Last week we bid a fond farewell to another couple — Leeza Gibbons and Tony Dovolani, or rather Team Gibbolani. You'll never meet a classier, more upbeat person than Leeza. She has one of the kindest souls of anyone I've ever met. And Tony — what can you say about Tony? Fun, driven, passionate and a bit of a jokester. Two wonderful people who we're definitely going to miss at Dancing with the Stars.Another week, another dance — this week we have the samba. The samba is a get-up-off-your-feet and "shake what your mama gave you" kind of dance. It's another Latin dance and one of my favorites. It encourages you to let your hair down and really feel the music. Ian loves the fast dances, and this dance is fast. He has the perfect personality for the rhythm of the music, and I believe the audience is going to love what they see. Our music is pretty awesome this week, too. I can't tell you what it is because we like to keep that top-secret until the show, but it's a real cr...
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Let's state the obvious about last week's show: I made a misstep. Missteps happen. I didn't want it to happen, it shouldn't have happened, but it happened. While I take Dancing with the Stars insanely seriously — I'm in this competition to win — I didn't feel that the misstep took away from the overall dance performance. (I mean, my buns haven’t moved like that... ever!) The judges, however, felt otherwise. Cheryl, who is obviously a dancer without peer, does such an amazing job with the choreography, and I really feel like I let her down. Anyway, what happened, happened. Now we have our next dance to consider: the waltz.Ah, the waltz. What can I say about the waltz? One would think this is the perfect dance for me, since the waltz originated in Vienna, and my grandfather, Joseph Ziering, came to the United States via Austria. Yeah, one would think it's the dance for me, but the truth is that I am a very high-energy "toe-tapping fingers-snapping" kind of person, and...
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You really never get used to that feeling of having to see someone get eliminated. On Tuesday we had to say goodbye to Paulina and Alec — two really great people. Not only is Paulina one of the most beautiful women in the world, but she’s also one of the nicest and funniest. Her sense of humor is certainly going to be missed — she was always quick with the wit. And Alec, well I think there are a lot of women in America who were very sad to see him and his hips go!Some of you asked a couple of show questions that I’d like to answer for you. You wanted to know how we get paired up with our celebrity partner. First off, we have absolutely no say in who we get. The producers match us up based on personality and how we look together. It’s pretty simple. I’m sure there are a few other things they consider, but to the best of my knowledge, those are the major factors. That first meeting is as genuine as it looks on camera. We get the call from production tel...
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Let me start by saying this: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry if at any point in my lifetime, through thought, word or deed, I somehow came to think that dancing was just a form of recreation and not a sport, and that those who participated were not athletes. Though the extent of my dance-competition exposure was really limited to Saturday Night Fever and my niece's dance recitals, I never really gave thought to professional dancers as athletes.I do now. When I was invited to be on Dancing with the Stars, I was apprehensive about how my friends and family would respond. Would they think it was goofy? Did they think I could dance? Would they support me? Heck, would they take the time to vote for me, or, as a goof, vote for a competitor? Well, I was floored (no pun intended) by their response: They all knew — and loved — the show. Everyone, from my L.A. friends to my family in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, was so supportive and excited to see me on their ...
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Here we go again! It feels like just yesterday when I was anxiously standing by Emmitt's side waiting to hear our names called and be announced the winners of Season 3 of Dancing with the Stars.It's been such a blur since last season's finale way back in November. I had about a week off, which I spent in Hawaii with my family, and then I immediately started rehearsal for the first-ever Dancing with the Stars tour. Thirty-eight cities in something like 10 weeks — maybe it was more, maybe it was less, I honestly can't remember at this point. We got to see so many places and faces around the country and performing four to five nights a week. We were traveling like rock stars — what a life!Then in mid-February we started training for this current season of DWTS. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to get Ian as a partner. This is the first season of the show that I've actually been familiar with who my partner (Ian Ziering) was and didn't need to use the Internet to figure o...
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At TV Guide's Sexy Issue soiree, The Office's Kate Flannery, Rashida Jones and Brian Baumgartner with Ugly Betty's Eric Mabius
You won't find many wallflower types at a soiree celebrating TV Guide's Sexy Issue and the eye-candy actors aggregated within its pages. How did the "sexiest" react to their super-hottie status? Who do your favorite stars think should make the cut next time around? And what were the other hot topics on people's tongues? (Hint: Idol, fall pickups.) TVGuide.com hit the Wednesday-night bash at Bar Marmont on the Sunset Strip to soak up the sexiness, and here's who we saw and what we heard.
Ugly Betty's Eric Mabius was taking his inclusion in the sexiest-stars list in stride, explaining that no hard-core gym routine is to credit for the admirable arms on display in his TV Guide photo shoot. "No, I'm just a bit of a h
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Ian Ziering and Cheryl Burke, Dancing with the Stars
Who's the youngest? The most surprisingly fit? The tallest toe-tapper in the show's history? As the Monday, 8 pm/ET premiere of the new season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars nears, TV Guide invites you to step right up and meet the new line of celebrity hoofers.
Billy Ray Cyrus, 45Best known for: His country-music career and playing Dad on Disney's Hannah MontanaLives in: Los Angeles and NashvilleDancing for: daughter Noah, who told her first-grade teacher that Daddy was "scared" to sign on for DWTS. "The teacher told my little girl to go home and tell me, ‘Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game,'" he says.Partner: Last season's runner-up,
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As a Greg Nelson-channeling Michael Ausiello found himself detained at the door by guards, Keri Russell — who recently announced that she was in a family way — spent Valentine's night tying the knot with longtime beau Shane Deary at a NYC restaurant, as close friends looked on, reports Us.In other affairs of the heart, Season 3 Dancing with the Stars champ Cheryl Burke is currently tangoing with Matthew Lawrence, the actor brother of her onetime Dancing rival Joey. "Cheryl is very happy," a source tells People.
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Cheryl Burke, Dancing with the Stars
If anyone had told me a year ago today that I would be standing on Stage 46 at the CBS studios vying for my second championship on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, I would have asked them what on earth they'd been smoking!
You can't imagine how exciting and what a whirlwind these last few weeks have been. Emmitt Smith and I have traveled a long road to get here — most of it via airplane! We were the only team that traveled to and from Los Angeles each week, back and forth from Emmitt's hometown of Dallas. (Not sure if you're aware, but he's a bit of a hero there, what with his three Super Bowl championships for the Cowboys and all.) I got the chance to experience the graciousness of Dallas' citizens, and let me tell you, when that city supports you, they really support you! But we were also
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Emmitt Smith, Dancing with the Stars
Never in my lifetime did I think I would be competing for a trophy in a ballroom-dancing competition. There are a lot of things I imagined myself doing after retiring from football, but I can safely say that this wasn't one of them.
I had been asked before to do the show, but the timing was never right. This season, Season 3, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and most importantly, my wife, Pat, gave me her blessing to take part. I'm not sure if everyone realizes this, but the time commitment to give this show your all is enormous. In fact, Cheryl Burke had to relocate from Los Angeles and train with me in Dallas for six weeks before the show ever even hit the air. It was our version of training camp, something I understand quite well.
I was a little worried that Pat wouldn't love the idea of me spending so much time away from the
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