February 5, 2026 • 43 mins
Bobby sits down with Derek Hough to talk about new-dad life, the pressure, the learning curve, and why bonding looks different for everyone. Then they dive into Dancing with the Stars: the grind before the show, how competitive it really gets, Mirrorball trophy chaos, and the stolen Mirrorball mystery that still makes everyone ask, “Wait… where did it go?” Derek also shares how he handled nervous partners (and brought people out of their shell), plus the celeb seasons that changed everything for him. And he remembers Len Goodman the way fans didn’t always see him, before teasing what’s coming on his “Symphony of Dance” tour. Get tickets HERE
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A push. What you coming by? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thanks for having me, man.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
So here's what I say about you, because you've done
my show on Nashville before. We've bumped into each other
when I was on the show. I just random times
there are two people that in my career have always
been so kind, even at times whenever you're like, oh,
we were just brief, and it's you and Tim Tebow
really the nicest people and not nice like fake nice,
(00:26):
like it's like people like, who are the nicest people
to you? It's like randomly Tim Tebow and Derek Cuff.
So you're that, oh dude, thanks you. So when you
said you would come over and do this, I was
so pumped because you've always been so nice to me.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
That means a lot, Man, That means thanks so much.
I'm that's a good company too. Have you ever met
Tim Tebow briefly?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Brief it's probably like in a mirror and you're like
moving your hands if you're doing the same thing. Yeah,
he's an awesome guy. So I just wanted to start
with that so I didn't forget to say that.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
No, that makes that means a lot to me, man,
because obviously, uh, you know, there's you never know, you know,
sometimes you're in passing and you say hi to some
people and you might not be fully present or something.
And so I'm glad that, you know, that was the impression.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
How's the baby, the baby?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
How's the baby? She is so good, she really is.
And I feel so lucky because you know, you hear
you know, people I work with they're like, oh man,
you know, say goodbye to sleeping and you know all
these things. She's a sleeper, really, thank god, you know,
she's sleeping and we're arresting. And but there's big adjustments,
of course, you know, in your life, it's everything changes,
(01:30):
but for the better.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And I'm askingselfishly, we're about to have our first kid.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You know, there's nothing to tell you because it's still
in her belly. But you are going through it right now. Yeah,
what what's my expectation?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
What's that's no expectation, That's that's the most important part.
And now here's the thing. There's you know that great expression, right,
this is a good one. It's hard to live by sometimes,
but it's a good one to come back to. It's
just like trade your expectation for appreciation and everything changes.
That's for everything, right, relationships and like you know, situation events, people, parents,
loved ones. If we always have these expectations about how
(02:05):
they should act or how they should be, we're always
setting ourselves up for disappointment. So in the moment, it's
always like find yourself, like what can I appreciate instead
in this moment. So the reason why I say that
because even with birth right, for instance, there's people will
always give their express their opinions like this is gonna
happen and then you're gonna feel this emotion and then
your world's gonna just like explode and then this heart
(02:27):
and so if something like that doesn't quite happen, you're like, oh,
what's wrong. There's something wrong with me and I'm not
feeling that and these expectations and so I that's my advice, honestly,
is like, don't have an expectation. Just just appreciate whatever
it is, whatever happens, and that's right, and that's the
(02:48):
way it should be, and that's and that's perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I was talking to my therapist and it was basically
about that, and he said, you're gonna hear a lot
of people say that as soon as the baby is born,
you're gonna feel this euphoric feeling that has never been
a feeling you've ever felt. Do not put the pressure
on yourself to feel it immediately. And if you don't
feel it, that's okay, you'll eventually get there. But it's
completely different for everyone. But there is this societal attachment
(03:14):
of as soon as you see this thing, you need
to fall in love immediately, he said. If you don't,
or if it's weird, or you're scared, or it's a
or it does feel like that like all of that's right. Yes,
that's what we just talked about. Yeah, it's so true.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I mean I remember the first time I held her.
First of all, they're like an animatronic. They don't it's
like there's like this like a bad animatronic, like you
know what I mean. And they don't look real honestly,
And I'm holding her and I'm like, is this like
et you know, because they're all wrinkly and like crazy looking.
(03:51):
They're like like it looks like my grandpa heating. It
was the first thing I said. Actually, when she came out,
I was like crampa and and uh and I held
her and I didn't quite know how to I was scared.
I was honestly, I was scared to hold her, to
break her because she was so fragile. And I handed
(04:12):
her back to Haley and I kind of walked away,
and I was I kind of felt like a failure
in a way in that little small moment, like I
didn't know what to do.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Like it wasn't so instinctually natural.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, I was like I should know holder and I didn't.
And I just quietly walked away, and Haley could tell it.
I was just was a little bit like disappointed to myself,
I guess I could say, just quietly. And she had
this beautiful moment. She says, Honey, you're you're you're you're amazing.
You're doing great, like you know, and and by the way,
she just gave birth to this thing. And there I
am like, she's coaching a good job, Honey, good job.
(04:48):
But uh but again it's that thing of like not
putting that pressure on yourself and the timing of it
all and the love of it all will will happen
in the how it should be.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Uh. Okay. So the first questions that I have for you,
just generally speaking, because when I see professional dancers now
there's a new appreciation for being around them a lot.
Do you feel like you could have been a professional
athlete at something else as well?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
In some things?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Well, I don't think. Maybe not not. But you guys
are such athletes, yeah, because you're you're how your hand
eye coordination, Uh, how you move your bodies. And again
I had no awareness of it until I was just
dumped into it. Yeah, and then when I watch you
and I work for the NFL and I work with
a lot of NFL players, it's You're a pure athlete.
(05:36):
So I wonder, if you had pursued a different way,
could you have been a professional athlete in another.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So I think, So, I think, could you have been
a gymnast? I could have been a gymnast. I maybe.
You know, it's funny, I actually went to I wanted
to go to gymnastics when I was a kid because
I wanted to be a ninja turtle. I was like same,
I wanted to be going to karate and gymnastics so
I could flip around and kick some button the streets.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You have a favorite turtle, Uh, it was.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Colangelo growing up?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Of course, you know it was Raphael Yeah, wise guy.
You know his guy, yeah, the wise guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I think I could have been an athlete. I
don't know what sport honestly, because here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Football. I played flag football when as a kid I
was a great receiver. I remember going to school and
I was bullied severely as a kid in different schools.
And I remember going to the one called Monta Vista
in South Jordan, Utah, and I was like last pick
always in the school yard. They would never picked me.
I was this little guy. I was kind of a
(06:33):
little runt and I was like, okay, I gotta like
earn my stripes, you know. And I kept like intercepting
the ball and go out there. And then eventually I
remember being like first pick. It was me and this
you know, the quarterback in the playground, and we would
always be we'd be like unstoppable. And I remember feeling
like that felt good. That felt really good to like
go from here to there on the playground playing football
(06:56):
and being a really good receiver and you know, running
around being quick. But then you know, I get just
like tapped on the jaw and I'm like I have
no chin whatsoever. I think I just you know, anything
contact wise, I just I couldn't take it.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Were you so focused on dance and music? Because I
know you're super musical as well, But.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
That was actually before. Honestly, in my house we would
have drums and tim Bally's randomly, I don't know what
tim tim Bally is like, it's like a snare gets
without the uh, without the metal snare parts, you know
what I mean. So that don't don't don't don't, And
we have the guitars and stuff. So I would always
be playing stuff like Beach Boys in the house. And
(07:39):
then from there I actually gotten to dance. But I
understand rhythm and music, and that helped me take the
dance a lot quicker. Uh, But dance became my sole focus.
I think when I walked in and I was kind
of like, I'll never forget. I didn't want to go
to dance. By the way, my mom made me go.
I had four sisters. They went dance class. I was
(08:00):
sitting in the parking lot doing nothing, sitting in the
twitter on my thumbs. She goes, well, why you might
as well go inside if you're not doing anything. I
was like, I don't want to go to go She's like,
you're going inside I was like, no, I don't want
to go out now. It's kicking and screaming, and I'm like,
there's dancings for girls. And then I walk in the door.
I'm like, there's girls in.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Here, dances for girls.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Okay, I like this. And I had this really great
teacher named Rick Robinson who made it really cool. And
then I just fell in love with the community and
the music, the way it made you feel blasting over
the speakers, and then I'm like whoa. And then you
start like sinking your body up to the music and
the rhythm, and You're like, wait a minute, this is cool.
I feel like in control of my body. I'm doing things,
(08:39):
and and then it just yeah, you just fall in
love with it. And then also too, gotta travel. You know.
I'm like this kid in this little neighborhood in Utah.
I got to go to La I get to go
to uh, you know, New York London. I'm like, wow,
dance is like taking me places. And then yeah, just
(09:00):
one thing leads to another.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
You talk about being bullied, but when you go to dance,
was there acceptance and was that part of the reason
that you thrived?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
One hundred percent? Yeah, it was like, well, one, I
had a lot of encouragement. You know, the coaches again,
like I said that, Rick Robinson and my other teachers
and Kim Dell grow So they were so kind and encouraging, like, hey,
you got a lot of talent, like you're really great.
And I was like, am I cool? You know, and okay,
let me keep let me keep going at this. And
it was just an encouraging environment. And when you do
(09:31):
certain things, you know, it was like the kids you
were dancing next year like that, like that's great, that's awesome.
Whenever I go to school, especially in Utah or at
least where I was from, it it was just I
just didn't like I was just awkward, honestly, super awkward.
I don't know how to socialize. I would get the
crappy anaut of me. I went to like six different
(09:52):
schools and like a very short amount of time because
I kept getting beaten up. Eventually I fought back and
I remember breaking this kid's nose and I got expelled
from school. And then my mom was proud of me,
though she was like she's like yeah, but yeah, man.
It was interesting. And it was interesting because when I
(10:12):
moved to London. I was like a it was like
a safe haven because I I don't know, I just
feel like I'd never quite knew how to figure out
the school thing. But dance always felt like home, you know.
It always felt like a good place to be.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And you moved to London for dance. Yeah, and so
when you moved there, I guess the analogy that I'm
gonna compare it to. You can tell me if I'm wrong.
It's like if you grow up and maybe you're not.
Your high school years were rough, but you go to
college and everybody's new. It's clean slate. Yeah, new culture,
people do everything different, and so it almost gives you
(10:48):
a sense to start over as well. Was London a
bit like that for you?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
For sure? I mean I was so naive. I was
twelve years old, so I was fully expecting like horse
drawn carriages and monocles and like, and I do it,
you know, and I get there, I'm like flying. I'm like,
there's buildings and cars. What this is crazy? So naive,
But it was cool too because growing up in Utah,
which was very specific kind of community and culture, So
(11:14):
then going to London, which was a microcosm of the
whole world of different ethnicities and religions and beliefs, and
I was like, what in uh it was? It was wild,
It was so great. It was such a rich environment
to grow up in and to learn it was. It
was awesome. It was great. I mean that's where I
really honed in this like this very kind of niche skill,
(11:36):
which was Latin and barm dancing now.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Which is weird because you're not Latin at all. There's
nothing about you, there's none.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
El fake tan fool you. This is I got sprays
hand two days ago and I'm.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Like, okay, when you go to London, you only expected
to go for a bit, right, but you stayed a
long time, a long time.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I was going for like three months and then I
just loved it. I loved it. I love the structure.
I love the structure, love the regiment. It was sort
of this is what we're doing, no matter what. I
don't care if you're sick, You're going you know what
I mean. I'll never forget that. I was like sicker
than a dog. And they're like, cool, you're going to school.
I'm like, what dang. My mom would never like make
(12:15):
me go to school, But okay, but I needed that
and I loved it. I thrived off that. But yeah,
London was. It was a great place to sort of,
you know, nourish a skill and really discipline and a
work ethic that that I think I'm more thankful for
than anything else about being there. It was like it
(12:36):
really instilled a work ethic. If like, this is what
it takes to be good at something. There's no shortcuts.
You gotta put the hours in. You're gonna stay up late,
You're gonna you know, you can't go party. Your friends
are all partying, you know, in college and high school
and stuff. They're all doing all these cool fun things.
And I'm like, sorry, I gotta I gotta go put
a spray tan on and a riotstone outfit and go
(12:58):
to drive to Liverpool six hours and then do a
competition in a dusty ballroom and for you know, ten
twelve hours and there might be two people there, but
I still have to go do it and put in
the hours and then drive back again. They go to
school the next day, you know, our you know, to
get to school on a train. It was. It was
(13:19):
not glamorous at all. It was hard and by the
way people see Dancing with the Stars, for instance, ten
years before Dancing with the Stars even was like a thing,
that's what we're doing. You know, we're going into those
ballrooms and we're putting in that work, man, and it
was it was hard. It was hard.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Are you still happy that you put in all that
work and didn't do all the things that high school
kids and college kids did. You're still happy about your
decision to be that dedicated.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, absolutely, I think. You know, in my early twenties,
you know, when Dancing Stars came around, and you know,
we're going on tours and we're doing things, and we're
in LA and there's like the clubs and the whole
I got. I got my time in.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
You got it in.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I got it in there I got in my early
twenties were yeah, we had it. We had a good time.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Why did you move back to the States.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Dancing with the Stars? Dancing Stars literally was the thing
that brought me back from the States because I was
I would have stayed in London. Honestly, London I considered
my home. I started was doing the West End, I
was doing musical theater. I did like four hundred and
fifty shows with this, you know, Footloose and the lead
and that, and so I'm singing every night dancing touring.
I was in the West End, and and then Dancing
(14:34):
with Stars happened, and it was funny as I originally
was like, I came over. Julianne joined the show first
season four, and then one of the producers said he's like, yeah, man,
would you like.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
To do the show? You know, I was like, because
it's a BBC show and they're all everybody's yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, And now he's actually the head of Fox now,
which is kind of funny, but he was like, do
you want to do Dance Stars? Like, Nah, it's not
really for me, man, I'm gonna go back to England
and do my thing. And then Julianne ended up winning
that season and I was like, hold on, hold on,
hold on, what's this thing again? It's like you still
want me? And so I joined the next season, season five,
(15:10):
and then Julianne won that season again too, back to back,
so she beat me, and then that really it was
just was the beginning of this really awesome experience that
we could have never imagined. You know. I remember people
saying back then like, oh, this show's got like three
more seasons left in it, you know, and I was like, Okay,
twenty years later, you know, we're still still kicking it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And yeah, what's crazy about the show is that it
has gone definitely through cycles, but it it doesn't die
and it thrives. Like there are times where just with
culture and had television and you know, they will put
it on Disney Plus and maybe that wasn't the best things,
but man it it did awesome last year. Oh it unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Who would have thought, really, twenty years ago they had
been like, hey, there's this show, and trust me, trust me,
television is going to be suffering a lot because streaming
is gonna come around all these different things. But trust me,
this show is gonna thrive in twenty years when the
digital world is going to be you know, ruling, but
this show will be thriving because of that. You know,
(16:12):
you could never have guessed that. You know, it's lightning
in a bottle. It's like a perfect storm and we're
just lucky. And the amount of times when we're all
looking around, I mean, they cut the budget like crazy
a couple of years ago, and we're like, oh, okay,
this is it, guys. You know, we're coming to the
end here and then here we are still kicking. It's
(16:32):
we always joke around, so the little train that could,
you know, we just keep keep plugging along. Man.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
As many seasons did you do as a dancer before
you quit?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Seventeen seasons? It is seventeen seasons?
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Did you doing two a year at some point?
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Two years? Oh? Yeh h we did two year For
most of it. It was like you do a season,
we go on tour, and you go right into another
season and then you go back on tour. I mean
there was no.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Wow, it was full.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
It was just like the whole year was packed out.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Were you in doing it until you weren't?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah? Yeah, Actually there was a time before that with
the season right before Sean Johnson. I can't remember who
was adance? Did you dance with Sean Shawn Johnson? Yeah,
I saw.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Today, No way, Yeah, literally literally literally I saw and
talk to her today. She here, No, no, we were
at the airport together. We lived by each other, oh
no way yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah yeah Sean. Oh I love her, Man. She was
yeah Sean, Sean, Sean, I used to do that actually
because she's she's you know, she's petite, so she'd always
be here. I like, Sean, Sean, oh there you are.
She would have hate that I look, but we there
was before that season. I remember even then feeling a
little bit like burnt out and kind of like I
(17:42):
don't know what else to do. I feel a little
bit like I don't I'm not like growing or expanding,
you know. And my mom ended up going to the
hospital because she hit her head and went and saw
her and was with her, and then there is this
lady next to her and she goes, oh my gosh,
I love you on the show. It meets me so much,
and all these things, and I remember being like, oh man,
(18:04):
I'm I'm thinking about myself right now, Like I was
like I was in my I was thinking about myself
about like why am I not feeling this way? Why
am I not getting this? And I was like, let
me try this again, but let me try to like
really not think about myself and just go on that
show to like serve, to like really serve my partner,
(18:25):
to like serve the show and to give it my all,
but not for me, but for them. And that was
my season with Sean Johnson, and that was like for me,
that was kind of like my my breakout season as
far as feeling personally like unleashed, and it was awesome.
It was so great. We came second that season. Unfortunately,
I remember like Sean didn't win, dude, she won first
(18:47):
with Mark ballas Oh, she came back and it was
the All Star season, got it And I'm not gonna lie.
That season was one of my favorites because it was
just every week we just did something different and We're
flipping off stuff and falling in and I'm breaking all
the rules and Len's yelling at me and Carrie ANNs
yelling at like it was but we were just like
going for it. It was just kind of a great,
(19:09):
just full out thing and we ended up coming second,
which I remember feeling devastated. I was so upset because
you put so much into it. But then that season, man,
it lit like a brand new fire, a brand new
fire under me. And then the next season was with
Kelly Pickler and now you won hem me one with her,
And the next season was Amber Riley and one with
(19:32):
her from Glee from Glee, and then the next you
went back to back back to back. Yeah, and then
I'm and then with Amy Purdy the following.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Season, I know, Amy, she finished my second and we
came second.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So it was like that like a run. It was
like second, first, first, second, it was and and both
of the seconds were like some of my favorite seasons.
So it was a really special time, and it was
this catalyst of intentionally going into it to be like,
all right, I'm here to like give, not to like
it's not really about me.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
We interrupt this interview to bring you a message from
our sponsor, and we're back on the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Some people wonder if the pros are competitive and winning
or if they're just there to make their money.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Competitive competitive very cool and actually in the earlier seasons,
even more competitive, I would say, because I feel like
we came out of man what I said we, I mean,
like the pros, we're kind of plucked out of the
Latin ballroom competitive world. So we were competitors and we
(20:48):
didn't come from like, you know, dance studios where it
was like this camaraderie of like supporting your fellow dancers
and classmates. We were soloists. I mean, you know, part
we had partners, but it was like we were against
everybody else. And that mindset is like I'm against you,
I'm against everybody was instilled in us. So we were very,
very very competitive, and you see it. You see it
(21:09):
a lot, honestly in the earlier seasons openly, you know
what I mean. And so if you can see some
of that openly, you can only imagine what was going
on behind the scenes. But it made it fun, It
made it really like intense. It's definitely calmed down a
lot now, you know, because now there's tours and now
the dancers there's a lot more like camaraderie and a
(21:29):
lot it's more more family orientated, I feel like. And
a lot of these dancers they grew up watching the show.
They grew up watching and being like I would love
to be on the show one day, and now they're
there and now like, oh my gosh, like because they're
in a state of gratitude, like they're in a place
like this is awesome. I'm so happy to be here,
which is great. But with that said, there's definitely competitiveness.
(21:49):
Oh my goodness. For sure.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Whenever you finished your run as a dancer, did you
have the thought that you would come back into a
capacity at all?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
When I finished the runners the Master, Yeah, by the way,
you asked me if I until it wasn't. I remember
the last my last season, there was like a moment.
I remember just being like, oh, yeah, I don't have
that same thing anymore where I'm like, you know, it
kind of went away, and it was kind of a
good moment for me to like walk away, you know,
(22:22):
and do a different project and then miss it. You know,
I really missed it.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I like love.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I was like, Wow, this show really is special. I
love this show and then come back into different capacity,
you know, I feel so fortunate if I'm so lucky
and and have to have been a part of that
show for so long, it's been really special. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
I really liked off camera Lynn and they don't encourage
camaraderie between the contestants and the judges. I had a
slightly different lifestyle on that show where I didn't know
any rules, so I didn't live by them. Yeah, I
wasn't breaking them. I just didn't know them anyway, like
(23:03):
from the show or dancing. And I would see Lynn
out at the car. He was awesome to me until
we were on camera and he had to be Lynn. Yeah,
and he was the hardest on me, and people would go,
Lenn is such a dick to you, And now I'd
be like he is on camera, but like I loved
that dude. He was so nice to meet off camera.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
You know What's funny, Like I joke around because obviously
Dancing Stars has a whole brand new, you know, audience,
and it's funny. I'll people, I'll say something like, you know,
it wasn't really for me, and I'm like, oh my.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Gosh, Derek, you're the worst.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
I'm like, Yo, you didn't see Lynn. Guys, I don't
think you quite understand I am. If anything, I'm actually
a little bit too. I'm too too, you know forgiving. No.
Len is awesome. I've known him so I was fifteen
years old, you know, I've known him be way before
Dancing on.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
The Stars when you were competing.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Yeah, I knew back in London when i there. So
actually when he was on Dancing with the Stars, I
was like, wait, Len's on that shit, what is Lenn
doing up there? You know? It's so random and uh,
getting to know Len, having our careers kind of like
just be parallel and just share the space with him
in different ways was so awesome. But you're right, Lyn, Yeah, man,
(24:22):
this is nobody like him, you know. He one had
the gift of the gap. I always I begged him.
I said, can you write a book of just like lenisms?
Because the things you would say they were so good
and so funny and charming and witty and and.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
That nice and yeah, but not nice. But you would
be like, that's Len cuttingly funny? He would cut you,
but it was hilarious. Yeah, yeah, actually I'll tell you, yeah,
but it's funny. There was a time actually to go
off what you said. And I've shared this story a
bunch of times, but it was with Kelly Pickler. And
(25:00):
I saw Lynn in the hallway and he.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Goes, oh, Derek, you know, I was like, I would
love I was like, what dance you have next week?
I'm like, the pasta doble and he goes, oh, I
love the dance. It's like it's like throwing a coupda
peek into that dance because I haven't seen one of
those in a long time. I'm like, oh, you got it, Lynn,
you got pa.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I'm gonna put two in there.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
You got it, you know, And so I do the
pasta doble. We do it. It's this trio thing. And
and I'm like, oh man, we got it in with Lynn.
We got this on lock.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
We're good.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
We do the dance. I go up to the judge
table and I'm like, you know, looking at Kelly, like
all right, we got this, and carry Anne was like,
oh my gosh, it's my favorite dance I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Bruno, Oh my god, Darling, my love.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I loved it. The theatrics are wonderful. Lenna is like,
how dare you, Derek? That was an abomination, disgraceful. You're
letting your partner down, and like I was like, you
betrayed me? What are you doing? Man? It was it
was such a funny thing. But then afterwards I saw
I saw him and he got two tens from Lennon
(26:01):
sorry from Bruno and Carrie Inn and he gave us
a six.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
And that was in like the semi finals, Like this
is a big times. So so again when I saw
him afterwards and I was like, Lannes, he goes, oh, Derek,
it's a bit of TV.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Did you like that?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I was like, ah, oh no, I didn't.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I didn't like that.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
But again it makes me laugh because you know, again
in these seasons, like you know, we'll have like we'll
give like two weights and then a judge will give
us seven, and the the energy that is thrown at
that judge for giving you know, a seven and seven
eight is crazy And I was like, gave me a
six when then you're giving me tens like this is
that was a different discrepancy. So no, he's he's wonderful.
(26:48):
And it was a big shock when he passed away. Honestly,
we knew he was wasn't quite himself, and he was,
you know, the energy wise. But the last season, our
last season together, is interesting. I felt really drawn to
(27:09):
his trailer and going to see him and talk with him.
I was like, hey, man, let's shot this TikTok. We'll
do something kind of fun together, and he would be
open for it, you know, he'd be down. And we
spent we spend a lot more time than usual. And
so at the end of that season when he said
that he was stepping away one, I couldn't believe it.
I just I was like, this is like the end
(27:31):
of an era, and we're losing the heart of Dancing
with the Stars essentially that foundation. And then a couple
months later when we found out we we lost him completely.
We had no idea. It was such a shock to us.
And uh and again that's why I really, I genuinely
don't take it lightly. You know where I sit and
(27:54):
being in that position, you know when I go on
my tours. I I'm going out on tour this summer,
and a couple of years ago when he first passed away,
I did a tribute for him on my tour, And
even as I'm building this one, I was thinking, I
(28:16):
was like, should I take that out now? And I
was like, no, I'm keeping that in. I'm keeping that
in because it doesn't matter. I don't care if it's
ten years. I'm still keeping that in there because I think,
you know, we wouldn't be here really without him. He
really helped build that show.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
And now the mirror Ball is named after him. Yeah, yeah,
the Lynn Goodman mirror Ball Drunk. Yeah, I love him.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
It has a little bow tie on there like it's
it's It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Hank Ty, The Bobby Cast will be right back. Welcome
back to the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Do you have how many do you have? Mirror balls? Six? Six?
Are they all knee least? Stacked beside each other? In
a no CD manner.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
They Where are theyre? Actually, I have no idea where
they are right now, If I'm honestly, I think they're
They're like in a road case right now somewhere, because
I take them to travel with them. I take them
on tour, and I put them in the lobby, you know,
and just just for people to come come check them out.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
And look at you. Ever broken one had to get
a replaced Oh yeah, Oh so what do you do
if that's the case.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Oh no, I've I've lost like two of them. Wait, okay,
I'll tell you this story. This is kind of kind
of funny. Actually in my earlier days when I would
go out and have them have fun. I think I
had three at the time, and there's somebody at my
condo where I was living. I was a bachelor, you know,
(29:42):
the whole thing. And then I woke up, you know,
the next day, and I was like, where's my where's
my trophy? No way? And I was like, wait a minute,
somebody took somebody took my because I had like an
after party at my house and there's a bunch of
people there and stuff, and somebody took my trophy and
(30:03):
uh or I think it was like, honestly, it was
I think it was two of them because there's only
one there, like, wait, hold on. Luckily, there was like
a card on the ground. It was like somebody's card.
I don't know. I was random. I was like, let
me let me call this person, say, hey, did you
take my trophies? Yeah, we took them, and they're in
They're in like Korea Town, which is nowhere near where
I live, in the bush somewhere at this address. I'm like, first,
(30:27):
why did you do that? Secondly? What? So? I had
to find them and sure enough they were in a bush,
had to grab them, take them home in one piece
and one piece. They were fine, but I have broken them.
I've lost a few. But you could get a remade.
But they're like five thousand dollars a piece, which you're like,
you know, yeah, I feel like you could just get
(30:50):
like a I have one.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Actually, wow, I did not know they were that expensive.
Yeah they're cool, they're fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah they're cool.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, what happened? What happened yours?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
That's not why you're here. But I'm happy. I'll talk
about whatever. I don't want to preface it by saying this,
but I must I just had surgery, like two days
before you did. That's not an excuse, but I was
not right in my mind. So I had surgery, and
they were they everybody was going back to for like that.
(31:24):
It was the big episode where all the winter everybody
came back. If you were on the show, you get
to be a part of it. And I couldn't go
to that, and I was just awful little And I
love and still love Tom Bergeron. He was the nicest
guy to me. And so I was a little messed
up on paint bills and I felt like I got
a slight from somebody I really admired, and I was like,
this sucks. I get beat up by the audience all
(31:45):
the time anyway because I didn't I don't I don't
want to dance. I worked really hard and we won,
but I don't want to dance. I don't claim I
know how to dance, like I'm not fighting for my
dance skills. But it really hurt my feelings, like really bad,
and so I I packaged it up and mailed it
back because I was like, you don't want me to
be a part of the show. I don't want this
(32:06):
thing around me now. Clearhead. I don't think I would
have done that. And I know the head of BBC,
and because I wrote for BBC for a while, I
had them produce my Nat Geo show. I have great
relationships and I was talking to him and I said, Hey, Ryan,
have you seen the trophy? And he was like, no,
We've been looking for it. And I was like, I
(32:27):
don't know where it is. He said, it's in a
bush and Korea town. I was just going to say
that it's there.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
It's just it's like all trophies go to that place
and it's like a black hole.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Yeah. I mailed it back because I was upset. I
was very sensitive. I love Tom and my feelings got
really hurt. And also I think I would I just
get pounded and then I'm going to move off me
because it's not about me. But yeah, yeah, here's the
thing that hurts my feelings about that show a little bit.
On my season, I wasn't the bad dancer. There were
three or four bad dancers. I was never in the
(32:59):
mix of being the bad I was. I'm the bad winner.
Big difference because there were three or four people that lasted.
People were like, how are these people staying on I
was never that guy during the show because I was fine,
But when it comes to like winning, I didn't have
the dance skills to be a winner according to the
traditional winners. So I went from the fan favorite obviously
(33:22):
I won to I'm now associated with every bad dancer
on the show, when I wasn't even the bad dancer
on my season. Yeah, I have three final questions for you.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Something that people ask me about and I was also
very uncomfortable with it when I first started the show
is all the touching, because how I have lived my
whole life is you don't touch people really like, especially
like that in dance. It took me a couple of
weeks to realize that's just the culture. That's what you
have to do it in order to actually do any
(33:54):
sort of performance, Like fundamentally, your hands have to be
on the other person's body, all over their body all
the time. When you're learning, you're moving, it's great. My
mind was blown by all of it. If here's this
girl I don't know in small shorts and the top
and she's like, put your hands right on my butt,
put your touch my hips, and I'm like, am I
(34:14):
me too? I don't want get hashtag me too.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, so that was very uncomfortable for me at first.
But people all the time say, man, they're all touching
each other. Everybody's got to be doing it with each other.
You hear that a lot, right, Yeah, what's your response
to that?
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Most of the time, it's funny. Actually, I would say this.
In the earlier seasons, there was a lot of there
was a lot of stuff that would you know, go on,
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
But the touching is like it's like but they're looking
at a bank and taking money, like yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
No, no, here's the thing. Here's I'll say this the
dancing part of it again for a dancer. For a dancer,
it's not it's not intimate, you know what I mean.
It's not like like this is like get in here.
It's not that at all. It's very uh, it's very clinical,
you know, it's like, hey, get your get there. No no, no,
(35:07):
that doesn't feel right, okay, good, No, no, get that
get that hip up in here, and you're and you know,
for me, I'm not thinking like ooh, I'm thinking the
mechanics of it, and you know, anatomically, does that make sense?
Does it feel good? From a balance perspective or from
you know, just that push and pull to create the
speed and the dynamics. I'm thinking of the performance, you
(35:29):
know what I mean. But I remember my first partner,
Jenny Garth. You know, I was like this young kid,
and I remember it's all on camera. I remember us
doing ball room and I kind of like, all right,
put your hip here, and she remember me like she'd
be like whoa hey. And again for us, does it
even like you know, this is just what we're doing.
You know, it's very clinical, it's very technical.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
That's what I tell people, Like it doesn't even like
factor to professional dancers that there's anything romantic happening, because
it's another day on the job.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah it is. And it's interesting too because I think
even like, you know, it's like in acting, you know
what I mean, and in in in film. You know.
I was with Mark Robbie yesterday talking about her Weathering
Heights film and it was like all this stuff about
her and Jacob be Lord, You're like, oh my gosh,
this is like crazy. And but again for me, I
(36:20):
was like, it's like dancing. It's like a dance partner,
you know, it's it's not it certainly looks that way, like, wow,
there's something going on there. The amount of people think
thought that things were going on with a bunch of
my partners and couldn't be further from the truth. Like
I was like, they're like my sisters, you know what
I mean, Like they're like my family. And but we
could just we could just you know, we could just dance.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
You know. How's the extra job going.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
That's good?
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Man, Yeah, it's good.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
It's different. I'm different skill. It's a different muscle, you know,
learning uh, just learning those ropes.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Man.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
You know, they're doing a certain voice in the vos
and stuff and then the interviews, and it's been great.
It's been good. I caught my like my dad job
because it's like I go, I have an office, and
it's like, you have an office.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
They gave you an office. That awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
It's a dope office. Yeah, it's nice. Haley came in
and she did it all up and we did the
walls and the shelves and the things, and it's a
nice office. And uh, you know, I go from like
eight thirties and I'm done by like noon or eleven
sometimes and go home.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
How many days a week four days a week.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
So today I shot two shows and you know, yeah,
yeah that's super cool.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Yeahs on that.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Yeah, it's fun. It's fun if people.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Want to see you on tour this summer.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, like, what's the deal, dude, my tour. Well, first
of all, performing live is for me number one. It's
the best, you know, being on television, you know, I
love that, don't get me wrong, of course, but there's
nothing like performing live in in you know, in a room,
(37:50):
having that shared experience, you know, how it feels, that
instant response, that relationship. And uh, I'm going back out
on the road with the tour that I've done before
called Infany of Dance, and it's a really special show.
I'm so proud of this show so much so that
I want to do it again and go back out.
We're gonna change things, of course, there's gonna be different songs,
(38:12):
different pieces, different things happening, and there of course make
it different, But for the most part, it's the same show,
and it's we have a live band, live musicians, incredible
cast of dancers that I handpicked that are just they're superheroes.
They can do things. I specifically pick dancers who do
(38:33):
things that I would only dream of doing. I can
never do what they do. And yeah, there's music in it,
singing and audience participation, but it's also very personal. It's
very heartfelt. I always try to make my shows feel
connected and feel like there's an emotion there, So I'm
really proud of it. This is also the show that
(38:54):
Haley actually a couple of years ago, she ended up
having a brain bleed during the show and we had
to go off the stage, and there's just something and
then she came back. She came back and it was incredible,
and we were talking about what tour we wanted to
go out with this summer, and we both were like,
(39:15):
we want to go back out with that show. The
show is really special. There's something about it that's really special.
And I think part of that might because of the
experience that we had together, but also we're really proud
of the show. It's a good one. It's a good
the music, the energy, it's rock and roll, there's ballroom,
there's there's contemporary, there's ballads. There's just a bit of
(39:37):
everything tap old Hollywood musical theater, you know, it's it's
a it's a bit of everything in it. It's really fun.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
I really appreciate you coming by. This has been great.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Thanks man.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
I one bonus question, do you ever have any input
at all on who your next partner is going to be?
Speaker 2 (39:54):
Do you have any input? No, you don't. You don't
have any, But.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
You answered that a little suspect.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I love that so much. Sorry, I was just trying
to think.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
I'm just trying to the only.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Reason why I'm saying that is because of this. Because
a while ago, and I'll be completely honest with you,
I was doing a show. I was doing Radio City
Music Hall. I was in a show there, and I
was like, I can't do Dancing with the Stars. I'm
gonna go do this show at Radio City. I'm doing
thirteen shows a week, which is insane, by the way,
(40:29):
three shows a day sometimes with the rockheads. I'm on
stage were I'm singing and dance and it's fifty thousand
gallons of water falling on that stage, like it's incredible,
sold out shows every night, you know, six thousand per
show and we're in rehearsals, and I kind of was like,
I think I could do Dancing with Stars at the
same time as this, which was crazy, and I remember
(40:51):
calling them and saying, hey, guys, I think I can
do both. I think I can fly Red Eyes and
go back do thirteen shows a week, teach my partner
in between shows in my dressing room. You needed someone
in New York and I was like, but the person
needs to be in New York and they're like, well, okay,
let me. Then they were like, well let's think about it.
And then funny enough, Nasty Lucan was going to school
(41:12):
in New York City and so it just happened to
work out that way. So it wasn't like I was like, hey,
I want this partner. It was like, we could make
this happen, but my partner has to be in New York.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
So that's and they need to be an Olympic gymnast.
And you've had two Olympic gymnasts.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yeah, I did, I have. I have he's the Olympic
gymnast and it'd be amazing. No, it wasn't that. It was
just was by chance and uh but it was amazing.
She was incredible as well. But but yeah, there's you know,
it's interesting of course, especially now with like the the
energy around the show, there's a lot of like wanting
to figure things out and look into things and all
(41:52):
this stuff. It really isn't that complex, really honestly, it's
it's just like, hey, these guys go well together, let's
put them together. There are, of course, sometimes when partners,
you're kind of like, man, I wish this person would
you know, have a different opportunity, you know, And I think, yeah,
(42:16):
I don't know what I'm trying to say right now, but.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, there were people I'll just keep names that there
are people on our season that really didn't like each other,
like really like partner and that really and I felt bad. Yeah,
I felt because they just it just didn't mix, you know.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
I feel like now I could be wrong, but I
feel like we're sort of in a different time now
where I think that people who come on the show now,
you know, celebrities will come on the show. They want
to be there, do you know what I mean? I
feel like there's gonna be like now, they want to
be there, They're here, Take me, what am I? What
do I gotta do? Doesn't mean they're not gonna have conflict.
(42:49):
They're gonna hit heads and that's gonna happen. But I
feel like in some cases in the past it'd be
people who are there like what am I doing here?
Like my agent made me be here.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I've heard of those two. You're go for the the
pro as well.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, and there're just like, come on, please come in
to rehearsal, you know, and you feel bad for them
and that that's a bummer. That's bummer. But I feel
like we're in a that time now where it's like
there's like a people want to be on the show,
they want to be there, and you feel that.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
So congratulations man, Thanks dude, killing it. Love the spent
an hour here, big fan of your work. You filled
Lynn's spot wonderfully because you're not trying to be Lynn,
You're just being you. Thanks, And I think that is
a really hard thing to do. Like when you're coming
in after somebody legendary, you think, well it should be
somewhat like this, but you've really embraced just being you
and that is probably exactly what Lynn would have wanted
(43:33):
to So Derek going to see you man.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Thanks man, he's a lot. Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
This has been a Bobby cast production.
A push. What you coming by? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thanks for having me, man.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
So here's what I say about you, because you've done
my show on Nashville before. We've bumped into each other
when I was on the show. I just random times
there are two people that in my career have always
been so kind, even at times whenever you're like, oh,
we were just brief, and it's you and Tim Tebow
really the nicest people and not nice like fake nice,
(00:26):
like it's like people like, who are the nicest people
to you? It's like randomly Tim Tebow and Derek Cuff.
So you're that, oh dude, thanks you. So when you
said you would come over and do this, I was
so pumped because you've always been so nice to me.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
That means a lot, Man, That means thanks so much.
I'm that's a good company too. Have you ever met
Tim Tebow briefly?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Brief it's probably like in a mirror and you're like
moving your hands if you're doing the same thing. Yeah,
he's an awesome guy. So I just wanted to start
with that so I didn't forget to say that.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
No, that makes that means a lot to me, man,
because obviously, uh, you know, there's you never know, you know,
sometimes you're in passing and you say hi to some
people and you might not be fully present or something.
And so I'm glad that, you know, that was the impression.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
How's the baby, the baby?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
How's the baby? She is so good, she really is.
And I feel so lucky because you know, you hear
you know, people I work with they're like, oh man,
you know, say goodbye to sleeping and you know all
these things. She's a sleeper, really, thank god, you know,
she's sleeping and we're arresting. And but there's big adjustments,
of course, you know, in your life, it's everything changes,
(01:30):
but for the better.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And I'm askingselfishly, we're about to have our first kid.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You know, there's nothing to tell you because it's still
in her belly. But you are going through it right now. Yeah,
what what's my expectation?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
What's that's no expectation, That's that's the most important part.
And now here's the thing. There's you know that great expression, right,
this is a good one. It's hard to live by sometimes,
but it's a good one to come back to. It's
just like trade your expectation for appreciation and everything changes.
That's for everything, right, relationships and like you know, situation events, people, parents,
loved ones. If we always have these expectations about how
(02:05):
they should act or how they should be, we're always
setting ourselves up for disappointment. So in the moment, it's
always like find yourself, like what can I appreciate instead
in this moment. So the reason why I say that
because even with birth right, for instance, there's people will
always give their express their opinions like this is gonna
happen and then you're gonna feel this emotion and then
your world's gonna just like explode and then this heart
(02:27):
and so if something like that doesn't quite happen, you're like, oh,
what's wrong. There's something wrong with me and I'm not
feeling that and these expectations and so I that's my advice, honestly,
is like, don't have an expectation. Just just appreciate whatever
it is, whatever happens, and that's right, and that's the
(02:48):
way it should be, and that's and that's perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I was talking to my therapist and it was basically
about that, and he said, you're gonna hear a lot
of people say that as soon as the baby is born,
you're gonna feel this euphoric feeling that has never been
a feeling you've ever felt. Do not put the pressure
on yourself to feel it immediately. And if you don't
feel it, that's okay, you'll eventually get there. But it's
completely different for everyone. But there is this societal attachment
(03:14):
of as soon as you see this thing, you need
to fall in love immediately, he said. If you don't,
or if it's weird, or you're scared, or it's a
or it does feel like that like all of that's right. Yes,
that's what we just talked about. Yeah, it's so true.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I mean I remember the first time I held her.
First of all, they're like an animatronic. They don't it's
like there's like this like a bad animatronic, like you
know what I mean. And they don't look real honestly,
And I'm holding her and I'm like, is this like
et you know, because they're all wrinkly and like crazy looking.
(03:51):
They're like like it looks like my grandpa heating. It
was the first thing I said. Actually, when she came out,
I was like crampa and and uh and I held
her and I didn't quite know how to I was scared.
I was honestly, I was scared to hold her, to
break her because she was so fragile. And I handed
(04:12):
her back to Haley and I kind of walked away,
and I was I kind of felt like a failure
in a way in that little small moment, like I
didn't know what to do.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Like it wasn't so instinctually natural.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, I was like I should know holder and I didn't.
And I just quietly walked away, and Haley could tell it.
I was just was a little bit like disappointed to myself,
I guess I could say, just quietly. And she had
this beautiful moment. She says, Honey, you're you're you're you're amazing.
You're doing great, like you know, and and by the way,
she just gave birth to this thing. And there I
am like, she's coaching a good job, Honey, good job.
(04:48):
But uh but again it's that thing of like not
putting that pressure on yourself and the timing of it
all and the love of it all will will happen
in the how it should be.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Uh. Okay. So the first questions that I have for you,
just generally speaking, because when I see professional dancers now
there's a new appreciation for being around them a lot.
Do you feel like you could have been a professional
athlete at something else as well?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
In some things?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Well, I don't think. Maybe not not. But you guys
are such athletes, yeah, because you're you're how your hand
eye coordination, Uh, how you move your bodies. And again
I had no awareness of it until I was just
dumped into it. Yeah, and then when I watch you
and I work for the NFL and I work with
a lot of NFL players, it's You're a pure athlete.
(05:36):
So I wonder, if you had pursued a different way,
could you have been a professional athlete in another.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So I think, So, I think, could you have been
a gymnast? I could have been a gymnast. I maybe.
You know, it's funny, I actually went to I wanted
to go to gymnastics when I was a kid because
I wanted to be a ninja turtle. I was like same,
I wanted to be going to karate and gymnastics so
I could flip around and kick some button the streets.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You have a favorite turtle, Uh, it was.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Colangelo growing up?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Of course, you know it was Raphael Yeah, wise guy.
You know his guy, yeah, the wise guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I think I could have been an athlete. I
don't know what sport honestly, because here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Football. I played flag football when as a kid I
was a great receiver. I remember going to school and
I was bullied severely as a kid in different schools.
And I remember going to the one called Monta Vista
in South Jordan, Utah, and I was like last pick
always in the school yard. They would never picked me.
I was this little guy. I was kind of a
(06:33):
little runt and I was like, okay, I gotta like
earn my stripes, you know. And I kept like intercepting
the ball and go out there. And then eventually I
remember being like first pick. It was me and this
you know, the quarterback in the playground, and we would
always be we'd be like unstoppable. And I remember feeling
like that felt good. That felt really good to like
go from here to there on the playground playing football
(06:56):
and being a really good receiver and you know, running
around being quick. But then you know, I get just
like tapped on the jaw and I'm like I have
no chin whatsoever. I think I just you know, anything
contact wise, I just I couldn't take it.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Were you so focused on dance and music? Because I
know you're super musical as well, But.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
That was actually before. Honestly, in my house we would
have drums and tim Bally's randomly, I don't know what
tim tim Bally is like, it's like a snare gets
without the uh, without the metal snare parts, you know
what I mean. So that don't don't don't don't, And
we have the guitars and stuff. So I would always
be playing stuff like Beach Boys in the house. And
(07:39):
then from there I actually gotten to dance. But I
understand rhythm and music, and that helped me take the
dance a lot quicker. Uh, But dance became my sole focus.
I think when I walked in and I was kind
of like, I'll never forget. I didn't want to go
to dance. By the way, my mom made me go.
I had four sisters. They went dance class. I was
(08:00):
sitting in the parking lot doing nothing, sitting in the
twitter on my thumbs. She goes, well, why you might
as well go inside if you're not doing anything. I
was like, I don't want to go to go She's like,
you're going inside I was like, no, I don't want
to go out now. It's kicking and screaming, and I'm like,
there's dancings for girls. And then I walk in the door.
I'm like, there's girls in.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Here, dances for girls.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Okay, I like this. And I had this really great
teacher named Rick Robinson who made it really cool. And
then I just fell in love with the community and
the music, the way it made you feel blasting over
the speakers, and then I'm like whoa. And then you
start like sinking your body up to the music and
the rhythm, and You're like, wait a minute, this is cool.
I feel like in control of my body. I'm doing things,
(08:39):
and and then it just yeah, you just fall in
love with it. And then also too, gotta travel. You know.
I'm like this kid in this little neighborhood in Utah.
I got to go to La I get to go
to uh, you know, New York London. I'm like, wow,
dance is like taking me places. And then yeah, just
(09:00):
one thing leads to another.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
You talk about being bullied, but when you go to dance,
was there acceptance and was that part of the reason
that you thrived?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
One hundred percent? Yeah, it was like, well, one, I
had a lot of encouragement. You know, the coaches again,
like I said that, Rick Robinson and my other teachers
and Kim Dell grow So they were so kind and encouraging, like, hey,
you got a lot of talent, like you're really great.
And I was like, am I cool? You know, and okay,
let me keep let me keep going at this. And
it was just an encouraging environment. And when you do
(09:31):
certain things, you know, it was like the kids you
were dancing next year like that, like that's great, that's awesome.
Whenever I go to school, especially in Utah or at
least where I was from, it it was just I
just didn't like I was just awkward, honestly, super awkward.
I don't know how to socialize. I would get the
crappy anaut of me. I went to like six different
(09:52):
schools and like a very short amount of time because
I kept getting beaten up. Eventually I fought back and
I remember breaking this kid's nose and I got expelled
from school. And then my mom was proud of me,
though she was like she's like yeah, but yeah, man.
It was interesting. And it was interesting because when I
(10:12):
moved to London. I was like a it was like
a safe haven because I I don't know, I just
feel like I'd never quite knew how to figure out
the school thing. But dance always felt like home, you know.
It always felt like a good place to be.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And you moved to London for dance. Yeah, and so
when you moved there, I guess the analogy that I'm
gonna compare it to. You can tell me if I'm wrong.
It's like if you grow up and maybe you're not.
Your high school years were rough, but you go to
college and everybody's new. It's clean slate. Yeah, new culture,
people do everything different, and so it almost gives you
(10:48):
a sense to start over as well. Was London a
bit like that for you?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
For sure? I mean I was so naive. I was
twelve years old, so I was fully expecting like horse
drawn carriages and monocles and like, and I do it,
you know, and I get there, I'm like flying. I'm like,
there's buildings and cars. What this is crazy? So naive,
But it was cool too because growing up in Utah,
which was very specific kind of community and culture, So
(11:14):
then going to London, which was a microcosm of the
whole world of different ethnicities and religions and beliefs, and
I was like, what in uh it was? It was wild,
It was so great. It was such a rich environment
to grow up in and to learn it was. It
was awesome. It was great. I mean that's where I
really honed in this like this very kind of niche skill,
(11:36):
which was Latin and barm dancing now.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Which is weird because you're not Latin at all. There's
nothing about you, there's none.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
El fake tan fool you. This is I got sprays
hand two days ago and I'm.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Like, okay, when you go to London, you only expected
to go for a bit, right, but you stayed a
long time, a long time.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I was going for like three months and then I
just loved it. I loved it. I love the structure.
I love the structure, love the regiment. It was sort
of this is what we're doing, no matter what. I
don't care if you're sick, You're going you know what
I mean. I'll never forget that. I was like sicker
than a dog. And they're like, cool, you're going to school.
I'm like, what dang. My mom would never like make
(12:15):
me go to school, But okay, but I needed that
and I loved it. I thrived off that. But yeah,
London was. It was a great place to sort of,
you know, nourish a skill and really discipline and a
work ethic that that I think I'm more thankful for
than anything else about being there. It was like it
(12:36):
really instilled a work ethic. If like, this is what
it takes to be good at something. There's no shortcuts.
You gotta put the hours in. You're gonna stay up late,
You're gonna you know, you can't go party. Your friends
are all partying, you know, in college and high school
and stuff. They're all doing all these cool fun things.
And I'm like, sorry, I gotta I gotta go put
a spray tan on and a riotstone outfit and go
(12:58):
to drive to Liverpool six hours and then do a
competition in a dusty ballroom and for you know, ten
twelve hours and there might be two people there, but
I still have to go do it and put in
the hours and then drive back again. They go to
school the next day, you know, our you know, to
get to school on a train. It was. It was
(13:19):
not glamorous at all. It was hard and by the
way people see Dancing with the Stars, for instance, ten
years before Dancing with the Stars even was like a thing,
that's what we're doing. You know, we're going into those
ballrooms and we're putting in that work, man, and it
was it was hard. It was hard.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Are you still happy that you put in all that
work and didn't do all the things that high school
kids and college kids did. You're still happy about your
decision to be that dedicated.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, absolutely, I think. You know, in my early twenties,
you know, when Dancing Stars came around, and you know,
we're going on tours and we're doing things, and we're
in LA and there's like the clubs and the whole
I got. I got my time in.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
You got it in.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I got it in there I got in my early
twenties were yeah, we had it. We had a good time.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Why did you move back to the States.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Dancing with the Stars? Dancing Stars literally was the thing
that brought me back from the States because I was
I would have stayed in London. Honestly, London I considered
my home. I started was doing the West End, I
was doing musical theater. I did like four hundred and
fifty shows with this, you know, Footloose and the lead
and that, and so I'm singing every night dancing touring.
I was in the West End, and and then Dancing
(14:34):
with Stars happened, and it was funny as I originally
was like, I came over. Julianne joined the show first
season four, and then one of the producers said he's like, yeah, man,
would you like.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
To do the show? You know, I was like, because
it's a BBC show and they're all everybody's yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, And now he's actually the head of Fox now,
which is kind of funny, but he was like, do
you want to do Dance Stars? Like, Nah, it's not
really for me, man, I'm gonna go back to England
and do my thing. And then Julianne ended up winning
that season and I was like, hold on, hold on,
hold on, what's this thing again? It's like you still
want me? And so I joined the next season, season five,
(15:10):
and then Julianne won that season again too, back to back,
so she beat me, and then that really it was
just was the beginning of this really awesome experience that
we could have never imagined. You know. I remember people
saying back then like, oh, this show's got like three
more seasons left in it, you know, and I was like, Okay,
twenty years later, you know, we're still still kicking it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And yeah, what's crazy about the show is that it
has gone definitely through cycles, but it it doesn't die
and it thrives. Like there are times where just with
culture and had television and you know, they will put
it on Disney Plus and maybe that wasn't the best things,
but man it it did awesome last year. Oh it unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Who would have thought, really, twenty years ago they had
been like, hey, there's this show, and trust me, trust me,
television is going to be suffering a lot because streaming
is gonna come around all these different things. But trust me,
this show is gonna thrive in twenty years when the
digital world is going to be you know, ruling, but
this show will be thriving because of that. You know,
(16:12):
you could never have guessed that. You know, it's lightning
in a bottle. It's like a perfect storm and we're
just lucky. And the amount of times when we're all
looking around, I mean, they cut the budget like crazy
a couple of years ago, and we're like, oh, okay,
this is it, guys. You know, we're coming to the
end here and then here we are still kicking. It's
(16:32):
we always joke around, so the little train that could,
you know, we just keep keep plugging along. Man.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
As many seasons did you do as a dancer before
you quit?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Seventeen seasons? It is seventeen seasons?
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Did you doing two a year at some point?
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Two years? Oh? Yeh h we did two year For
most of it. It was like you do a season,
we go on tour, and you go right into another
season and then you go back on tour. I mean
there was no.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Wow, it was full.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
It was just like the whole year was packed out.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Were you in doing it until you weren't?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah? Yeah, Actually there was a time before that with
the season right before Sean Johnson. I can't remember who
was adance? Did you dance with Sean Shawn Johnson? Yeah,
I saw.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Today, No way, Yeah, literally literally literally I saw and
talk to her today. She here, No, no, we were
at the airport together. We lived by each other, oh
no way yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah yeah Sean. Oh I love her, Man. She was
yeah Sean, Sean, Sean, I used to do that actually
because she's she's you know, she's petite, so she'd always
be here. I like, Sean, Sean, oh there you are.
She would have hate that I look, but we there
was before that season. I remember even then feeling a
little bit like burnt out and kind of like I
(17:42):
don't know what else to do. I feel a little
bit like I don't I'm not like growing or expanding,
you know. And my mom ended up going to the
hospital because she hit her head and went and saw
her and was with her, and then there is this
lady next to her and she goes, oh my gosh,
I love you on the show. It meets me so much,
and all these things, and I remember being like, oh man,
(18:04):
I'm I'm thinking about myself right now, Like I was
like I was in my I was thinking about myself
about like why am I not feeling this way? Why
am I not getting this? And I was like, let
me try this again, but let me try to like
really not think about myself and just go on that
show to like serve, to like really serve my partner,
(18:25):
to like serve the show and to give it my all,
but not for me, but for them. And that was
my season with Sean Johnson, and that was like for me,
that was kind of like my my breakout season as
far as feeling personally like unleashed, and it was awesome.
It was so great. We came second that season. Unfortunately,
I remember like Sean didn't win, dude, she won first
(18:47):
with Mark ballas Oh, she came back and it was
the All Star season, got it And I'm not gonna lie.
That season was one of my favorites because it was
just every week we just did something different and We're
flipping off stuff and falling in and I'm breaking all
the rules and Len's yelling at me and Carrie ANNs
yelling at like it was but we were just like
going for it. It was just kind of a great,
(19:09):
just full out thing and we ended up coming second,
which I remember feeling devastated. I was so upset because
you put so much into it. But then that season, man,
it lit like a brand new fire, a brand new
fire under me. And then the next season was with
Kelly Pickler and now you won hem me one with her,
And the next season was Amber Riley and one with
(19:32):
her from Glee from Glee, and then the next you
went back to back back to back. Yeah, and then
I'm and then with Amy Purdy the following.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Season, I know, Amy, she finished my second and we
came second.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So it was like that like a run. It was
like second, first, first, second, it was and and both
of the seconds were like some of my favorite seasons.
So it was a really special time, and it was
this catalyst of intentionally going into it to be like,
all right, I'm here to like give, not to like
it's not really about me.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
We interrupt this interview to bring you a message from
our sponsor, and we're back on the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Some people wonder if the pros are competitive and winning
or if they're just there to make their money.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Competitive competitive very cool and actually in the earlier seasons,
even more competitive, I would say, because I feel like
we came out of man what I said we, I mean,
like the pros, we're kind of plucked out of the
Latin ballroom competitive world. So we were competitors and we
(20:48):
didn't come from like, you know, dance studios where it
was like this camaraderie of like supporting your fellow dancers
and classmates. We were soloists. I mean, you know, part
we had partners, but it was like we were against
everybody else. And that mindset is like I'm against you,
I'm against everybody was instilled in us. So we were very,
very very competitive, and you see it. You see it
(21:09):
a lot, honestly in the earlier seasons openly, you know
what I mean. And so if you can see some
of that openly, you can only imagine what was going
on behind the scenes. But it made it fun, It
made it really like intense. It's definitely calmed down a
lot now, you know, because now there's tours and now
the dancers there's a lot more like camaraderie and a
(21:29):
lot it's more more family orientated, I feel like. And
a lot of these dancers they grew up watching the show.
They grew up watching and being like I would love
to be on the show one day, and now they're
there and now like, oh my gosh, like because they're
in a state of gratitude, like they're in a place
like this is awesome. I'm so happy to be here,
which is great. But with that said, there's definitely competitiveness.
(21:49):
Oh my goodness. For sure.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Whenever you finished your run as a dancer, did you
have the thought that you would come back into a
capacity at all?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
When I finished the runners the Master, Yeah, by the way,
you asked me if I until it wasn't. I remember
the last my last season, there was like a moment.
I remember just being like, oh, yeah, I don't have
that same thing anymore where I'm like, you know, it
kind of went away, and it was kind of a
good moment for me to like walk away, you know,
(22:22):
and do a different project and then miss it. You know,
I really missed it.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I like love.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I was like, Wow, this show really is special. I
love this show and then come back into different capacity,
you know, I feel so fortunate if I'm so lucky
and and have to have been a part of that
show for so long, it's been really special. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
I really liked off camera Lynn and they don't encourage
camaraderie between the contestants and the judges. I had a
slightly different lifestyle on that show where I didn't know
any rules, so I didn't live by them. Yeah, I
wasn't breaking them. I just didn't know them anyway, like
(23:03):
from the show or dancing. And I would see Lynn
out at the car. He was awesome to me until
we were on camera and he had to be Lynn. Yeah,
and he was the hardest on me, and people would go,
Lenn is such a dick to you, And now I'd
be like he is on camera, but like I loved
that dude. He was so nice to meet off camera.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
You know What's funny, Like I joke around because obviously
Dancing Stars has a whole brand new, you know, audience,
and it's funny. I'll people, I'll say something like, you know,
it wasn't really for me, and I'm like, oh my.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Gosh, Derek, you're the worst.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
I'm like, Yo, you didn't see Lynn. Guys, I don't
think you quite understand I am. If anything, I'm actually
a little bit too. I'm too too, you know forgiving. No.
Len is awesome. I've known him so I was fifteen
years old, you know, I've known him be way before
Dancing on.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
The Stars when you were competing.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Yeah, I knew back in London when i there. So
actually when he was on Dancing with the Stars, I
was like, wait, Len's on that shit, what is Lenn
doing up there? You know? It's so random and uh,
getting to know Len, having our careers kind of like
just be parallel and just share the space with him
in different ways was so awesome. But you're right, Lyn, Yeah, man,
(24:22):
this is nobody like him, you know. He one had
the gift of the gap. I always I begged him.
I said, can you write a book of just like lenisms?
Because the things you would say they were so good
and so funny and charming and witty and and.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
That nice and yeah, but not nice. But you would
be like, that's Len cuttingly funny? He would cut you,
but it was hilarious. Yeah, yeah, actually I'll tell you, yeah,
but it's funny. There was a time actually to go
off what you said. And I've shared this story a
bunch of times, but it was with Kelly Pickler. And
(25:00):
I saw Lynn in the hallway and he.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Goes, oh, Derek, you know, I was like, I would
love I was like, what dance you have next week?
I'm like, the pasta doble and he goes, oh, I
love the dance. It's like it's like throwing a coupda
peek into that dance because I haven't seen one of
those in a long time. I'm like, oh, you got it, Lynn,
you got pa.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I'm gonna put two in there.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
You got it, you know, And so I do the
pasta doble. We do it. It's this trio thing. And
and I'm like, oh man, we got it in with Lynn.
We got this on lock.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
We're good.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
We do the dance. I go up to the judge
table and I'm like, you know, looking at Kelly, like
all right, we got this, and carry Anne was like,
oh my gosh, it's my favorite dance I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Bruno, Oh my god, Darling, my love.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I loved it. The theatrics are wonderful. Lenna is like,
how dare you, Derek? That was an abomination, disgraceful. You're
letting your partner down, and like I was like, you
betrayed me? What are you doing? Man? It was it
was such a funny thing. But then afterwards I saw
I saw him and he got two tens from Lennon
(26:01):
sorry from Bruno and Carrie Inn and he gave us
a six.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
And that was in like the semi finals, Like this
is a big times. So so again when I saw
him afterwards and I was like, Lannes, he goes, oh, Derek,
it's a bit of TV.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Did you like that?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I was like, ah, oh no, I didn't.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
I didn't like that.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
But again it makes me laugh because you know, again
in these seasons, like you know, we'll have like we'll
give like two weights and then a judge will give
us seven, and the the energy that is thrown at
that judge for giving you know, a seven and seven
eight is crazy And I was like, gave me a
six when then you're giving me tens like this is
that was a different discrepancy. So no, he's he's wonderful.
(26:48):
And it was a big shock when he passed away. Honestly,
we knew he was wasn't quite himself, and he was,
you know, the energy wise. But the last season, our
last season together, is interesting. I felt really drawn to
(27:09):
his trailer and going to see him and talk with him.
I was like, hey, man, let's shot this TikTok. We'll
do something kind of fun together, and he would be
open for it, you know, he'd be down. And we
spent we spend a lot more time than usual. And
so at the end of that season when he said
that he was stepping away one, I couldn't believe it.
I just I was like, this is like the end
(27:31):
of an era, and we're losing the heart of Dancing
with the Stars essentially that foundation. And then a couple
months later when we found out we we lost him completely.
We had no idea. It was such a shock to us.
And uh and again that's why I really, I genuinely
don't take it lightly. You know where I sit and
(27:54):
being in that position, you know when I go on
my tours. I I'm going out on tour this summer,
and a couple of years ago when he first passed away,
I did a tribute for him on my tour, And
even as I'm building this one, I was thinking, I
(28:16):
was like, should I take that out now? And I
was like, no, I'm keeping that in. I'm keeping that
in because it doesn't matter. I don't care if it's
ten years. I'm still keeping that in there because I think,
you know, we wouldn't be here really without him. He
really helped build that show.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
And now the mirror Ball is named after him. Yeah, yeah,
the Lynn Goodman mirror Ball Drunk. Yeah, I love him.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
It has a little bow tie on there like it's
it's It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Hank Ty, The Bobby Cast will be right back. Welcome
back to the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Do you have how many do you have? Mirror balls? Six? Six?
Are they all knee least? Stacked beside each other? In
a no CD manner.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
They Where are theyre? Actually, I have no idea where
they are right now, If I'm honestly, I think they're
They're like in a road case right now somewhere, because
I take them to travel with them. I take them
on tour, and I put them in the lobby, you know,
and just just for people to come come check them out.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
And look at you. Ever broken one had to get
a replaced Oh yeah, Oh so what do you do
if that's the case.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Oh no, I've I've lost like two of them. Wait, okay,
I'll tell you this story. This is kind of kind
of funny. Actually in my earlier days when I would
go out and have them have fun. I think I
had three at the time, and there's somebody at my
condo where I was living. I was a bachelor, you know,
(29:42):
the whole thing. And then I woke up, you know,
the next day, and I was like, where's my where's
my trophy? No way? And I was like, wait a minute,
somebody took somebody took my because I had like an
after party at my house and there's a bunch of
people there and stuff, and somebody took my trophy and
(30:03):
uh or I think it was like, honestly, it was
I think it was two of them because there's only
one there, like, wait, hold on. Luckily, there was like
a card on the ground. It was like somebody's card.
I don't know. I was random. I was like, let
me let me call this person, say, hey, did you
take my trophies? Yeah, we took them, and they're in
They're in like Korea Town, which is nowhere near where
I live, in the bush somewhere at this address. I'm like, first,
(30:27):
why did you do that? Secondly? What? So? I had
to find them and sure enough they were in a bush,
had to grab them, take them home in one piece
and one piece. They were fine, but I have broken them.
I've lost a few. But you could get a remade.
But they're like five thousand dollars a piece, which you're like,
you know, yeah, I feel like you could just get
(30:50):
like a I have one.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Actually, wow, I did not know they were that expensive.
Yeah they're cool, they're fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah they're cool.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, what happened? What happened yours?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
That's not why you're here. But I'm happy. I'll talk
about whatever. I don't want to preface it by saying this,
but I must I just had surgery, like two days
before you did. That's not an excuse, but I was
not right in my mind. So I had surgery, and
they were they everybody was going back to for like that.
(31:24):
It was the big episode where all the winter everybody
came back. If you were on the show, you get
to be a part of it. And I couldn't go
to that, and I was just awful little And I
love and still love Tom Bergeron. He was the nicest
guy to me. And so I was a little messed
up on paint bills and I felt like I got
a slight from somebody I really admired, and I was like,
this sucks. I get beat up by the audience all
(31:45):
the time anyway because I didn't I don't I don't
want to dance. I worked really hard and we won,
but I don't want to dance. I don't claim I
know how to dance, like I'm not fighting for my
dance skills. But it really hurt my feelings, like really bad,
and so I I packaged it up and mailed it
back because I was like, you don't want me to
be a part of the show. I don't want this
(32:06):
thing around me now. Clearhead. I don't think I would
have done that. And I know the head of BBC,
and because I wrote for BBC for a while, I
had them produce my Nat Geo show. I have great
relationships and I was talking to him and I said, Hey, Ryan,
have you seen the trophy? And he was like, no,
We've been looking for it. And I was like, I
(32:27):
don't know where it is. He said, it's in a
bush and Korea town. I was just going to say
that it's there.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
It's just it's like all trophies go to that place
and it's like a black hole.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Yeah. I mailed it back because I was upset. I
was very sensitive. I love Tom and my feelings got
really hurt. And also I think I would I just
get pounded and then I'm going to move off me
because it's not about me. But yeah, yeah, here's the
thing that hurts my feelings about that show a little bit.
On my season, I wasn't the bad dancer. There were
three or four bad dancers. I was never in the
(32:59):
mix of being the bad I was. I'm the bad winner.
Big difference because there were three or four people that lasted.
People were like, how are these people staying on I
was never that guy during the show because I was fine,
But when it comes to like winning, I didn't have
the dance skills to be a winner according to the
traditional winners. So I went from the fan favorite obviously
(33:22):
I won to I'm now associated with every bad dancer
on the show, when I wasn't even the bad dancer
on my season. Yeah, I have three final questions for you.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Something that people ask me about and I was also
very uncomfortable with it when I first started the show
is all the touching, because how I have lived my
whole life is you don't touch people really like, especially
like that in dance. It took me a couple of
weeks to realize that's just the culture. That's what you
have to do it in order to actually do any
(33:54):
sort of performance, Like fundamentally, your hands have to be
on the other person's body, all over their body all
the time. When you're learning, you're moving, it's great. My
mind was blown by all of it. If here's this
girl I don't know in small shorts and the top
and she's like, put your hands right on my butt,
put your touch my hips, and I'm like, am I
(34:14):
me too? I don't want get hashtag me too.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, so that was very uncomfortable for me at first.
But people all the time say, man, they're all touching
each other. Everybody's got to be doing it with each other.
You hear that a lot, right, Yeah, what's your response
to that?
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Most of the time, it's funny. Actually, I would say this.
In the earlier seasons, there was a lot of there
was a lot of stuff that would you know, go on,
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
But the touching is like it's like but they're looking
at a bank and taking money, like yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
No, no, here's the thing. Here's I'll say this the
dancing part of it again for a dancer. For a dancer,
it's not it's not intimate, you know what I mean.
It's not like like this is like get in here.
It's not that at all. It's very uh, it's very clinical,
you know, it's like, hey, get your get there. No no, no,
(35:07):
that doesn't feel right, okay, good, No, no, get that
get that hip up in here, and you're and you know,
for me, I'm not thinking like ooh, I'm thinking the
mechanics of it, and you know, anatomically, does that make sense?
Does it feel good? From a balance perspective or from
you know, just that push and pull to create the
speed and the dynamics. I'm thinking of the performance, you
(35:29):
know what I mean. But I remember my first partner,
Jenny Garth. You know, I was like this young kid,
and I remember it's all on camera. I remember us
doing ball room and I kind of like, all right,
put your hip here, and she remember me like she'd
be like whoa hey. And again for us, does it
even like you know, this is just what we're doing.
You know, it's very clinical, it's very technical.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
That's what I tell people, Like it doesn't even like
factor to professional dancers that there's anything romantic happening, because
it's another day on the job.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah it is. And it's interesting too because I think
even like, you know, it's like in acting, you know
what I mean, and in in in film. You know.
I was with Mark Robbie yesterday talking about her Weathering
Heights film and it was like all this stuff about
her and Jacob be Lord, You're like, oh my gosh,
this is like crazy. And but again for me, I
(36:20):
was like, it's like dancing. It's like a dance partner,
you know, it's it's not it certainly looks that way, like, wow,
there's something going on there. The amount of people think
thought that things were going on with a bunch of
my partners and couldn't be further from the truth. Like
I was like, they're like my sisters, you know what
I mean, Like they're like my family. And but we
could just we could just you know, we could just dance.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
You know. How's the extra job going.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
That's good?
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Man, Yeah, it's good.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
It's different. I'm different skill. It's a different muscle, you know,
learning uh, just learning those ropes.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Man.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
You know, they're doing a certain voice in the vos
and stuff and then the interviews, and it's been great.
It's been good. I caught my like my dad job
because it's like I go, I have an office, and
it's like, you have an office.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
They gave you an office. That awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
It's a dope office. Yeah, it's nice. Haley came in
and she did it all up and we did the
walls and the shelves and the things, and it's a
nice office. And uh, you know, I go from like
eight thirties and I'm done by like noon or eleven
sometimes and go home.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
How many days a week four days a week.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
So today I shot two shows and you know, yeah,
yeah that's super cool.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Yeahs on that.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Yeah, it's fun. It's fun if people.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Want to see you on tour this summer.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, like, what's the deal, dude, my tour. Well, first
of all, performing live is for me number one. It's
the best, you know, being on television, you know, I
love that, don't get me wrong, of course, but there's
nothing like performing live in in you know, in a room,
(37:50):
having that shared experience, you know, how it feels, that
instant response, that relationship. And uh, I'm going back out
on the road with the tour that I've done before
called Infany of Dance, and it's a really special show.
I'm so proud of this show so much so that
I want to do it again and go back out.
We're gonna change things, of course, there's gonna be different songs,
(38:12):
different pieces, different things happening, and there of course make
it different, But for the most part, it's the same show,
and it's we have a live band, live musicians, incredible
cast of dancers that I handpicked that are just they're superheroes.
They can do things. I specifically pick dancers who do
(38:33):
things that I would only dream of doing. I can
never do what they do. And yeah, there's music in it,
singing and audience participation, but it's also very personal. It's
very heartfelt. I always try to make my shows feel
connected and feel like there's an emotion there, So I'm
really proud of it. This is also the show that
(38:54):
Haley actually a couple of years ago, she ended up
having a brain bleed during the show and we had
to go off the stage, and there's just something and
then she came back. She came back and it was incredible,
and we were talking about what tour we wanted to
go out with this summer, and we both were like,
(39:15):
we want to go back out with that show. The
show is really special. There's something about it that's really special.
And I think part of that might because of the
experience that we had together, but also we're really proud
of the show. It's a good one. It's a good
the music, the energy, it's rock and roll, there's ballroom,
there's there's contemporary, there's ballads. There's just a bit of
(39:37):
everything tap old Hollywood musical theater, you know, it's it's
a it's a bit of everything in it. It's really fun.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
I really appreciate you coming by. This has been great.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Thanks man.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
I one bonus question, do you ever have any input
at all on who your next partner is going to be?
Speaker 2 (39:54):
Do you have any input? No, you don't. You don't
have any, But.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
You answered that a little suspect.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I love that so much. Sorry, I was just trying
to think.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
I'm just trying to the only.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Reason why I'm saying that is because of this. Because
a while ago, and I'll be completely honest with you,
I was doing a show. I was doing Radio City
Music Hall. I was in a show there, and I
was like, I can't do Dancing with the Stars. I'm
gonna go do this show at Radio City. I'm doing
thirteen shows a week, which is insane, by the way,
(40:29):
three shows a day sometimes with the rockheads. I'm on
stage were I'm singing and dance and it's fifty thousand
gallons of water falling on that stage, like it's incredible,
sold out shows every night, you know, six thousand per
show and we're in rehearsals, and I kind of was like,
I think I could do Dancing with Stars at the
same time as this, which was crazy, and I remember
(40:51):
calling them and saying, hey, guys, I think I can
do both. I think I can fly Red Eyes and
go back do thirteen shows a week, teach my partner
in between shows in my dressing room. You needed someone
in New York and I was like, but the person
needs to be in New York and they're like, well, okay,
let me. Then they were like, well let's think about it.
And then funny enough, Nasty Lucan was going to school
(41:12):
in New York City and so it just happened to
work out that way. So it wasn't like I was like, hey,
I want this partner. It was like, we could make
this happen, but my partner has to be in New York.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
So that's and they need to be an Olympic gymnast.
And you've had two Olympic gymnasts.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yeah, I did, I have. I have he's the Olympic
gymnast and it'd be amazing. No, it wasn't that. It was
just was by chance and uh but it was amazing.
She was incredible as well. But but yeah, there's you know,
it's interesting of course, especially now with like the the
energy around the show, there's a lot of like wanting
to figure things out and look into things and all
(41:52):
this stuff. It really isn't that complex, really honestly, it's
it's just like, hey, these guys go well together, let's
put them together. There are, of course, sometimes when partners,
you're kind of like, man, I wish this person would
you know, have a different opportunity, you know, And I think, yeah,
(42:16):
I don't know what I'm trying to say right now, but.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, there were people I'll just keep names that there
are people on our season that really didn't like each other,
like really like partner and that really and I felt bad. Yeah,
I felt because they just it just didn't mix, you know.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
I feel like now I could be wrong, but I
feel like we're sort of in a different time now
where I think that people who come on the show now,
you know, celebrities will come on the show. They want
to be there, do you know what I mean? I
feel like there's gonna be like now, they want to
be there, They're here, Take me, what am I? What
do I gotta do? Doesn't mean they're not gonna have conflict.
(42:49):
They're gonna hit heads and that's gonna happen. But I
feel like in some cases in the past it'd be
people who are there like what am I doing here?
Like my agent made me be here.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I've heard of those two. You're go for the the
pro as well.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, and there're just like, come on, please come in
to rehearsal, you know, and you feel bad for them
and that that's a bummer. That's bummer. But I feel
like we're in a that time now where it's like
there's like a people want to be on the show,
they want to be there, and you feel that.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
So congratulations man, Thanks dude, killing it. Love the spent
an hour here, big fan of your work. You filled
Lynn's spot wonderfully because you're not trying to be Lynn,
You're just being you. Thanks, And I think that is
a really hard thing to do. Like when you're coming
in after somebody legendary, you think, well it should be
somewhat like this, but you've really embraced just being you
and that is probably exactly what Lynn would have wanted
(43:33):
to So Derek going to see you man.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Thanks man, he's a lot. Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
This has been a Bobby cast production.
Host
Bobby Bones
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