January 23, 2026 • 29 mins
Danielle has spent all week in rehearsals for the Dancing with the Stars Live tour and now Opening Night in Akron, OH is upon us. To commemorate the monumental event, she has a special diary update that answers everything you want to know about the journey! What did she pack? How does the schedule work? And what the hell is the bathroom situation??
Plus, go backstage to get ready for night after night of performances, and get a sneak peek of what to expect from Danielle as co-host!
It’s time to break a leg on a new Danielle’s Diary section of Teen Beat…
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
That's okay, becaus no one here is.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Welcome to a special episode of teen Beat. I am
your host, Danielle Fischel, a podcaster, a director, mother of two,
and currently touring circus clown on the Dancing with the
Stars Tour. No, of course I'm not a circus clown,
but I do very much feel like when we used
(00:51):
to do the pod Meats World Tour, and we would
go place to place, and and sometimes we'd be in
venues that like wouldn't necessarily be like the the back
of the venue wouldn't be super nice, and I'd say
to write or like oh wow, like this doesn't feel good,
and he goes, no, I love it. I feel like Carnifolk.
I feel a little like that, like going from place
(01:11):
to place, never really knowing what I have in store
for me that day based on where I'm going to be.
I have not up until this point, really had to
experience or gotten to experience the bus life. Yet we
are in a very tiny little town in Pennsylvania, and
we're at this incredible venue that really caters to rock
(01:36):
bands and pop acts and any really any kind of
massive show that you want to do. Huge space and
all kinds of you know, a beautiful stage and confetti
cannons and lighting rigs and I mean, you name it.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
They can do it here.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So it's been it's been really nice to like fully
be able to put on the show and to have
a sense of what it's going to feel like when arenas.
But yeah, it's incredible. I just I can't even believe.
I'm pinching myself every single day that this right now
is my life. I can't believe it. Like I wake up,
(02:15):
I go down to the studio where we're rehearsing, and
I watch ten of the most incredible dancers on stage
doing things that I just cannot believe a human body
can do. And when you watch Dancing with the Stars,
you get a sense for how talented they are. But
(02:36):
it's such quick little snippets because no offense to my
fellow celebrities on the show. But when they dance with us,
even the best of the best, you you don't realize it,
but they're not dancing to their full potential, like they
are having to slow it down a bit. And you know,
(02:58):
I don't want to say dumb it down, because not
trying to be insulting to us celebrities who aren't dancers,
but they're not really you know, they're not able to
dance the way they want to. They have to dance
to your level or a little above your level to
try and help you raise your game. But boy, to
see them dance with each other for a two hour
(03:21):
show and to see what they're capable of is amazing.
I during rehearsals before we went on the road, I
came home and I told Jensen one day, I was like,
this is insane to me that it starts with like nothing,
you know, there's like nothing going on on the stage.
And Mandy, Mandy Moore, the incredible choreographer and director who
(03:42):
is just like man, when I grow up, someday I
want to be Mandy Moore.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
She is a boss lady.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
She's so kind, so funny, such a great personality, has
a million and one things going on, keeps it all
straight and never seems, never seems like she's going to explode,
even though I'm sure on the inside she feels like
she's going to a million times anyway, Like there will
be nothing, you know, and they're creating something from nothing.
And Mandy will say, why don't you walk over here,
(04:13):
and then why don't you walk over there? And then
you and then she'll go, Nope, I don't like that,
I hate it. Okay, let's start over again. And then
she comes up with like a little bit of something,
and then she's like, and then we need to do
you know, a couple of eighths here and her and
the dancers work out something that they want to do,
and within like twenty or thirty minutes, they have a
(04:35):
gorgeous number, and I'm like.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
What in what world? How does this happen?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Like really, the show has made me believe I need
a full six days to learn how to do anything.
But watching them, you really get a sense of, like, wow,
these people are incredibly special. So anyway, it has been
remarkable and I can't believe I get to be on
stage with them. It's a little intimidating because I am
(05:01):
I was going to say, I feel, but it's not
just that I feel I am the weak link, Like,
of course, I'm the only one who's not a professional dancer.
I'm the only one who's never done a tour. I'm
the only one who has no clue what's going on,
and I'm just trying to keep up, and I'm trying
not to drag them down with me, And I'm trying
to make sure that you are fantastic watchers and you know,
(05:24):
listeners of the podcast, but watchers of the show and
voters on the show, people who love Dancing with the Stars,
who come to this expecting the highest caliber and quality
of product. That you get it and that I contribute
to it in some way. So we are working our
butts off to make sure that you guys feel how
(05:48):
special you are and how special you are to all
of us and to the show and.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
To this tour.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I mean the way all of these people talk about
those of you who come to the shows, and they
hold you in the highest esteem, like you, guys are
a functioning member of the Dancing with the Stars team.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You just really are. We would be nothing without you.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
And we did a dress rehearsal today and before the
dress rehearsal, we all huddle up in the back and
hold hands. And Val led the speech today and one
of the things he mentioned was just how grateful we
all are that we get to perform for you, and
that we still get to keep doing things that we
(06:33):
love and that we get to do it on stage
at this caliber, with these kinds of resources and this
kind of team behind us, and that you guys support
us the way you do, and that is just something
that needs to be said that all of this is
only because of you and your love for the show,
and it just continues to grow. I am having the
(06:57):
time of my life. But with that said, I haven't
had to spend a lot of bus time yet. As
a matter of fact, I've spent no bus time. We've
been in a hotel. We're in this small town in Pennsylvania,
like I told you, doing tech rehearsal, and we've been
in hotel life, which is kind of nice because we've
got plenty of space. Our bags are all unpacked, and
(07:19):
I let me tell you, I am packed within a millimeter.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Of my life.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I used to be. I think I used to be
a little more low maintenance. I used to have less things.
To be fair, I usually don't travel when I have
to do my own full glam hair and makeup. On
this tour and on all the tours we have to
do our own hair and makeup. Wardrobe is provided by Daniella,
(07:50):
the customer from Dancing with the Stars, so wardrobe is
provided for us by Daniella and Steve, and Stephen does
all the men stuff, but hair and makeup. We are
on our own four and I'm not used to having
to do that by myself. On the show, we have
the world's best hair and makeup team and they make
sure we look perfect for this. We still want to
look good obviously we're on stage. We want you, guys
(08:13):
to feel like you're getting the high quality of dancing
with the stars that you're used to, but we have
to do it ourselves. So I had to bring all
my makeup stuff. I had to bring some hair stuff.
I had to bring my hair dryer. It's getting I'm
just now starting to like learn what the day to
day is going to look like. So let me tell
you what my day to day is soon going to
(08:34):
look like. Basically, you do a live show. You put
on let's say, the performance of a lifetime. I'm manifesting it,
I'm bringing it, I'm bringing it to me. You put
on a fantastic show. Then at the venue you have
to get ready for bed because there are no showers
on the bus, so you have to go into the
(08:56):
venue with all of your toiletries. Only the toiletries that
you're going to use to get ready for the show,
like your makeup and your hair stuff. But now you
have to get unready for bed and so you have
to take a shower. If that means you're washing your hair,
you're washing your hair. If you need to dry your hair,
that means you need to dry your hair there. So
I had to bring my hair dryer, my brushes, a
(09:18):
curling iron. I brought a beach waiver because I want
to be able to do some waves. I brought a
little flat iron. I had to bring multiple pallettes of
makeup because who wants to wear the same palette of
makeup for an entire month? Not me, so I brought
multiple pallets of makeup. We are also responsible for maintaining
our spray tans, which having seen the lights that are
(09:41):
on stage and they are very bright, you know you
want to have a little bit of a glow or
some sort of body makeup to the lights are not
doing our legs any favors. I gotta be honest. I
looked down at my legs. I was like, what on
earth is this? And then I stepped out of the
light and they were fine. It's just, you know, just
the just the lighting. But so I had to bring
(10:03):
my own body makeup. I have my brushes. Yeah, so
I have to bring all that stuff onto the bus.
Then when you leave, you want to put on your
comfy clothes, like at least your lounge wear, if not
your pajamas. But you still got to get bundled up
because we're on the East Coast. It's it's freezing and snowing,
so you have to get bundled up. Then you go
(10:23):
back to the bus. Are giant suitcases? Well, I guess
I should tell you what I packed with me, because
I didn't explain that very well. You bring one giant
suitcase that's filled with basically however many clothes you think
you can bring with you For me, I'm only gone
a month, which I say only, it's the longest I've
(10:44):
ever been away from home. It's the longest I've ever
been gone from anywhere. But I brought enough things that
I wasn't going to feel like I was too terribly
sick of all the things that I brought. And then
I brought like and most of those things were sets,
because your girl loves a set.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I'm your girl. So I brought like a blue sweat set.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I brought, of course my Nowhere brand sweatset that I'm
obsessed with. I brought another one that was a gift
to me from Wilfridell's wife, Susan. I brought that sweat set.
I brought a black sweatset that I actually just bought
for this trip. And then I also.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Brought some.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Things that I might want to wear on my day off.
We get one day off a week, and I figure
I might want to get out of sweat sets on
that day just to kind of feel a little human.
So I brought two pairs of jeans, and I brought
a few cute sweaters to wear underjackets. Then I brought
one coat that's more of like a you know, cute coat,
(11:42):
and then a big puffy coat. And then I brought
a pair of gloves, and I brought two pairs of
tennis shoes, one that are like trainers for when I
go to the gym, but I also wear them, you know,
out of the venue and stuff. And then another like
more like fashion pair of sneakers, and then a pair
of snow boots. And that is it, And of course
shower sandals, but I didn't bring shower sandals they provided
(12:05):
them to me when I arrived here, which was very kind.
So we all got shower sandals. So I packed my
big suitcase and then I had a carry on size
suitcase because from what I understand, all of the suitcases
live at the bottom of the bus. They go under
the bus in storage. The only thing you're really allowed
(12:26):
to have with you on the actual bus is like
a small Duffel bag. And that's because while the buses
are big, there are like eight people staying on the bus,
and there's one bunk that's empty, and that becomes your
junk bunk, and that means all of us can use
(12:46):
it to put our small duffels in. So we put
on a fantastic show. We get unready for bed, then
we go out to the bus. We put our toiletries
(13:06):
and whatever else that we had with us in the
junk bunk in the in the duffel bag in the
junk bunk, and then you go to sleep. And while
you're sleeping, the bus driver is driving you to the
next location. Then you get to the next location, you
wake up. Whenever you wake up, say you arrive at
like four or five o'clock in the morning, you wake
up Whenever you wake up, you get out of the
(13:28):
bus and if you want to go get ready for
your day, you take your toyletree bag out of the
junk bunk and you go back inside the next venue
and you're getting ready there. I am not sure how
this is going to work. I like to have some
lazy mornings. I can't even function at all before I've
(13:50):
had a cup of coffee. So I guess my plan's
going to be sleep all night, arrive at the venue,
wake up. Whenever I wake up, there is a coffee pot.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
On the bus.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
That leads me to the next thing, which is you
get to do something called bus stock, and that means
they do a grocery shopping for us.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Once a week.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
They go to the grocery store and we get to
put things on there that we want to eat. So
like I requested apples, I requested coffee because I can't
imagine life without coffee. I also requested like an espresso machine,
which I know that's super bougie, but they're just it's
much better coffee. Then you're gonna get some other place.
(14:31):
So I have an espresso. We have an espresso machine
on the bus, and then we get our espresso pods.
So I think my plan is just going to be
to wake up in the morning. Whenever I wake up,
have a cup of coffee on the bus, maybe have
an apple, and then then go in and start getting
ready for my day.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I'm not even really sure what the schedule is going
to be like once we're fully into it, because we're
going to have to We've got meet and greets before
the show, so I'm going to have to be hair
and makeup ready mostly before meet and greets, because then
right after meet and greets, we are going to have
to get our bodies warm for the show. We've been
here now for a few days. We have done two
(15:14):
full dress rehearsals. The first dress rehearsal that we did,
I am not exaggerating and I don't think I'm speaking
out of turn when I say it didn't go the
way we wanted it. There were so many little mistakes
(15:34):
in all areas, you know, like dancer mistakes, host mistakes.
Me and Emma are the co hosts. Emma and I
made a couple of mistakes. Dancing wise, I made a
million mistakes, but it's also the very first time we
were ever able to put the entire show up on
its feet. So there's so many things. There are technical
aspects and content and voiceover and lighting and you know,
(15:58):
seeing how long it actually takes to change into the
next costumes before the next dance and then do people
who are in the next dance actually have time to
change and then make it to stage. And the answer
for a lot of it was no, and no, that's
not working, and it was. It was stressful. We were
all looking at each other going, oh my gosh, this
did not go the way we wanted it. It's not
(16:20):
to the quality that we want, it's not to our standards.
So we finished that dress rehearsal, and Mandy Moore came
and she gave us really great notes and I cannot
imagine how stressed she must have been with all of
those things on her plate, but she was totally professional,
one hundred percent calm. Gave us the you know, BIPs
(16:43):
and bobs that we needed in order to work on
it the next day. And then the next day we
did the most helpful day, which is called a Q
to Q. We did literally the entire show Q two
Q so like, and then lighting happens, and then you
do this, and then you do.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That, and we got to walk through it.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
We got to look at our notes and say, okay,
yesterday this did not work.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Let's touch this up.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
There were, like I mentioned, quite a few times where
people didn't have enough time to make their quick changes
and get back on stage and time for a dance,
and so it was like, Okay, I don't have enough
time here, and so it'd be like, great, how do
we build out more time. So there's a couple of
moments where you know, only this number of people are
on stage because so and so is getting changed, and
(17:31):
so we got to add new choreography and just kind
of build some moments out in places so that the
show is possible and also somewhat not just possible, but
like there's room for a breath, because no one wants
to literally be huffing and puffing when they enter stage
trying to do a beautiful dance. And the way the
(17:53):
stage is all set up, you run off. You run
all the way to the back of the stage. There's
a flight of stairs and then there's the quick change
back there. So if you are in kind of are
close to back to back dances, you're running off, running
down into quick change, taking off the dress or the
thing you're wearing, putting on the new thing, and then
running up a flight of stairs and trying to get
back to stage. So, you know, wanting to make sure
(18:16):
there's time where people aren't like just finishing a sprint
as they run out on the stage. But Mandy is
so talented and just very easily comes up with solutions
to things. And she's got an incredible team with her. Also,
the production company that puts on this tour faculty is amazing.
They are taking such good care of us. They gave
(18:38):
us a really nice little gift bags that came in
mini Duffels, which has come in very handy because it
is now going to be my new toiletry Duffel bag
that comes and goes with me from the bus to
the venue. It's going to be my junk bunk Duffel.
Try to say that three times fast and yeah. So
(19:00):
the way it works with this giant suitcase, you've got
your giant suitcase under the bus, You've got your carry
on suitcase under the bus, and then you have your
like personal item Duffel bag that gets to go on
the bus with you once a week. We get a
day off, and that usually means we get to stay
at a hotel. And apparently that's really the only day
you want to take your giant suitcase out. And you
(19:22):
want to take your giant suitcase out, get out any
of your dirty clothes, do a load of laundry at
the hotel, and then refresh your clothes from your big
suitcase into your carry on. So like, Okay, I've been
wearing these two things or these four things kind of
all week. I am done looking at those. I get
to wash them, and now they're clean, They're going back
in my big suitcase, and I'm taking new items of
(19:45):
clothes out that I haven't already worn and putting them
in my carry on size. And then every day at
the venue, if you want to take out your carry
on with you and your toiletry bag, you can do
that too.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
But yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Haven't really spent a lot of time on the bus yet,
so I'm not sure exactly how that's going to work.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I hope. I love bus life.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
From what I understand, the movement of the bus and
the sounds and everything is like its own natural white noise,
which is great because I sleep with white noise, so
I'm hoping I don't need extra white noise.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
The first two nights at this hotel.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
The hotel is also incredible, but the first two nights
at this hotel, their pillows are a little firm for
my liking. And I obviously was jumping right back into
dancing all day every day. So I arrived, I was
dancing all day and then I came back to my
hotel room and I laid down. I tried to go
to sleep, and I was like, ooh, this pillow is
a little thick for me. And I don't know if
(20:41):
you guys know this about me, but I sleep with
a pillow cube. This is not an ad. They do
not pay me. I just love my pillow cube. I
sleep like a baby angel at home. And I have
a travel pillow cube and I was going to bring
it with me, but I'm so packed to the gills
that at the last second I realized I had not
packed my podcasting equipment in my suitcases. And Jensen was like,
(21:05):
you gotta bring your podcasting equipment. I was like, of
course I do, and so my travel pillow cube was
the thing that got removed so that I could take
my podcasting equipment with me, and so that first night
I did not sleep incredibly because the pillows were too firm,
and I woke up the next morning and my aura
ring told me that my body was showing massive or
(21:26):
major signs of stress. And I knew right away it
was just because I tossed and turned way more than
I normally do, and my heart rate was elevated, which
was probably some of the stress of the dancing and
putting on the show, but also you know, not sleeping well.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
My ring is like, what are you doing, lady? You
normally sleep great.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
So in the meantime, I have now received a new pillow,
a pillow that I love. It's very flat, it works
perfectly for me. It's going on the bus with me.
I'm very excited about it. I finally last night, slept
really well, woke up this morning, no signs of stress,
Ready to tackle the day.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
So, there is a part in the show that I'm
really looking forward to, and I don't want to give
too much of it away because I'm excited for you
guys to come out and see it. But there is
a part of the show that involves tambourines, and it
is my favorite part of the show. Which is saying
a lot because I have quite a few favorite parts,
but I think my number one favorite part is the tambourines,
(22:24):
and I haven't quite nailed it yet. So we had
that first dress rehearsal that I told you did not
go great. Then the next day we did a really
spectacular queue to queue and it was super helpful.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
It was a really long day.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
It was like a thirteen hour day and it was
very slow, but we went through everything. We got to
clean all the little moments that didn't feel right the
day before, and we were going to do a dress
rehearsal that night, and then Mandy said, I just don't
feel like all of the parts are ready. I don't
feel like the tech is fully there. I don't feel like,
you know, we changed a bunch of stuff today. Why
don't you guys let it sink into your bodies. We'll
(22:56):
do a full dress tomorrow. And so we did another
full dress today and that one thankfully went so much better.
There are still a million things I need to and
want to do better, and to just hold up my
end of the bargain here. I want to make sure
(23:17):
I'm never going to come close to being as amazing
as any of the pro dancers on the stage with me.
But I at least don't want to look like, you know,
somebody plucked me off the side of the road and
threw me in there, like I want to look prepared.
I'm a perfectionist. I want to be good at this.
So there's this one part that I am really working
hard on and I have not been practiced. I haven't
practiced it nearly as much as everyone else, but I
(23:39):
have had enough time now where I'm starting to feel like, Danielle,
you really have to get it. And a couple of
little moments today in the dress rehearsal for me that
needed to be better, like holding my mic in a
certain area where then it was rubbing against.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
My costume, or you know, little things like that.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
But the tambourine is the choreography part that I just
have not really nailed yet, and that's eating away at me.
So anyway, I can't wait for you guys to see it.
I hope I nail it at the show.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
You come to.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
One aspect of the tour this year that's going to
be different I've heard than any other year is that
at the end of the shows, at the late at
night and when you know, we've all gotten ready for bed. Apparently,
the dancers used to come out and there would be
people waiting near the buses, and the dancers, who just
absolutely love you all so much and love your support,
(24:38):
would go over and say hi and take selfies and
have a conversation with you. And sometimes they'd stand out
there in the freezing cold with you guys for like
two hours, making sure they took pictures with everybody and
got to talk to everyone. And you know, that's obviously
incredibly kind and generous, as it is incredibly kind and
generous of you guys to come and support us and
(24:59):
come to the show. But this year, you know, they
sat us down in the cafeteria here on at stage
and said, you know, the show is bigger than it's
ever been, and there are a lot of security concerns
and the amount of security we would need in order
to feel like we can keep everybody safe, not just
(25:22):
the performers, but all of you deer fans who come
out to meet the dancers and to meet us. We
don't have that kind of bandwidth. We just aren't set
up to be able to have that kind of security.
And so they said we are asking you, respectfully to
please not do that this year.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
And it was really hard.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
It was a really hard discussion for all of us
talking about is there some happy medium, what can we do?
And ultimately we had to decide as a group that
we needed to take safety and health as being our
first two main priorities. Hopefully you will feel our love
(26:07):
through the show. If you have a meet and greet
or a VIP pass, those are inside, they're controlled, there's
the right amount of security, they're numbered. It's it's not
a free for all. There's only so many so we
are actually able to make sure everybody stays safe. And
those will obviously still happen. But as far as the
(26:29):
after near the buses, meet and greet, it's not going
to happen this year. We have a four and a
half month tour. I'm only on for a month, but
these these pros are here for four and a half months.
And as of right now, it is still freezing and
some of you have heard wait outside in the freezing
cold for two or three hours, and we just we
(26:51):
don't want you to do that because you're not going
to unfortunately this year, get the experience of you know
that up close and personal moment near the buses because
it is a safety hazard. So that is one area
that we are disappointed about, but that we understand and
we hope that you understand as well, and we want
(27:13):
you to stay safe and healthy as well as well
as us. So we have a wonderful show. I don't
think you guys are going to feel like you are
missing out in any way. The production value of this
show is just incredible. The things that they have put
into it, the sound, the visuals, the jokes, the dances.
(27:35):
I think you guys are going to be blown away
the same way I am. I am on the stage
when I'm co hosting with Emma, and then obviously in
the numbers that I dance in I'm on stage, and
every single second I'm not on stage or changing I
am watching the show in the wings, just absolutely mesmerized
(27:55):
by these people. And I know that you will be too.
Seeing them dance to their full potential is remarkable and
you're gonna love it. It's going to be amazing. So anyway,
I will probably update you again while I'm on the
road and let you know how it's going, let you
know how bus life is. I will also be recording
(28:17):
Pod meets World on the road, so you'll get to
hear some updates there. But thank you, guys for allowing
us to do what we do and for supporting us
and for giving us this opportunity. Thank you for listening
to this episode of teen Beat. I hope you're checking
out the Pod meets World feed as well. That's probably
how you know about this feed. But thank you. I'm
(28:39):
really looking forward to meeting you on the road and
to seeing you out there, waving hello to you from
the stage and just appreciating everything you guys do for us.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
So thank you so much. I'll see y'all next time.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by
Danielle Fischel, Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy show Puerman,
Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor
Tara Subach. The theme song is by Mark Coppus, Yes
that Mark Coppus. Follow us on Instagram at Teenbeatpod
That's okay, becaus no one here is.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Welcome to a special episode of teen Beat. I am
your host, Danielle Fischel, a podcaster, a director, mother of two,
and currently touring circus clown on the Dancing with the
Stars Tour. No, of course I'm not a circus clown,
but I do very much feel like when we used
(00:51):
to do the pod Meats World Tour, and we would
go place to place, and and sometimes we'd be in
venues that like wouldn't necessarily be like the the back
of the venue wouldn't be super nice, and I'd say
to write or like oh wow, like this doesn't feel good,
and he goes, no, I love it. I feel like Carnifolk.
I feel a little like that, like going from place
(01:11):
to place, never really knowing what I have in store
for me that day based on where I'm going to be.
I have not up until this point, really had to
experience or gotten to experience the bus life. Yet we
are in a very tiny little town in Pennsylvania, and
we're at this incredible venue that really caters to rock
(01:36):
bands and pop acts and any really any kind of
massive show that you want to do. Huge space and
all kinds of you know, a beautiful stage and confetti
cannons and lighting rigs and I mean, you name it.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
They can do it here.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So it's been it's been really nice to like fully
be able to put on the show and to have
a sense of what it's going to feel like when arenas.
But yeah, it's incredible. I just I can't even believe.
I'm pinching myself every single day that this right now
is my life. I can't believe it. Like I wake up,
(02:15):
I go down to the studio where we're rehearsing, and
I watch ten of the most incredible dancers on stage
doing things that I just cannot believe a human body
can do. And when you watch Dancing with the Stars,
you get a sense for how talented they are. But
(02:36):
it's such quick little snippets because no offense to my
fellow celebrities on the show. But when they dance with us,
even the best of the best, you you don't realize it,
but they're not dancing to their full potential, like they
are having to slow it down a bit. And you know,
(02:58):
I don't want to say dumb it down, because not
trying to be insulting to us celebrities who aren't dancers,
but they're not really you know, they're not able to
dance the way they want to. They have to dance
to your level or a little above your level to
try and help you raise your game. But boy, to
see them dance with each other for a two hour
(03:21):
show and to see what they're capable of is amazing.
I during rehearsals before we went on the road, I
came home and I told Jensen one day, I was like,
this is insane to me that it starts with like nothing,
you know, there's like nothing going on on the stage.
And Mandy, Mandy Moore, the incredible choreographer and director who
(03:42):
is just like man, when I grow up, someday I
want to be Mandy Moore.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
She is a boss lady.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
She's so kind, so funny, such a great personality, has
a million and one things going on, keeps it all
straight and never seems, never seems like she's going to explode,
even though I'm sure on the inside she feels like
she's going to a million times anyway, Like there will
be nothing, you know, and they're creating something from nothing.
And Mandy will say, why don't you walk over here,
(04:13):
and then why don't you walk over there? And then
you and then she'll go, Nope, I don't like that,
I hate it. Okay, let's start over again. And then
she comes up with like a little bit of something,
and then she's like, and then we need to do
you know, a couple of eighths here and her and
the dancers work out something that they want to do,
and within like twenty or thirty minutes, they have a
(04:35):
gorgeous number, and I'm like.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
What in what world? How does this happen?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Like really, the show has made me believe I need
a full six days to learn how to do anything.
But watching them, you really get a sense of, like, wow,
these people are incredibly special. So anyway, it has been
remarkable and I can't believe I get to be on
stage with them. It's a little intimidating because I am
(05:01):
I was going to say, I feel, but it's not
just that I feel I am the weak link, Like,
of course, I'm the only one who's not a professional dancer.
I'm the only one who's never done a tour. I'm
the only one who has no clue what's going on,
and I'm just trying to keep up, and I'm trying
not to drag them down with me, And I'm trying
to make sure that you are fantastic watchers and you know,
(05:24):
listeners of the podcast, but watchers of the show and
voters on the show, people who love Dancing with the Stars,
who come to this expecting the highest caliber and quality
of product. That you get it and that I contribute
to it in some way. So we are working our
butts off to make sure that you guys feel how
(05:48):
special you are and how special you are to all
of us and to the show and.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
To this tour.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I mean the way all of these people talk about
those of you who come to the shows, and they
hold you in the highest esteem, like you, guys are
a functioning member of the Dancing with the Stars team.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You just really are. We would be nothing without you.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
And we did a dress rehearsal today and before the
dress rehearsal, we all huddle up in the back and
hold hands. And Val led the speech today and one
of the things he mentioned was just how grateful we
all are that we get to perform for you, and
that we still get to keep doing things that we
(06:33):
love and that we get to do it on stage
at this caliber, with these kinds of resources and this
kind of team behind us, and that you guys support
us the way you do, and that is just something
that needs to be said that all of this is
only because of you and your love for the show,
and it just continues to grow. I am having the
(06:57):
time of my life. But with that said, I haven't
had to spend a lot of bus time yet. As
a matter of fact, I've spent no bus time. We've
been in a hotel. We're in this small town in Pennsylvania,
like I told you, doing tech rehearsal, and we've been
in hotel life, which is kind of nice because we've
got plenty of space. Our bags are all unpacked, and
(07:19):
I let me tell you, I am packed within a millimeter.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Of my life.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I used to be. I think I used to be
a little more low maintenance. I used to have less things.
To be fair, I usually don't travel when I have
to do my own full glam hair and makeup. On
this tour and on all the tours we have to
do our own hair and makeup. Wardrobe is provided by Daniella,
(07:50):
the customer from Dancing with the Stars, so wardrobe is
provided for us by Daniella and Steve, and Stephen does
all the men stuff, but hair and makeup. We are
on our own four and I'm not used to having
to do that by myself. On the show, we have
the world's best hair and makeup team and they make
sure we look perfect for this. We still want to
look good obviously we're on stage. We want you, guys
(08:13):
to feel like you're getting the high quality of dancing
with the stars that you're used to, but we have
to do it ourselves. So I had to bring all
my makeup stuff. I had to bring some hair stuff.
I had to bring my hair dryer. It's getting I'm
just now starting to like learn what the day to
day is going to look like. So let me tell
you what my day to day is soon going to
(08:34):
look like. Basically, you do a live show. You put
on let's say, the performance of a lifetime. I'm manifesting it,
I'm bringing it, I'm bringing it to me. You put
on a fantastic show. Then at the venue you have
to get ready for bed because there are no showers
on the bus, so you have to go into the
(08:56):
venue with all of your toiletries. Only the toiletries that
you're going to use to get ready for the show,
like your makeup and your hair stuff. But now you
have to get unready for bed and so you have
to take a shower. If that means you're washing your hair,
you're washing your hair. If you need to dry your hair,
that means you need to dry your hair there. So
I had to bring my hair dryer, my brushes, a
(09:18):
curling iron. I brought a beach waiver because I want
to be able to do some waves. I brought a
little flat iron. I had to bring multiple pallettes of
makeup because who wants to wear the same palette of
makeup for an entire month? Not me, so I brought
multiple pallets of makeup. We are also responsible for maintaining
our spray tans, which having seen the lights that are
(09:41):
on stage and they are very bright, you know you
want to have a little bit of a glow or
some sort of body makeup to the lights are not
doing our legs any favors. I gotta be honest. I
looked down at my legs. I was like, what on
earth is this? And then I stepped out of the
light and they were fine. It's just, you know, just
the just the lighting. But so I had to bring
(10:03):
my own body makeup. I have my brushes. Yeah, so
I have to bring all that stuff onto the bus.
Then when you leave, you want to put on your
comfy clothes, like at least your lounge wear, if not
your pajamas. But you still got to get bundled up
because we're on the East Coast. It's it's freezing and snowing,
so you have to get bundled up. Then you go
(10:23):
back to the bus. Are giant suitcases? Well, I guess
I should tell you what I packed with me, because
I didn't explain that very well. You bring one giant
suitcase that's filled with basically however many clothes you think
you can bring with you For me, I'm only gone
a month, which I say only, it's the longest I've
(10:44):
ever been away from home. It's the longest I've ever
been gone from anywhere. But I brought enough things that
I wasn't going to feel like I was too terribly
sick of all the things that I brought. And then
I brought like and most of those things were sets,
because your girl loves a set.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I'm your girl. So I brought like a blue sweat set.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I brought, of course my Nowhere brand sweatset that I'm
obsessed with. I brought another one that was a gift
to me from Wilfridell's wife, Susan. I brought that sweat set.
I brought a black sweatset that I actually just bought
for this trip. And then I also.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Brought some.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Things that I might want to wear on my day off.
We get one day off a week, and I figure
I might want to get out of sweat sets on
that day just to kind of feel a little human.
So I brought two pairs of jeans, and I brought
a few cute sweaters to wear underjackets. Then I brought
one coat that's more of like a you know, cute coat,
(11:42):
and then a big puffy coat. And then I brought
a pair of gloves, and I brought two pairs of
tennis shoes, one that are like trainers for when I
go to the gym, but I also wear them, you know,
out of the venue and stuff. And then another like
more like fashion pair of sneakers, and then a pair
of snow boots. And that is it, And of course
shower sandals, but I didn't bring shower sandals they provided
(12:05):
them to me when I arrived here, which was very kind.
So we all got shower sandals. So I packed my
big suitcase and then I had a carry on size
suitcase because from what I understand, all of the suitcases
live at the bottom of the bus. They go under
the bus in storage. The only thing you're really allowed
(12:26):
to have with you on the actual bus is like
a small Duffel bag. And that's because while the buses
are big, there are like eight people staying on the bus,
and there's one bunk that's empty, and that becomes your
junk bunk, and that means all of us can use
(12:46):
it to put our small duffels in. So we put
on a fantastic show. We get unready for bed, then
we go out to the bus. We put our toiletries
(13:06):
and whatever else that we had with us in the
junk bunk in the in the duffel bag in the
junk bunk, and then you go to sleep. And while
you're sleeping, the bus driver is driving you to the
next location. Then you get to the next location, you
wake up. Whenever you wake up, say you arrive at
like four or five o'clock in the morning, you wake
up Whenever you wake up, you get out of the
(13:28):
bus and if you want to go get ready for
your day, you take your toyletree bag out of the
junk bunk and you go back inside the next venue
and you're getting ready there. I am not sure how
this is going to work. I like to have some
lazy mornings. I can't even function at all before I've
(13:50):
had a cup of coffee. So I guess my plan's
going to be sleep all night, arrive at the venue,
wake up. Whenever I wake up, there is a coffee pot.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
On the bus.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
That leads me to the next thing, which is you
get to do something called bus stock, and that means
they do a grocery shopping for us.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Once a week.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
They go to the grocery store and we get to
put things on there that we want to eat. So
like I requested apples, I requested coffee because I can't
imagine life without coffee. I also requested like an espresso machine,
which I know that's super bougie, but they're just it's
much better coffee. Then you're gonna get some other place.
(14:31):
So I have an espresso. We have an espresso machine
on the bus, and then we get our espresso pods.
So I think my plan is just going to be
to wake up in the morning. Whenever I wake up,
have a cup of coffee on the bus, maybe have
an apple, and then then go in and start getting
ready for my day.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I'm not even really sure what the schedule is going
to be like once we're fully into it, because we're
going to have to We've got meet and greets before
the show, so I'm going to have to be hair
and makeup ready mostly before meet and greets, because then
right after meet and greets, we are going to have
to get our bodies warm for the show. We've been
here now for a few days. We have done two
(15:14):
full dress rehearsals. The first dress rehearsal that we did,
I am not exaggerating and I don't think I'm speaking
out of turn when I say it didn't go the
way we wanted it. There were so many little mistakes
(15:34):
in all areas, you know, like dancer mistakes, host mistakes.
Me and Emma are the co hosts. Emma and I
made a couple of mistakes. Dancing wise, I made a
million mistakes, but it's also the very first time we
were ever able to put the entire show up on
its feet. So there's so many things. There are technical
aspects and content and voiceover and lighting and you know,
(15:58):
seeing how long it actually takes to change into the
next costumes before the next dance and then do people
who are in the next dance actually have time to
change and then make it to stage. And the answer
for a lot of it was no, and no, that's
not working, and it was. It was stressful. We were
all looking at each other going, oh my gosh, this
did not go the way we wanted it. It's not
(16:20):
to the quality that we want, it's not to our standards.
So we finished that dress rehearsal, and Mandy Moore came
and she gave us really great notes and I cannot
imagine how stressed she must have been with all of
those things on her plate, but she was totally professional,
one hundred percent calm. Gave us the you know, BIPs
(16:43):
and bobs that we needed in order to work on
it the next day. And then the next day we
did the most helpful day, which is called a Q
to Q. We did literally the entire show Q two
Q so like, and then lighting happens, and then you
do this, and then you do.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That, and we got to walk through it.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
We got to look at our notes and say, okay,
yesterday this did not work.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Let's touch this up.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
There were, like I mentioned, quite a few times where
people didn't have enough time to make their quick changes
and get back on stage and time for a dance,
and so it was like, Okay, I don't have enough
time here, and so it'd be like, great, how do
we build out more time. So there's a couple of
moments where you know, only this number of people are
on stage because so and so is getting changed, and
(17:31):
so we got to add new choreography and just kind
of build some moments out in places so that the
show is possible and also somewhat not just possible, but
like there's room for a breath, because no one wants
to literally be huffing and puffing when they enter stage
trying to do a beautiful dance. And the way the
(17:53):
stage is all set up, you run off. You run
all the way to the back of the stage. There's
a flight of stairs and then there's the quick change
back there. So if you are in kind of are
close to back to back dances, you're running off, running
down into quick change, taking off the dress or the
thing you're wearing, putting on the new thing, and then
running up a flight of stairs and trying to get
back to stage. So, you know, wanting to make sure
(18:16):
there's time where people aren't like just finishing a sprint
as they run out on the stage. But Mandy is
so talented and just very easily comes up with solutions
to things. And she's got an incredible team with her. Also,
the production company that puts on this tour faculty is amazing.
They are taking such good care of us. They gave
(18:38):
us a really nice little gift bags that came in
mini Duffels, which has come in very handy because it
is now going to be my new toiletry Duffel bag
that comes and goes with me from the bus to
the venue. It's going to be my junk bunk Duffel.
Try to say that three times fast and yeah. So
(19:00):
the way it works with this giant suitcase, you've got
your giant suitcase under the bus, You've got your carry
on suitcase under the bus, and then you have your
like personal item Duffel bag that gets to go on
the bus with you once a week. We get a
day off, and that usually means we get to stay
at a hotel. And apparently that's really the only day
you want to take your giant suitcase out. And you
(19:22):
want to take your giant suitcase out, get out any
of your dirty clothes, do a load of laundry at
the hotel, and then refresh your clothes from your big
suitcase into your carry on. So like, Okay, I've been
wearing these two things or these four things kind of
all week. I am done looking at those. I get
to wash them, and now they're clean, They're going back
in my big suitcase, and I'm taking new items of
(19:45):
clothes out that I haven't already worn and putting them
in my carry on size. And then every day at
the venue, if you want to take out your carry
on with you and your toiletry bag, you can do
that too.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
But yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Haven't really spent a lot of time on the bus yet,
so I'm not sure exactly how that's going to work.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I hope. I love bus life.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
From what I understand, the movement of the bus and
the sounds and everything is like its own natural white noise,
which is great because I sleep with white noise, so
I'm hoping I don't need extra white noise.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
The first two nights at this hotel.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
The hotel is also incredible, but the first two nights
at this hotel, their pillows are a little firm for
my liking. And I obviously was jumping right back into
dancing all day every day. So I arrived, I was
dancing all day and then I came back to my
hotel room and I laid down. I tried to go
to sleep, and I was like, ooh, this pillow is
a little thick for me. And I don't know if
(20:41):
you guys know this about me, but I sleep with
a pillow cube. This is not an ad. They do
not pay me. I just love my pillow cube. I
sleep like a baby angel at home. And I have
a travel pillow cube and I was going to bring
it with me, but I'm so packed to the gills
that at the last second I realized I had not
packed my podcasting equipment in my suitcases. And Jensen was like,
(21:05):
you gotta bring your podcasting equipment. I was like, of
course I do, and so my travel pillow cube was
the thing that got removed so that I could take
my podcasting equipment with me, and so that first night
I did not sleep incredibly because the pillows were too firm,
and I woke up the next morning and my aura
ring told me that my body was showing massive or
(21:26):
major signs of stress. And I knew right away it
was just because I tossed and turned way more than
I normally do, and my heart rate was elevated, which
was probably some of the stress of the dancing and
putting on the show, but also you know, not sleeping well.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
My ring is like, what are you doing, lady? You
normally sleep great.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
So in the meantime, I have now received a new pillow,
a pillow that I love. It's very flat, it works
perfectly for me. It's going on the bus with me.
I'm very excited about it. I finally last night, slept
really well, woke up this morning, no signs of stress,
Ready to tackle the day.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
So, there is a part in the show that I'm
really looking forward to, and I don't want to give
too much of it away because I'm excited for you
guys to come out and see it. But there is
a part of the show that involves tambourines, and it
is my favorite part of the show. Which is saying
a lot because I have quite a few favorite parts,
but I think my number one favorite part is the tambourines,
(22:24):
and I haven't quite nailed it yet. So we had
that first dress rehearsal that I told you did not
go great. Then the next day we did a really
spectacular queue to queue and it was super helpful.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
It was a really long day.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
It was like a thirteen hour day and it was
very slow, but we went through everything. We got to
clean all the little moments that didn't feel right the
day before, and we were going to do a dress
rehearsal that night, and then Mandy said, I just don't
feel like all of the parts are ready. I don't
feel like the tech is fully there. I don't feel like,
you know, we changed a bunch of stuff today. Why
don't you guys let it sink into your bodies. We'll
(22:56):
do a full dress tomorrow. And so we did another
full dress today and that one thankfully went so much better.
There are still a million things I need to and
want to do better, and to just hold up my
end of the bargain here. I want to make sure
(23:17):
I'm never going to come close to being as amazing
as any of the pro dancers on the stage with me.
But I at least don't want to look like, you know,
somebody plucked me off the side of the road and
threw me in there, like I want to look prepared.
I'm a perfectionist. I want to be good at this.
So there's this one part that I am really working
hard on and I have not been practiced. I haven't
practiced it nearly as much as everyone else, but I
(23:39):
have had enough time now where I'm starting to feel like, Danielle,
you really have to get it. And a couple of
little moments today in the dress rehearsal for me that
needed to be better, like holding my mic in a
certain area where then it was rubbing against.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
My costume, or you know, little things like that.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
But the tambourine is the choreography part that I just
have not really nailed yet, and that's eating away at me.
So anyway, I can't wait for you guys to see it.
I hope I nail it at the show.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
You come to.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
One aspect of the tour this year that's going to
be different I've heard than any other year is that
at the end of the shows, at the late at
night and when you know, we've all gotten ready for bed. Apparently,
the dancers used to come out and there would be
people waiting near the buses, and the dancers, who just
absolutely love you all so much and love your support,
(24:38):
would go over and say hi and take selfies and
have a conversation with you. And sometimes they'd stand out
there in the freezing cold with you guys for like
two hours, making sure they took pictures with everybody and
got to talk to everyone. And you know, that's obviously
incredibly kind and generous, as it is incredibly kind and
generous of you guys to come and support us and
(24:59):
come to the show. But this year, you know, they
sat us down in the cafeteria here on at stage
and said, you know, the show is bigger than it's
ever been, and there are a lot of security concerns
and the amount of security we would need in order
to feel like we can keep everybody safe, not just
(25:22):
the performers, but all of you deer fans who come
out to meet the dancers and to meet us. We
don't have that kind of bandwidth. We just aren't set
up to be able to have that kind of security.
And so they said we are asking you, respectfully to
please not do that this year.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
And it was really hard.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
It was a really hard discussion for all of us
talking about is there some happy medium, what can we do?
And ultimately we had to decide as a group that
we needed to take safety and health as being our
first two main priorities. Hopefully you will feel our love
(26:07):
through the show. If you have a meet and greet
or a VIP pass, those are inside, they're controlled, there's
the right amount of security, they're numbered. It's it's not
a free for all. There's only so many so we
are actually able to make sure everybody stays safe. And
those will obviously still happen. But as far as the
(26:29):
after near the buses, meet and greet, it's not going
to happen this year. We have a four and a
half month tour. I'm only on for a month, but
these these pros are here for four and a half months.
And as of right now, it is still freezing and
some of you have heard wait outside in the freezing
cold for two or three hours, and we just we
(26:51):
don't want you to do that because you're not going
to unfortunately this year, get the experience of you know
that up close and personal moment near the buses because
it is a safety hazard. So that is one area
that we are disappointed about, but that we understand and
we hope that you understand as well, and we want
(27:13):
you to stay safe and healthy as well as well
as us. So we have a wonderful show. I don't
think you guys are going to feel like you are
missing out in any way. The production value of this
show is just incredible. The things that they have put
into it, the sound, the visuals, the jokes, the dances.
(27:35):
I think you guys are going to be blown away
the same way I am. I am on the stage
when I'm co hosting with Emma, and then obviously in
the numbers that I dance in I'm on stage, and
every single second I'm not on stage or changing I
am watching the show in the wings, just absolutely mesmerized
(27:55):
by these people. And I know that you will be too.
Seeing them dance to their full potential is remarkable and
you're gonna love it. It's going to be amazing. So anyway,
I will probably update you again while I'm on the
road and let you know how it's going, let you
know how bus life is. I will also be recording
(28:17):
Pod meets World on the road, so you'll get to
hear some updates there. But thank you, guys for allowing
us to do what we do and for supporting us
and for giving us this opportunity. Thank you for listening
to this episode of teen Beat. I hope you're checking
out the Pod meets World feed as well. That's probably
how you know about this feed. But thank you. I'm
(28:39):
really looking forward to meeting you on the road and
to seeing you out there, waving hello to you from
the stage and just appreciating everything you guys do for us.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
So thank you so much. I'll see y'all next time.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by
Danielle Fischel, Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy show Puerman,
Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor
Tara Subach. The theme song is by Mark Coppus, Yes
that Mark Coppus. Follow us on Instagram at Teenbeatpod
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