Two Ts In A Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra JudgeTalking A Big Game: Maks Chmerkovskiy (Dancing with the Stars)
Tamra and Dan interview the two-time Mirrorball champion on Dancing with the Stars... Maks Chmerkovskiy!
Hi, everybody, I'm Tamara judge and and you're listening to talking a big game. Okay, well the man is here.
Max, I'm not the man. I'm not the man.
You're the man. You're the man of they are.
I don't feel like the men right now?
Why why I feel like the dead and the papa and the camier and the husband.
Go get like, well, your family is eight pounds heavier because your wife just delivered a baby boy a week and a half ago. Milan, congratulations, congratulations, you look tired.
I'm exhausted.
No, I really am. And it's not a bad obviously. Think you draw from for me, It's very important. My meat is very important for me. I don't know how to say it without sounding selfish, whatever that may be. But you know, we have a lot of people talking at us nowadays like how important it is to like really have a balance, right, So it's very important that I'm rested that I'm like, I draw from that, and that was my initial Like when we first had Chai. You know, you change your lifestyle from single to merit from no kids?
How is seven seven?
So I have like so I have a real one years old.
Milan is brand new he's attached to Peter literally, and Shi is like, big, go.
Get breakfast, cause just just go do the do that. He's a big boy. Now.
Yeah, and how is Peter doing.
She's doing great, fantastic.
I mean again, just the blessing of having a job that keeps you so physically fit.
She was dancing on Instagram all the way to the end.
Damn it, she did.
Yeah, and I got in there too.
She tries to get in there. Now that he's an adult, if he's like.
Like son, dad's tired, I can start to do stuff on their own and it gets a little easier. Let me ask you this when you say, like you got to take care of yourself, right, so now you have a one week old week and half newborn, You're like, I need rest. How do you figure that shoehorn that in?
Well, you don't.
So my lifestyle has changed since then, you know, with the second baby.
I mean it was a cake like. We were pros at it.
I was doing the show with NAPA while she was you know, going in labor flew back and then I was flying back and forth. And then as soon as I landed from NAPA when we did Traders together, so somehow we got this done right. And then so after that it felt like, oh, we're cruising, this is easy, and then like oh it's easy.
Here you go. The guys are pregnant.
I'm like, wait, what you have Irish twins?
Now?
I mean they're so close together that is hard. I had two kids really close to guy. I think they were like eighteen months apart, and me too. I thought I was going to lose it. I go into the doctor, I go, you have to medicate me. I used to hide in the closet from him. I'm like, I can't do this.
Damn it. I have a lot of pride.
I feel like Peter has a lot of pride in you know, I got this right, and I have a lot of pride in in uh.
Damn it, people did this forever. You know what I'm saying, Like why not meet?
So it's more like competitiveness, but it's like it's also like, you know, if I see an example, I just need to see, Oh it's possible. Great, I'll do two. So right now, we have no idea what it's like to have three kids. But I'm gonna tell you. You know what I'm saying, like, give me a second, we'll figure it out.
We better be careful.
You have Nember four, pretty jump jump from two to three. For me, it was mind blowing. Mine one to two, I'm like, all right, two or three.
As the woman carrying the child, I will tell you this, it changes your body too. Two kids, bounce back three kids. But nowadays there's no zompic.
So she went, she went like her body went nuts because she just got back. I mean, I don't know how Peter did it. So after Rio, you know, as I was on Traders, I flew back.
She had an eight pack.
Because she's an athlete.
She went back in the show was two months later. She had lines in the stomach. I mean, it was crazy.
I want to hate her, right, And so then.
We got pregnant right away, and so her body was like, wait, I just got into the post, you know, partum process of getting back. We're doing this again, And the body went yes, you know immediately yeah.
Not closed, you have a six pack. And then all of a sudden, you're two weeks pregnant.
Your phone immediately she was she looked like she was nine months for the past six months, and so I feel like, now you know it's it's that so careful. We've got to be very you know, strategic sort of process for her to get back and again put her.
When will she start with Dance with Stars again? Does she know?
I don't know.
And I think the show premieres end of September, third week of September something like that.
And we were talking about that before we start. Is that you don't know. You don't get the knock on the table, knocking the door until right before right. Yeah, but can you explain, like you're saying this like a draft, can you explain?
Yeah, No, it's easy. I mean we've been saying this forever.
First of all, I've been out for five years, five years, so the uestion about me always with the show, it's like when are you going back? And I'm like fifteen years of these questions, right and and and recently it's because again Peter's on. My brother is a current you know, champion, he said, currently the man his wife Jen.
Is on as a pro storyline here comes you know.
Well, no, but that's what I'm saying, like I'm almost like I've I'm also a part of this. I'm like, guys, I haven't done it since pre pandemic. You know, judge, I'm in. I'm in for whatever. I'm also judging, so you think you can do. So that's a you know, very privileged opportunity for anybody, you know, such as myself coming through this career and like you, now I get to sit down.
On the point things.
Let's talk about it.
But in terms of like the draft, like I said, so this it's not a secret. The pros don't know if we're on the show or not forever, like never, I've had a contract for ten years, since tw thousand and six or fifteen rather, and and I never knew if I'm going to be back on or not. And people always asking like well how come, I'm like, well, because so the reason is that if you camera right, they'll take you an example sorry then.
Just a big celebrity of course.
And so it's like if you holding out a contract, right and they really want you, and you're saying, well, let me negotiate. While you're negotiating, the dominoes are not set, the couples are not paired. You know, they're waiting for you to say yes. So it's either I get you as a partner or somebody more compatible and Therefore I get them and them aren't sure yet if they're doing the show. So until celebrities are all signed on, we don't know. And usually that happens literally three days before, and so I've eighty percent of the time I found out if I'm on the show or not, like three days before I go into my first rehearsal.
Now, how do you successfully get cast on down to the stars. I'm just asking for a friend, be.
A great dancer.
So how did it happen for someone like me? Oh?
You mean for celebrities?
Yeah, contestant or whatever you are, You're hat in the ring.
They want you just need to know the right questing.
You know the phone number. Uh No, I only say it would be my worst fear to ever do that because I'm not dancing is not natural.
Dancing.
Dancing is not natural for me. I did learn the cha cha when I got married. I went through dancing classes to do it at our wedding.
Wedding dance program. Yeah, my number one program. My dance studios.
How many dance studios do you have? Fourteen fourteen through They're just everywhere, sprinkled around or just count states.
We have like six in Texas, most on the East coast, you know, here and there, Nevada, Florida, Atlanta.
Yeah, I'm wondering if I went to your studio when.
I probably not. I'm not sure.
Let me rewind the tape here because can you We want to start like origin story and then after your career what's made you so successful? So for you, how did you do you ever look back at your like, like, how did I end up here? I just started dancing as a kid and then I'm in Hollywood.
No, very clear how I ended up here. I know everything step by step.
I mean, I know I started dancing when I was four or five around then. My parents were in nineteen twenty when they had me in former USSR in nineteen eighty when I was born, and so like this thing was coming to an end sort of rapidly but still very much in the you know, the USSR esque way, and the young parents, new kid, what are we doing? Make sure he's limited in free time? Great, we got this, and so you know, I was doing literally everything, and so I think at four they gave me into School of Esthetic Education for like little crazing, little prints and eating with knife and fork, open.
The doors, something like that.
Yeah, I think finishing school.
Yeah, I can't remember the name of it, but they teach you how to dress and walk and eat. Yeah, but I don't know if they do cotillion.
I mean, yeah, it was n't think, but it was like kind of a bunch of stuff. And the thing is is that in USSR with all the negatives, you know, so the school system was incredible in terms of education level, but also like ballroom dancing was part of a curriculum. You know, it wasn't frowned upon, It wasn't it was wildly accepted, you know, like the rhythmic gymnastics and things of that nature, like you know, some sports that we only see in US when Olympics is on.
You know.
So somebody came in and now what I think happened is that they picked me out of the of the group of kids just because I was a.
Boy and tall enough.
You know in the industry where girls, as you know, boys are a rare commodity.
Was your class primarily girls?
Class was mostly girl. My life was mostly girls. I mean, let's be real.
Did you like it? Are you happy or hated it? Hated it?
Yeah? And I was five seven ten, What did.
You want did you want to play a different sport.
Or want to nothing but no dance? I wasn't.
I was in you know, but I I was swimming, tennis, you know, any kind of sport. I was a math club after school. Then I was chemistry and biology majors.
He talked a little bit about that traders. I remember, and I'm like, damn, this guy's smart. He's not just pretty, he's smart too.
And then just to quickly wrap it up. So when I immigrated, I was fourteen and ninety four. So now I'm ten year dance you know, professional if you will, But in Ukraine, I'm not very good at all, Like we're talking, not even a little bit. Yeah, there's ten thousand couples at any competition and heads and shoulders.
So we're struggling.
You know.
It's a very expensive activity for somebody like us with a very blue collar kind of family. So we land in Brooklyn, New York in ninety four and find out the industry of bolroom dance in this country is just infantile. I mean, it's just nonexistent. So I come from a world of small fish in a massive pond. I'm a whale, and so my brother is eight. I'm fourteen. We go on to become you know, he's a seventeen time national champion. I won some stuff, you know, I represented US. He's a two time world champion. As my student, I opened dance studio for kids, competitive bollroom dance school when I was seventeen in ninety seven in Jersey. We didn't even live in New Jersey at that time, so you know, we did that stuff because I was in that sort of outliers kind of opportunity, right place, right time. That's what I'm looking back at. And so with this wave of mid nineties immigration into New York City specifically and sprinkled around US like San Francisco had a couple of couples, Midwest Chicago had a couple of couples.
So you know, we build the industry.
So come two thousand and six, they just went by the ranking list, you know, and this ballroom dance show comes in. They need ballroom dances. So they look at the list of competitive ballroom dance in US professional Latin at the first place ranked first is Maxim Tchmikowski and they're like, great, let's call that guy. We don't know nothing about him.
And so they call the national rankings in.
Football, it's like tennis and whatever. You know, we had a ranking list and system. And again we've been signing autographs in Germany since ninety seven, ninety eight, you know. But that's how I kind of like talk about this. It's not an ego trip. It's like we had an industry. I was a dense professional. My sole goal and purpose in life was British Open World's national title. I couldn't care less about Hollywood than any of this stuff. So when the show called, I hung up the phone immediately. And so that's why I missed the first season because I was like, what, no, get out of here, stop it right now, don't call me.
So what age did you go? You know what, I'm embracing this. I really like this. You know, I know my parents put me in it.
But I would say a few years ago, stop it, Like in my early forties, if.
You can do it over, what did you want to do? Did you want to play tennis? What did you want to do?
In ninety seven, I graduated Edward Morrill High School in Brooklyn and it was a tough couple of years. We just you know, three years immigrants, immigration and I was like this, this is crazy out here, you know, in the jungle. And so college time come and they go where do you want to go? I wrote one name, said, lu Y. This is the best pharmaceutical program in the country at that time. For me, it felt like it was the best school for me to go because I want nothing but to be a chemist. And so I looked and they're like, oh, the campus. The campus is in Brooklyn, and I'm like, get the audie.
I gotta go. I gotta get out. I can't.
I can't see another four years of taking the train to back to from Brooklyn to Brooklyn. So I wanted an opportunity to be in Manhattan for a reason and to get.
Up every day and go.
And so I went to Pace University downtown Manhattan, dropped up for business business management program, and dropped out after a year because I had my own.
Business and the school was interfering with running my business.
Of course, So yeah, but have you been successful your whole life?
No, No, I've been I've been stubborn about not accepting this role of mine. And so if you ask me again the question, like, you know, what would if if you know would I I would probably embrace it earlier.
Yeah, well God gave you a gift and you were fighting it. I'm just fighting it still at age thirteen. You broke your leg, yeah, in a twelve and a skin accident, and you have a titanium rodin accident.
I was sledding down on a scene. It wasn't even that sexy. It was just sledding smashed into a poll. It was not very glamorous.
And the doctors told you probably your dancing career was over at that time.
They said not probably, They said you got to come down. My dad was in the hallway. I remember I was laying in the hallway because it was a military hospital for again that region, not to you know, hijack conversation was constantly in some kind of warfare. So you my town is kind of like the rehab central of the former USSR because it's a sea city, port city. It's like a Miami of USSOR. So we had a good rehab hospital for people coming back from Afghanistan. So I remember laying in the hallway and he's like, yo, he has a competition in like a month and a half, I swear to God, Yeah, And so he looking at me, looking at him and looking at her, and he's like, nah, listen, there's no competition. Let's just hope he's gonna walk with a cane because it's looking bad.
Do you remember the kid processing that being like I'm never going to walk again, Like my life's over.
They they buffered it completely from me. I you know, even if I knew, I saw the severity, I knew all this is it was bad. I was just in so much pain I couldn't give a shit, and I just wanted that relief, and the relief would come in the form of a surgery. And my mom didn't want surgery because we have an uncle who my age, went in for something routine and they messed up his grown spurs and you know, he's an invalid, and so she was very cautious. And by the time it all got to this current state, it was a process. So I wasn't prevy to, you know, these conversations. What I was prevy to is that they gave me morphine, which was the best thing, but then Pops had to sign off on it, and at one point is like normal morphine, so we're done with that.
Yeah. I was like, if I had I known.
It's like, come on now, I heard that you were on Broadway as well a couple of times. A couple of times. What did you do?
I did the show where I met my wife nine right, it was called burn the Floor.
Was she on the show as well?
She was the big star?
She was a star.
Well, she was a star coming in and then they landed on Broadway.
They needed somebody local to sell help sell tickets, being super humble, but at that time, somebody you.
Were selling tickets.
No, somebody local that had that would that had the star power to draw attention in the current place. But Peter didn't like that because that means that they had to like step aside off of the spotlight in the middle, and then all of a sudden, it's us and you know, and I take up a lot of room and right in the middle of the stage.
And she didn't like it, so she thought it was an asshole in the beginning.
And then I did a couple of times more. I did it also Forever Tango, which was just an incredible opportunity.
I would love nothing but Broadway.
What kind of endurance does it take to do a Broadway show? Is it similar to you know, dancing with the stars are completely.
Everything we've done always is one hundred percent dance. And then my brother nine two thousand and six started making little hybrids of like a theater production and storytelling all that, but it's still like, you know, high Card is danced. So we try to you know, do that as much as we can. And so that takes a lot of endurance. And like I said, I'm hurt currently, but a week and a half from now, I'm in be in Chicago doing the show again, running back the same one we did last year, Savor. So I'm in like I'm in the sort of pre opening game mode right now. And at this is not a pattern the bag, but at my age, it's so hard.
You know, what's a lifeline on a dancer? Like when when does a typical dance?
Fifteen years ago?
Really?
Yeah? Yeah.
I retired from competitive bottom dancing in two thousand and six. I was twenty six years old. I was too young. Having said that, you know, there's people that you know, if you stick in that stick around in that career, in that journey you probably you know in your mid to late thirties is when you bow out from professional world of dancing, then you want to become a judge. Right, so mid to late thirties you were sort of on the decline. I mean, my career just started in two thousand and six. In my opinion, everything that as a dancer, everything I've done until then, I thought was my peak. It was just a foundation. It was like, you know, we've we we all showed up at the UF, you know, MMA, some kind of like a competition, and so I come in as this guy, this comes in as that guy.
So I came in as a ball and dance professional. That was my foundation.
But then the career started, and it led me to the broadways and led me to national tours and so you know again I blossomed way late here. So now I have to keep up my body in order to continue, you know, pleasing to what I'm now feel like I'm supposed to be joining.
Do you have a strict workout and diet plan, Yes.
And no, I have a strict lifestyle plan.
And because every time I saw you, you're eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Yeah, it was great. It's amazing.
By the way, that's why you've ever had.
Because I don't do nuts at home.
Might you know Peter got not so ologies and so like I can't you know, it's too much.
So like I get out.
I'm like, give me that peanut butter, but no lifestyle. I think in twenty twelve, I was thirty two. I was in a lot of pain. You could see it on the screen if you watch Dancing Stars then all this, you know, the shoot backs at the judges and the little comments here and there and all that just angry and not angry, but like, you know, frustrated. And I was frustrated. I was I was just hurt. My body was hurting. It was on the heels of like a lot of years of dancing and not really having any kind of like rehab team, dent professional doctors or whatever. And I found my my my at that moment, I found my my physician. And so I went on the journey of like, you know, I cut out all the stuff that I shouldn't be eating. I had that revelation of like walking around supermarkets like I can't eat anything. You know, I'm in the wrong supermarket. Now I had to go to the other one and I and I called my doc. I'm like, this is nuts.
What did you cut out that you loved that you need to switch.
Back and all the store you just go around.
Theme taught me how to read the back label and like what that means and what that you know, the red three and dex trust and all that something like that with a chemical name in the back. And again my it triggered my biocamp pasted and understanding of molecules and all that you know, cellular upregulation and how to trigger your mitochondria and what that even is, you know. So for me that was the journey. I went as deep as I could in my knowledge, and I had you know, influence of someone who's a molecular biologist and and you know, in that sort of like clean lifestyle journey, and it was perfect for me.
So drop a meal for us here, So someone listening to like I want to eat, Like Max.
Here's number one you have to get, you know. So my lifestyle has been for fifteen years, right Number one, I intimate infest a lot. It's not a science. It's for me an opportunity to not first of all miss a meal. Second, we'll not run after like what's my breakfast because they can't function without it. And third of all, it's first of all for me is the most healthiest way of living. What I believe that We're not meant to wake up and have a fridge. We're meant to wake up and a cave, go run hunt something, exude energy.
To catch that.
When we catch that, we have to eat right then and there because we just exuded energy. Take the rest, you know, to that bad cave. Feed the rest of the fact. Like that's how I believe, you know, the foundation should be. And so based on that, I wake up. My first meal could be two, you know, and I have no problem with that. I try not to go over sixteen hours. But then again I allow myself late night meal. My late night meal can have a lot of bread. We go through, you know, this is my reality. We'll go through three giant loaves of sour dough in a I'm gonna say two days, it's you know. And and butter we go through a stick of butter day, a big thing, you know.
And so my one year old just loves pieces of fresh bread with butter.
And oh, I'm all about carnivore. I'm all about that, you know, but it has to be you know, the cow that I know what it ate and stuff like that. So you know, not everything, not all meat is is the same. Some cows meant for milking, some men for you know. I also have a background. My grandma had a farm in a dessa outside of you you know, in Ukraine, outside of my city. So she was a dairy producer privately, right, So she had a private farm with my grandpa, fully cultivated. We're talking chickens, pigs, ducks, a bull that my uncle is getting married. They killed the bull. Two hundred and fifty people fast feasted. It was insane. They used everything from hoofs to horn. I'll never forget it. And that's kind of like how I try to lead my life. Peter and I really much on the same page with that.
That's it. We eat the same way. My seven year old's favorite food is salmon and broccoli, just no rope.
So your diet has played a huge role in your success and your longevity. And what else do you attribute your success to?
You know, what you put in your body and what you do with your body.
And then recently I also put together, like you know, the dots finally came together in terms of the sympathetic and part sympathetic you know, systems in your body what they're responsible for. Where one is responsible for fight or flight, and you need that right when you're in the gym and you try to find that, like you know, you're really kicking yourself at forty five and you're like at the end and you feel so, you know, you feel excited like you did that. Well, we feel like we got to maintain that, and that's not true. We have to now come down from this. You have to have the rest and digest part of your of your day, and so we need to you know, really have a good balance of the fight and flight, rest and digest. And that's how you got to lift. And that's how I really, you know, understand it. So the workout is the kick you butt. The rest is very necessary so you can do it again and and and the consistency.
Don't reinvent the wheel.
That's the last thing I'll say about this lifestyle stuff. Once you feel it, you look amazing. Do that because.
You're working for you existent but not only I mean, you are extremely successful. You do find time to give back. The first time I met you, you probably don't even remember, but it was with child help. We're at events, Yeah, and it was it was geez maybe.
Years and those are and I made extremely close connection relationships with those people.
We're still very close friends.
And yeah, no, I love my OC child health family, you know, my journey and like, for example, I like to bring this example up. Maybe he doesn't, but my brother and I differ, and you know, in different a way. Like what First of all, I was fourteen when I landed in Brooklyn. He was eight, so a little different perspectives. My high school was two and a half thousand people graduating class. His was twelve liberal school in you know, in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the education was a little bit different. He's an extreme intellectual. I feel so too. But I feel like I've never been able to just sit back and be one, you know. I've always felt like you gotta go get it, you know, whether it's on behalf of.
The fam or for you or for the new fam.
Or like you know, I'm always that guy. And so for me, it's very hard to just relax and chill to begin with, right. And also what's difficult is to I have to constantly hold myself back from being from getting into the mode of from competition to you know, the jealousy part. You know, because that comes with competitive nature. We're not jealous. We have that we hone in on this and we turn it into the into the way of achieving a goal. But in this industry, it works with you. You have to be you have to have a balance.
That's when I asked about the gamesmanship within Dancing with the Stars, Like, you know what the scores are, you know what the personalities are. How do you manage that game within the game? Are you aware of what other people are doing? You tune them out? Do you mess with other people? How do you maneuver that game? Because there's got to be some element behind the scenes or when you're in it that we don't see one.
It depends.
So first of all, when I was doing the show, and I would say this ten of us, I would name ten professional dances from two thousand and six to let's say twenty ten. Those four years we had eight seasons because we had two a year. So in those eight seasons of Dancing with the Stars, we figured things out. We were just learning and figuring things out. By time twenty twelve, let's say I remember exactly when, but like I had KURSTIALI and this is resting, and I had. And this is a great example of like, how do you strategize for a winner, potentially somebody like a Merril Davis. I'm only bringing my own examples. You know who I'm whom I won with. How do you strategize for someone you can potentially win with like an Aaron Andrews, you know, and how do you strategize somebody like cursciality, no disrespect. We weren't trying to win, We're just trying to survive stay.
You know well, I.
Mean, and we were hilarious and we weren't trying to be well. She was just funny and I was not trying to be I was just trying to, you know, on Monday night, have a product. You know, because from beginning to the end hopefully fingers crossed, you know, So the strategy is different. But then you look around and you see, like I can't win against that, you know them, whoever they are that season.
You know, like it doesn't matter, You're not going to make your partner get them to somewhere they.
Can so then you so then they example I was bringing with val and the mentality and the mindset. My mindset was always go win. His mindset was so much better than mine. Coming into Dancing with the Stars, his mindset was give this person the best experience. And now I'm like, damn it, this was the this, this, this is the key because it's not because in that you can probably take someone who's very unlikely to dance and you know, and blossom them out. Me, I just break you. I break you, or you get broken and amazing and blossom or you just stay broken, you know I'm saying so like for me, it was very, very difficult.
Do you think with that strategy you could take someone with lesser talent not like grinding them. Do you think someone could win that way? Or still it doesn't matter.
Probably probably not.
Dancing with the Stars and such audience that like they'll they'll they'll reward an interesting story, they'll reward you know, this kind of journey.
But just for so long towards.
The end, it'll have to be it'll have to be dancers dooking out against dancers. This should be people by the finale time. Three four couples that are just like top.
Of the game.
Great story can deliver an awesome dance at the end of the night where you can have a great standing.
Oh for everybody.
Has there been any little things you've picked up along the way that's been allowed you to influence the audience, whether through mannerism you do on TV or on social media, like do you feel like you can rally boat?
Like?
What are you doing that? When are you doing that?
When all else fails? Just stop? Turn around, just take your shirt off? What do you mean? Of course, of course, you.
You know dust in the eyes. Look, we're also professionals at you know, entertainment. Again, all those things aside all those you know, you know, background stuff about dancing the stars and everything else. You know, our job was to put on a show. Somebody in mid in the middle of my dancing room, the stars run an executive told me. The way we look at Dancing with the Stars is like, you know, you come to a theater as an audience, right, this what the audience said. You come to theaters, you know, the curtain goes up and it's an you know, two hour performance, curtain goes down, Dada, you walk away with what you just saw, right, And that made sense to me because somebody, somebody drew this parallel where it's not about me, it's not me making it about me. It's not me wanting to be, you know, wanting to be the most impactful part of this episode on behalf of my partner and all this stuff. I was trying to like make her be the center of attention all the time, and the reality is that you're a part. You're an act in this multi act you know, theater performance. And so after that it became a lot easier for me to understand the show.
Did you ever get a celebrity where you're like, oh god.
Y, tell me before you even say who did you ever get celebrity where you were like anything you had after that, I'll say, yes, Yeah, I had one where I was like ugh, when I was like whoa, it was like oh, it was like oh my god, what did not expect that? So, yeah, there's been everything for everybody, you know. I mean, you get you know, seventeen partners. I had people from Denise Richards to Leila Ali and everybody in between, you know, Kirsty, Meryl Davis, we're talking, you know, Aaron, We're talking people that have completely different personalities.
Denise, you housewife.
I think, so, yeah, maybe you're gonna make me think of everybody. I'm not gonna I'm gonna miss some people.
So you've gone through that, you've gone and then it had to be incredible honor for you to be now tapped as a judge. So for you, cause that's kind of like you're getting pulled out I mis call it as you're pulled out from the competitors, and it's like you're like one of the chosen ones, Like you're the best of the best, You're one of the most memorable. Like how did you now going into that as a judge, how does how you impact or how you approach strategy to dancing, How does that impact you as a judge. Do you look at that or you just straight out like dancing that's it. Or do you look at the like gamesmanship or showmanship?
So yeah, So now again going back to like it's so funny wo our family, it's crazy, Like I definitely think like what would Val do this? Swear to God?
And and and I don't want to pack, like I don't want him to hear this and like pet himself in the bag. But you know, he's a big influence. Yes, as a man. Now I have an example of a man you know that I'm like, hmm, I'm interested because our end result is very similar. And so you know, when I got this judging opportunity, everything in me felt like I just first of all, by the way, I called the producers and I was like, I want a meeting, and I want you to tell me exactly why I'm being hired, and also exactly like what's my job? Because my Dancing with the Stars journey started and the wrong way, in my opinion, I needed more explanation. Regret, I have a regret of not asking more questions because I just asked a question, what's my job? Asold it was to win a dance competition? Hell no, that's not your job on Dancing with the Stars.
Because you said you're a part of the show to make the show.
You know, like there was no but in two thousand and six, we probably didn't know the producers were also figuring things out were I was asked one time to do samba, you know, against the line of dance, which is kind of like telling NASCAR drivers, hey, you know what, this weekend, let's just all turn to the right for once, just and giggles. You know, it's better for our cameras. Yeah whatever. But so though these things and people were figuring this out. So by the time again, like I said, the new generation, the current generation, they're like, they're coming in on our mistakes and so they're like, no, we're not going to do any of that. And so, you know, going into dances, so you think you can dance opportunity. I mean, you know, I'm one of hundreds of you know, potential people that could have taken the spot right, and I realized that, and it's important because then you're given something special. They told me that they want me exactly for who I am in terms of direction into direct you know, statements, really believing in what I'm saying things of that, and it's like, don't mince your words, just say it how it is.
And then.
Why me is because of the background, right, And so you know, it was important for me to know because I'm like, okay, so I'm in a position based on the what I've done right, and so I came into the show is extremely easy for me to speak because I wasn't just evaluating. I was like, you know, what you've done right, Now, here's how it would stand in the real world. Because you were trying to come out of this as a professional dancer taking my spot, taking her spot, taking my brother's spot. Like any spot you'll take, you have to move somebody, you know, and and and it's and it's and it's true in every industry. And so I was giving them the best advice on what to do with this opportunity. And and it was great. I had received an amazing response from people, and like, the way you were presenting your thought and your opinion was excellent.
So it was like, is this a dream job for you.
To sit and be part of dancing.
To not be actually dancing, but but to be critiquing.
I mean, who doesn't like to express their opinion? You know, let's just be real. Who doesn't like to you know, be heard, you know, and be listened to. I think that's the privilege, you know. So in realizing how privileged I am, then the job is easy. Again going back to the charity of it of it all, it's important to me to know because I'm already reciprocated, you know, financially and career wise and otherwise. Right, But then there's this whole, like, you know, the bottom part of the iceberg is the celebrity status and people, you know, the following in this way, So what do you do with that? So that was important to me that I utilized that part as well.
Yeah, well you're an amazing guy, and I think you so you are you really are. I was when you came into that Trader's castle and I think you had a pink suit on or something, and I'm like, the next.
Four days we had that same watch Dancer starts and I knew who you were, you know, I mean, like that's like you transcend the show.
But you just had like a like a look about you, like you just I didn't know if I was afraid of you or just staring at you like I think I loved him.
First of all, First of all, you got away in the beginning, and it was so sad that we didn't know if you're going to make it, and so we lost some time communicating, but it was it was a pleasure getting to know the both of you, for sure. I honestly, I was just so busy in my head. I wish I was more relaxed. I wish there was more into like just enjoying the process and sort of like understanding.
I felt the same way I felt. I almost felt like I made myself sick because I was so nervous about being so far away from my family, not being able to talk to my kids, not talking to my husband, and I felt like I was just went in there with like maybe some negative energy. And I feel like, when you do that, negative things will happen to you.
What do you take away from that in comparison to what you had done previously?
And in reality potentially an emmy.
Huh yeah, maybe.
Let's get that hard work.
I think, first of all, reality TV is just one giant social experiment, and so like I loved it today right now, like sitting here two thousand and six, almost twenty years ago. I loved being a part of this journey of seeing some things, some shows come up, and some things happened, And you know, I think reality social experiment experience for both sides is amazing. You know you, Peter, and I favorite show is Love Island.
I remember you telling me that, and it's.
Still and now we're finishing this new and I'm like, I can't believe I'm watching this, but I get why.
I didn't want to get sucked into it, So I'm like, I'm not.
Doing it as a fan, sitting back, I'm watching you and Deanta, just like hanging out like you guys are best friends. I'm like, what world am I living?
But it was insane. But it was insane because.
It was like for me, I mean to be forever. I'm like, I am here with Marcus Jordan, I'm here with Max, I'm here.
I'm so I mean, we stayed in touch a little bit with you know, some people, MJ, Marcus, Phedra, you know. And it was amazing to walk away. I always walk into now a new experience. I'm like, I want to walk away with great connections.
And relationship friends.
Yeah, and that's it, and so everything else falls into place. That was the favorite part, the fact that I got to spend a week and a half without a phone. I remember in the airport, I picked up my phone and is like your averaged forty five minutes a week.
I'm like, damn it, I'll never ever se that again, you know.
Forever ever.
Great.
Well in closing, and I want to ask you one question, what have you found is the key to success in life? Just in general?
As I listened to Stoics in my car and as I'm driving like a like a dead of three and a mid forties, I think honestly, in my humble opinion, it's it's tough, but it's consistency.
You know.
You you have to find a way to be consistent, to consistently figure things out, to consistently, you know, deal with problems to consistently, you know, deal with yourself and try to be a good person. That to me, when all else fails, I fold. I look around. I'm like, I, you know, financially in dirt. You know, I failed in this venture. I've failed at this thing. I'm no longer here this and then the other. I look around. I'm like, let's fall back into the routine, you know, do what I do today? Where's my workout going to come from? And I'm in the gym? I mean just activity.
I want to be active, you know, go for a run around the block. I don't care what it is. So that consistency.
Looking at my father, seeing the how he overcomes struggles, and you know, just have beautiful examples in your life. Consistency and then few basics and you know it's all on you. Just as long as you know that it's all on you, and you got this.
Yeah, what a pleasure.
I just want to say, you guys, look amazing as a pair of podcasters. And also that I vividly remember this communication because there was a lot of people right and it's not because I'm in this room, but I remember our conversation. Also, looking at that scene back.
I'm like this, mother, he knew it, he knew it.
But I I thought that you guys played great by the way the experience. I loved getting out when I did, because after that I got a little chippy and personal.
I'm not for that, honestly, a favor murder in May, and I thought it was this full hair.
Thank you guys so much for having me.
Thank you, we appreciate it.
Let's get that Ammy
Let's get it
