Access Blogs
Access Video Blogs
'Dancing' Insights: Backstage Love, Leeza's Breast & The New 'Bachelor'
It's week three of “Dancing with the Stars” and I finally made it backstage on Monday night. Other commitments have kept me away but it was nice to return to my favorite dance floor. I got a nice big fat hug backstage from Karina Smirnoff as she and I chatted about how she has changed this season. The tough competitor we saw with Mario Lopez last season has given way to a softer, happier girl. With the fun-loving country boy as her partner it's hard not to have fun but Karina says her goal this season was to just have a good time and enjoy every single second of the experience.
The last time I saw Billy Ray was about five weeks ago and I was shocked to see he was not the same guy. I joked he was half the man I met when I visited him on the set of “Hannah Montana.” He joked that he didn't realize what a "fat dumpling" he was until he saw a photo of himself in People magazine from that same day. It was used for a before and after photo of his dancing transformation. I hope you vote for him because the guy's a true sweetheart and is thankful for his fans.
The competitive spirit is still definitely with Cheryl Burke. She was visibly bothered backstage by the 8's rather than 9's the judges gave them for Ian's misstep. The folks on the East Coast never saw the mistake though as the camera was off on a wall by accident. The mistake was fixed for the later feeds. Should Ian ever find himself in need of a job the guys down at Hollywood Men (sorry gals -- those were not actually Chippendales) will always have a gig for him. When asked if this was her first visit to a male revue I got a chuckle and a "no comment" from Cheryl.
When it comes to taking this competition seriously, there is no one who is more eager to win than Laila Ali. She told me why there's no point in being in a competition if you are not in it to win it. When I asked her if she was upset by the not-so-positive comments from the judges she corrected me and said they were not positive at all. She had no clue that a portion of the dance was illegal in ballroom dancing. Her dance partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, failed to tell her that his choreography this week would be breaking the rules. Based on her reaction I don't think that will be happening again.
Because of the fact that she had to have a completely different leg made for her to dance the jive, Heather Mills only had nine hours to practice. It was a choice between not doing the dance or only having half as much time to practice. I wondered how tough this was physically for her and what she does after the show to ease the aches and pains. She told me all she has time for is a hot bath after she puts her daughter to bed.
I'm a bit disappointed that Shandi Finnessey hasn't made a huge impression yet. I had high hopes for her when I met her and her partner Brian Fortuna. She was fun, full of energy and gorgeous. Now I fear that she and Brian may be on the chopping block. My guess is it will come down to Shandi and Clyde Drexler in the bottom two tonight. Next week I can tell you that the teams will be taking on either the waltz or the pasa doble.
There is also some debate over what happened with Leeza Gibbons when Carrie Ann Inaba announced on air that she had just caught a glimpse of Leeza's "boobies." The camera cut away when Leeza took a part of her dress down to reveal the tattoo that said "Tramp" on it then cut back to show it.
Watching in the greenroom with the rest of the media, no one paid any attention to it because we figured Carrie Ann was joking and not being literal.
Now some are wondering if Leeza really may have flashed the judges and the fifty or so people sitting behind them. Backstage Leeza flashed me the tattoo and there was no wardrobe malfunction. She gave me a great laugh when I called it her "Tramp Stamp" and then she realized that's what they call the tattoos women get above their butt and joked, "leave it to me to get the Tramp Stamp in the wrong place." The tattoo, as you can imagine, is not permanent and in fact was starting to come off when I saw it. The embarrassing memory of maybe having flashed everyone I'd imagine would be permanent!
I also had a chance to chat with the newest Bachelor, Andy Baldwin, who was sitting in the front row. The show premiered immediately after "Dancing." For the first time since this shows inception, I feel like one of these guys was there to find a wife. I really got the sense that this guy was genuine. He told me that he would only agree to do the show if ABC agreed to reveal who the next Bachelor was before filming began. That way he could weed out the girls who were just looking for a rich prince or a wealthy winemaker. He also told me he wanted to make sure that he had an older group of girls from which to pick.
This has been my biggest complaint in recent seasons that the girls (sorry, women just doesn't seem appropriate here) were all in their early 20's with no real plans on getting married. Most were there for the opportunity to get on TV. I guess since the average age was 26 this qualifies as older girls to him. Maybe its because I live in a big city but i still think someone who is 25, 26, 27, 28 is not ready for marriage yet. That's just me. Fortunately, Andy got rid of the immature ones who seemed to have a bit too much champagne in the first round.
Despite 22-year-old Lindsay's ramblings about how he was looking for a girl with blonde hair and big fake boobs, he actually seemed to choose the ones who were smarter and more together and sent the gossipy, drama queens home.
He definitely pops the question at the end. He and the woman he picks have been keeping the relationship going via texts, emails and secret rendezvous. He swears to me that it’s not just a “showmance” and that if we watch the show a true romantic love story will play out. I'm intrigued for now.
Leave a comment