30:01):
Know who Andy is? Do you know his history?

Speaker 5 (30:03):
Like, we want to make sure you're okay going into
this kind of a situation because who knows what my
life has been like up to that point, right, So
that sensitivity is really appreciated. But no, no PRO really
gets the full disclosure. You walk into that room and
you meet your celebrity for the first time, and me
being Australian by the way, nine times out of ten,
I was like, oh, no.

Speaker 4 (30:22):
They are ye, no idea they are.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
The only one I knew.

Speaker 5 (30:27):
That I fangirled over was Nick Carter because I had
no idea. They flew me back from Australia early. They
would not tell me because they were so excited. And
I went to this sound stage to meet my partner.
I was like, what's going on here?

Speaker 3 (30:39):
I had no idea, no idea who it could be.

Speaker 5 (30:42):
And I see the cameras are on me and I
see Nick Carter walking down the hallway and I was like, Oh,
Nick Carter is here.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
That's so cool. I had no idea. He was walking
directly towards me old and.

Speaker 5 (30:51):
The more he got to me, the more I blushed,
the more I turned into the ten year old that
had like his posters on.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
My bedroom walls. And I was like, I fanned. I've
never fann.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
God.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
I was like my partner like I couldn't even get
my words out.

Speaker 4 (31:04):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (31:05):
And then I told him about the posters that were
on my bedroom wall. So that was really embarrassing. But like,
you don't ever actually know who's going to be in
the room, and unless there is a very specific reason,
they've had to check in with you about it.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
And are you jealous of other pros and some of
their celebrities? Are you looking over going like oh man,
what I could have done with that guy?

Speaker 4 (31:28):
Sure?

Speaker 3 (31:28):
I mean, listen, let's be real.

Speaker 5 (31:30):
We're all competitors, we all love each other, we're absolutely family,
but everyone wants to win. We literally came from a
competitive life that we dedicated ourselves to. I was going
to be a world champion.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
That was my dream.

Speaker 5 (31:41):
I left Australia at eighteen years old to move to
London to be a world champion. I am a competitor
by nature, so it's impossible for me to get into
a season and not be like, Damn, I wish I
had that guy.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
That would be fun.

Speaker 5 (31:54):
But I've also had some of my most unbelievable seasons
with people that weren't the dancers, that weren't the ringers.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
You get to learn.

Speaker 5 (32:01):
After a time of being on the show, it's not
actually about how good they are.

Speaker 3 (32:05):
You're going to be in a fake marriage.

Speaker 5 (32:06):
With this person for three months, so it's a simulated marriage. Basically,
you're going to go through everything, ups and downs. You'll
be each other's shoulder to cry on, therapist's best friend, everything,
and you want a person that you can actually get
through that with. And sometimes it's not about it being
the greatest, but you can also go all the way
to the end. Again example, Andy, I won with Bobby Bones.

(32:28):
You know, I had a double amputee one time that
I danced with and I walked in, But I didn't.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
Walk in going oh my god.

Speaker 5 (32:36):
No, I walked in so excited for the opportunity to
give him dance because I understood the game at that point.
I understood it wasn't about me, it was about that person.
And Wow, what a gift that season was for me
to be able to I remember him walking, he would
walk more confidently and better on his prosthetic than he
had ever and he'd been a double amputee for years,

(32:59):
And that kind of stuff makes me emotional, like what
dance can bring to a person. And so yeah, I
think some people maybe still get those things because they
really want to win. But I think I loved it
for the journey and the storytelling. I was always a storyteller.
That was always my favorite part of it. Anyway, So yeah,
I guess, of course I'm a competitor, but if you

(33:22):
understand the gig, then you don't really get those issues.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
And so you's the one with Bobby Bones. I know
nothing about any of this, but I've been told that
he was basically that he was basically the Andy Richter
of his Yes season. So did you ever think you
would win that year? Were there moments are like how
did what was that process?

Speaker 5 (33:44):
Like?

Speaker 1 (33:45):
When did you realize like, oh, we got a shot?

Speaker 4 (33:47):
Dude?

Speaker 5 (33:48):
Never they carded us a mirrorble and I still didn't
think we had a shot.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
I was like, what do you mean?

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Wow?

Speaker 5 (33:54):
We joked we were like we were going to get
a mirror ble tattoo if we won, because we never
thought I ended up having. I got the word mirrorble
tatt because I was like, well he said it to
all of his fan base. I you know, every week
when we went through, we were shook that it was happening,
and we were exhausted by the way. Because Bobby worked
his butt off and he did all the overtime. It

(34:16):
was also exhausting for both of us traveling Nashville to LA.
He was putting in the hours and the work and
he loved every single moment of it. But it was
I honestly hadn't prepped the following week because I was like,
this is the week we're gonna go home.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
It's been so nice, you know, we're friends for life.
And then they were like safe, Bobby and Shana.

Speaker 5 (34:33):
I was like, what do you mean, I've got to
do a passidopeay, Like it was just it was a
thing we've gone to the finale.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
I had no freestyle prepared.

Speaker 5 (34:43):
I was like, I don't know, you haven't seen a
freestyle yet. It is the big moment where the couple
gets to do whatever they want.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
They throw a budget at it. You get to do
all the things and I was like.

Speaker 5 (34:53):
I, and you're usually prepping that for weeks because you
know you've got a shot.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
I had no things, guys. I don't have a song.
I didn't have no idea what I was going to do.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
It probably made it better because you were just rolling
with it and just in the moment.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
Oh, it ended up being for not he did three
steps and the whole thing.

Speaker 5 (35:08):
But if you ever go back and watch it, Bobby Bones,
we did the Greatest Showman.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
And it was a show piece.

Speaker 5 (35:13):
You know, I had him narrate the first part of it,
like it was phenomenal. It was fun, but it was shocking.
I never ever had a clue, and it was really
the first time with someone like that one. You know,
we'd had those people in the finals before even getting second.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
There was a baseball player David.

Speaker 5 (35:30):
Ross, who was wonderful and lovable, but and he got
second and I think someone that could really dance one.
It was the first win of its kind and it
really ruffled a lot of feathers too.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
But the truth is, it's what the show is about.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
That's what I was going to ask is because I
did not know who he was either. But obviously we've
done a bit of research and it seemed like there
was some ruffled feathers. So the question is, as the
pro are you more proud of taking somebody like that
to the finals or are you more proud of taking
somebody who has some dance talent and going to the finals.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
That's a really interesting question. That's an angle I've never
been asked, you know.

Speaker 5 (36:09):
I think the Bobby specific situation came with a lot
of complicated stuff For me.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
I was incredibly proud at.

Speaker 5 (36:16):
The time, and then when I saw all the hate
that I was getting and that we broke the show
and there was a lot of stuff involved with that,
that was a bit yucky to process for a while,
but now incredibly proud. I just did we did our job,
We did it to the absolute best of our ability,
and we got there and we did what the show
is about.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
So absolute.

Speaker 5 (36:37):
As much pride as I have in the Nick Carter
season and that any other great season that I have,
I created some amazing work with Bobby for what he
was capable of, and super proud of it. But certainly
there's nothing quite like when you have someone that can
really do some stuff and you get to look back
at that work and be like wow, because also in

(36:58):
those seasons I get to dance even to my fullestability.
With someone like Bobby, my technique is out the window.

Speaker 3 (37:04):
I am dance. I'm making sure he is getting what
he needs.

Speaker 5 (37:07):
Don't look at me that. When I've got someone like
a James Hinchcliff or a Nick Carter, I can dance
my own off.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
So yeah, I can. I can go back and watch
those performances.

Speaker 5 (37:16):
I did a fully blindfolded Argentine tango with one of
my partners because and he was an indie car driver,
a race car driver that just freakishly was amazing at dance.
And he was one that learned by the way through
the at the physics of dance because of his background
in race cars.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
And driving and momentum.

Speaker 5 (37:35):
We would be talking about percentages of weight and centrifugal
force and all sorts of things that he needs.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
Crazy right, wow, But anyway I can be.

Speaker 5 (37:44):
I look back at some of that work in that
season and it's I think some of the stuff I'm
the most proud of him and Nick Carter as far
as creativity. But then I look at Bobby Bones, I'm like,
I worked myself, so did he?

Speaker 3 (37:55):
We created some amazing stuff.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
Did you now One of the things we're seeing that
with Emma, we notice that there's during the dance, she's
essentially talking to Andy the whole time. Oh yeah, So
is that.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
What it's like?

Speaker 2 (38:06):
I mean, are you literally like and don't forget move
your feet and hands out this way? And is it
I mean, are you kind of walking them through the
dance as well?

Speaker 3 (38:15):
All of it?

Speaker 5 (38:16):
Yes, all of the above. Not everyone you have to
do that with. But she is reciting.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
And so what you learn throughout your rehearsal of the
week is you have your own dance language.

Speaker 5 (38:25):
You have little keywords that you've come up with that
resonated with them.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
That makes sense.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
You know.

Speaker 5 (38:29):
One of my things in a frame was palm tree.
It was a visual It was a thing that made
sense to people in the shaping.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
They were supposed to make.

Speaker 5 (38:35):
You're counting them in five, six, seven, eight, you'll see
a lot of the time. I think for some reason,
it feels like it's more the female because the female
pros that.

Speaker 3 (38:45):
Are doing it.

Speaker 5 (38:45):
The males are always in the dominant leading position, so
they can physically the dance is built for them to
physically put the girl where they're meant to be right
unless they're doing a side by side section, But we
are in the passive position, so sometimes it's hard to
back and you are yelling these things to them and
telling them.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
Left right or fine or halms out or whatever it is.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
Hell leads, you are like trying to a smile, trying
to like say the things to them that they need
to hear and remember.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Well, that was another question that we had, was exactly
what you were saying, because we both had different points
of view, and both of them I think were right.
Strangely enough, But do you believe it's harder to be
a female pro because you have to teach the man
how to lead? Or is it harder to be the
male pro because you still get to have the dominant position?

(39:36):
Which one's more difficult?

Speaker 5 (39:38):
I mean, I personally think it's harder being the female
pro because of what we have to teach and teaching
them to lead and teaching them to be a man.
They are the ones that are lifting us, you know,
they are the ones. There's a lot that goes into it.
It's also the job that we have is harder for

(39:58):
dancing with this specifically because room dancing is designed to
show off the woman, right, so we have all the
flourishes and the extra things and the it's not that
we have more complicated footwork, but it's designed to show
us off. So then as the female pro you have
to work really hard for people to not say, oh,
she was dancing around him, when sometimes that is just
just naturally what the choreography is. Right, So we have

(40:20):
to work really hard to make sure the choreography makes
them shine and specifically put the feature on them in
ways that you don't necessarily always do it in ballroom
dancing because it's much more focused on watching the female.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
But it is hard.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
It's hard both ways. Look, and it really is a
case by case basis.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
There are some.

Speaker 5 (40:40):
Types of female celebrities that have been really hard to teach.
You know, it depends if they have it's all related
to athleticism and body strength and core strength, determination, focus,
they can they handle it.

Speaker 3 (40:52):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 5 (40:53):
Sometimes the men can handle the tough love a little
bit more than the women can, so then the men
have to sow from their style of teaching. We all
have things that we have to deal with going in,
whether it's for male or female celebrities, but I think
in a physical sense of what we have to teach.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
And how to get the as much juice out of
the squeeze? Is that the road saying I think the
females is something juice out of the I don't know.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Yeah, anyways, is the juice worth the squeeze?

Speaker 3 (41:21):
As I think I got the wrong analogy or the
wrong sec It's perfect.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
It worked, It worked, you evolved the analogy like the
dance itself evolved, so you all back around.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
It's now a thing.

Speaker 5 (41:34):
But if I had to pick, I would say the
female pros have it harder. But I'm a female pro,
so I'm sure any of the male pros would be like, what.

Speaker 4 (41:41):
A All right?

Speaker 1 (41:56):
So I'm sure you've talked about this a lot on
your your own podcast, but I'm really curious if you have,
if you can present some overall feelings about this season
in comparison to seasons past, or what makes this season
unique or interesting in your opinion.

Speaker 5 (42:11):
It's funny, I think every season is unique, you know,
because you just simply have different personalities. We have a
very stacked season, and it's not always this stacked, you know,
very few times it's this stacked. Funnily enough, the season
I won with Bobby, it was this stacked.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
It's one of the reasons why you won.

Speaker 5 (42:33):
I think that in a season full of stacked dancing,
where maybe the votes for amazing dancing are split between
and whatever is going on, Bobby was able to come
in with the people that vote for the People's Champion
and took the whole thing home because it was wild
standing there with four other couples that could legitimately.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Dance right, and then we won.

Speaker 5 (42:56):
And I think you're looking at something similar this season,
where Andy is, as the judges have said, the heart
of the show, the People's Champion, reminding people with this
experience is about. While everyone else is fighting over who's
got dance experience and the difference of a point between
Alex and Whitney and who whatever. Those votes are now split,
but there is that core chunk of people that love

(43:17):
Dancing with the Stars for the experience and the person
that is the underdog or whatever, and they're all voting
for Andy. Especially now that we sadly lost Danielle. They
are definitely all voting for Andy.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
So were there seasons where Danielle would have made the
finals or maybe even one.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
She's wonderful and talented. She was doing such a great job.

Speaker 5 (43:38):
She was just caught up in the middle of a
season where you have it Andy, which is also a
rare personality and character and energy right the way he
captivates that's rare.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
But then you have it stacked on.

Speaker 5 (43:50):
The front end with gymnasts and dances and all sorts
of things, and she sadly was left in the middle,
not because she's not talented, not because she wasn't captivating
on the flare doing a great job, but there was
just such extremes on either side of her, right, and
it just made it really really hard for her to
go all the way. But her Impasha did a phenomenal job,

(44:11):
you know, and she is also what this experience is about, yeah,
very much so, and watching her do that, and I
love that she got to do her last contemporary that
was an emotional piece for her and she felt how
cathartic dance can be and she was talking about the
things that it brought up for her. It's beautiful in
that way, and Dancing with the Stars is about that too,
So I love that she got to have that experience

(44:33):
before she left.

Speaker 3 (44:34):
But it was really sad.

Speaker 5 (44:35):
It's gone so fast, you know where We've got three
weeks to go.

Speaker 3 (44:40):
And so it feels too soon to leave her. But
I get it.

Speaker 5 (44:43):
We've got three weeks and a stacked cast and it's
going to go very fast.

Speaker 3 (44:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
Can I ask you a couple of quick, rapid fire questions.
You can choose not to answer any of these questions,
but you have to answer every single one. Okay, which
pro has the biggest ego.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
The biggest ego all of us?

Speaker 2 (45:03):
All of us really, so it's not just instantly Val?

Speaker 5 (45:06):
No, actually no, So if you knew that Val is
also incredibly humble. At the same time, if you've got
any personal time with him, he definitely has that New
Yorker like thing about him that is just all up
there and you feel that it's one hundred per ego,
but he's not. He's also he's got to get a

(45:27):
lot of humility to himself as well.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
Okay, how much does the amazing amount of social media
that has been surrounding this show lately affect the judging?

Speaker 5 (45:38):
Oh, the judging is very interesting and it's hard to
answer that because this unbelievable amount of social media is
very new in the last couple of years. I think
everyone is adjusting. I think you can see Derek being
affected by it and some of the things he's said
relating to we need more positivity, like I know personally
some of the dances that I've spoken to in just

(46:01):
sharing some advice with them on how to like post
and ghosts and don't look. I think it's affecting everyone
across the board because it is vicious out there and
unnecessarily so.

Speaker 3 (46:11):
And I never had really that in my time. It
was Tumblr. I remember seeing blogs of people that hated me,
but it.

Speaker 5 (46:18):
Wasn't like this and so, and I do believe they
have someone that is on set to always be there
for them for them to check in, like some aid.
Whether that is a counselor I don't know what we
call that person, but it is. There are resources there
for people to reach.

Speaker 2 (46:33):
Out to, mental health professional, maybe something along yet.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
Because it is wild this season, and I imagine that
it's affecting everybody.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
Yeah, it's interesting to hear the booze when like carry
Anne was judging last night and I was like, what
is it coming into the room in a way that
it didn't before, Like.

Speaker 5 (46:50):
Well, yeah, what's interesting about that is not that booz
are choreographed or or indicated to happen, but the hype,
man is very much.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
Like if you love something, love it. If you hate it,
do it. Because it's a live audience, we want sound,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (47:07):
We want movement where we want things, and so you
need that in there.

Speaker 3 (47:11):
But it was never received.

Speaker 5 (47:12):
It almost used to be comical in a way, like
Len used to get booed all the time. But now
that booing is crossing over into social media and I
think we're all getting a little bit more sensitive with.

Speaker 3 (47:22):
It now and like, how are you booing.

Speaker 5 (47:24):
When sometimes Carrie in was the only one on the
panel at some point trying to say a critique and
then she's getting booed, But then online.

Speaker 3 (47:30):
People are like, but the judges aren't saying anything and
they're giving it a day, Like you can't have it
both ways.

Speaker 6 (47:36):
Man.

Speaker 5 (47:36):
It's just getting really intense all around. But I think personally,
I think we need the booze. It's just they've felt
a little bit more intentional as than playful lately.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
It's just there's there's a mean aspect to but it's
social media, so that's the way it is, well, it
feels like there's a.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
History behind it, you know, like that That's the thing
for me is I was like, I feel like they're
responding to what happened last week because they've all whipped
each other up into a frenzy. And I'm Charlene hasn't
actually said anything yet and they're already booing her. I'm like, well,
hold on, like, let's let's hear her out.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
She literally just says but the exactly, they're just like,
at least say something.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
She's been so judgmental as a judge, I like a judge.

Speaker 2 (48:18):
Another quick question, is it true in Australia all the
spins go in the opposite direction?

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Absolutely? Yes, yes, I'm great.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
And then for me, final quick fire, who's gonna win.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
My money right now? If I was a betting woman,
would be on Robert?

Speaker 4 (48:37):
Really?

Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah, So you don't you don't think you think you
think the people will take Andy so far and then
they will at the end of the day still vote
for somebody who can dance.

Speaker 5 (48:48):
So the the difference here is that Robert, there is
just something about the Irwin family right and there is
just something spectacular about that legacy.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
He is so lovable. It's and he's very good, and.

Speaker 5 (49:01):
The fact that he is like Steve all Day and
in the Skyboxer and then he dances and he puts
on this whole other persona.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
It's it's wild to watch and it's captivating.

Speaker 5 (49:11):
And I think the fact that he is not a dancer,
that he's dancing.

Speaker 3 (49:14):
Very well, and all the other things around it. My
money's on Robert. But I reckon we might say Andy
in the final, well, he's gonna have to prepare themselves.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
I was gonna say, they're gonna have to do something.
But you, I mean, you obviously live here now. But
are you getting vibes from back in Australia what it's
like watching him go this far on the show?

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Oh no, I yeah, I live here now, so oh no,
I know.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
But I'm just wondering if you're hearing from back home
like how amaze? Like oh my god, he's Australia's champion.

Speaker 5 (49:40):
Oh well, they don't actually get it in Australia. It
doesn't air in Australia. Australia is the Australia one. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Oh man, So it's not like Love Island where there's
thirty seven different versions you could watch. Oh okay, amazing, wow.

Speaker 5 (49:54):
Yeah, our Australian Dancing with the Stars is in like
one hundred and something territories, and so Dancing with the
Stars in Australia only as Dancing with the Stars of Australia,
the UK only as the UK one. So but I
do have people over there, of course that would try
and like get their VPNs and what to watch it,
especially when I was on it, and I would say
that Australia is youtubing the heck out of it because

(50:17):
of Robert and very very excited.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
He's on all the local news channels.

Speaker 5 (50:21):
They are all very very excited about Robert potentially winning it,
just like his sister Bindi did. So yeah, they're tuning in,
but it doesn't actually air over there.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Crazy wow man. Well, Charna, thank you so much for
answering all of our questions. Welcome showing us a little
bit more about Dancing with the Stars. This is this
has been quite a journey and even though Danielle's off,
we're not finished yet. We're gonna keep We're gonna keep.

Speaker 3 (50:44):
Going, all right. I love that. We'll enjoy you guys,
and maybe we'll do this again.

Speaker 5 (50:49):
Sometimes sez, thank you so much by everyone.

Speaker 2 (50:54):
Man, it's incredible. Yes, there's so much, so many questions
we had she was able to answer. First of all,
though I do have to say the accent both. She's
from the Jersey total crap but knowledgeable, which is nice.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
Man. I would never want to be a pro. I
would love to be a judge, Like I feel like
being a judge is actually pretty fun. But the idea
of like putting all of that effort creatively physically and
then really just kind of being the unsung hero. No thanks,
no thanks.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
It's not just that, but it's exactly what she said.
She's right. They all come from such competitive backgrounds that, right,
there are times they I'm sure, walk in and see
their pro and are like ah man, But then I
have to imagine they also know the show well enough
to go like, Okay, the story's there, right, we could
go far with this and they will progress as Dan.
I mean, say what you want about Andy, and there's

(51:45):
plenty of people saying plenty of things, but he has
gotten better from the first week to now. Yeah, And
if that's what the show is about, then he's what
the show is about.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
I mean, it's I know, but like you said it best,
I think a couple episodes ago where you were like,
is it hair when you have people who are really
you know, who are learning how to dance and doing
something so much more than he is, frankly capable of
getting eliminated, you know. And I felt it with Danielle
last night.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Yeah, he's he's still there and our best friend is
gone and she's worked her off and I'm not saying
he hasn't. No, it was a different level. It's just
a different level. And it's one of those things where, yeah,
it's such a weird thing, but it's it's almost the
flip side of the popularity contests you grew up with

(52:34):
in high school, where the football player who wasn't qualified
in any way, shape or form to actually be president
of the class was voting in president overwhelmingly to be
president of the class. It feels a little bit like that.

Speaker 4 (52:45):
Well.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
I think Sharna put it best when she said that
this season and like it sounds like the Bobby Bone
season for her, was that it was too extreme in
both directions, do you know what I mean? It's sort
of like the show should be either or the show
should either be anybody can learn to dance, Let's root
for people based on their progress, or the show is
a real dancing competition, let's, you know, vote them based

(53:06):
on quality of actual dancing. And I think, unfortunately this
season is sort of split between those two and people
like Danielle who are really progressing and kind of be
able to do both right, have a personal story, be
somebody who never danced before. I mean, she's just losing
out and that's.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
Yeah, it's too bad. Strangely enough, having only seen the
eight episodes, I do think this show from a production
standpoint needs a retool. It does it needs to What
is this show right now? Is it a professional kind
of dance thing where you're trying to find the next
great professional dancer. Or is it let's take people who
can't dance and teach them how to dance.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
You know what it would you know what it would take.
I think that the answer is either a complete judge reset,
like completely new panel of judges, or ask the judges
episode one to explain their criterion.

Speaker 4 (53:59):
Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (54:00):
Each of them said, here's what I'm judging on for
this entire season, and I'm not going to change my
opinion as we go, because just letting it be their
personalities without them presenting like here's the things I think
the show is, Here's what I'm going to be judging
based on. We're just sort of like left to assume
those things. But if they clearly stated this is my
thesis statement coming in, I'm a judge who is going

(54:21):
to care about X, then we could be like, okay,
and they could be different, right, they could have different
but as but right now we're just sort of left
to be like and that's you know, on the show's producers.
I think maybe to make that a little clearer from
the outset of the season, like Derek is this type
of judge, Carryon's coming with this, Bruno's going to be
the fun you know, whatever it is. They just come with,
like I'm going to be judging based on this, and

(54:42):
you know, because like what was Flavor Flav doing?

Speaker 2 (54:44):
You know, like it's just because he was rock and
roll Hall of Fame, but he had.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
But that's also that could be reflected in all the
judges for a certain extent. You're just like, oh, okay,
I guess we're just going to listen to this person, right,
So it'd be nice to have a little clarity on
that front.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
I think I think that's a great idea, even levels
I don't if you, I mean, how do you say
that it's but it's weird? Then you throw in somebody
like Andy or I guess Bobby Bones, who again neither
of us know anything about, but and he they throw
a wrench into the system where when you say, but,
come on, this person is a professional dancer basically, and
they're like, yeah, but these people are winning or they're
being voted through every week. So isn't that kind of

(55:18):
showing what the show can do. It's such it's infuriating
at times, it really is infuriating, And then you're right,
I see Andy, who you like and who his story
is great, and you're really I'm watching enjoying watching him,
and he's lovable and likable. And my best friend who
worked off, who was clearly the better dancer, is no
longer there, and so it's kind of like, yeah, I

(55:39):
don't know, it's it's infuriating, but we're here for the journey.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
All right. That's it for this episode of Pod Meets Twirled.
Join us next episode as we continue watching season thirty
four of Dancing with the Stars. We may not know
a chat chaw from a chimney chonga, but we know
what we learned way back in Poene's class. Daniel Fischel
was the star of the show. Podmeats World is an
iHeart podcast producer hosted by Danielle Fischel, Wilfridell and Ryder

(56:05):
Strong executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman Executive in
charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tara Subasch producer,
Mattie Moore engineer and Boy Meets World superman Easton Allen.
Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. Follow
us on Instagram at Podmets World Show or email us
at Podmeats World Show at gmail dot com.