Reality TV
The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Guys Get Candid About Their Emotional Dance Floor Debuts
The ‘DWTS’ season 35 guys had plenty to say after their debut performances in week 1, gushing over the experience.
The first eight couples of Dancing with the Stars season 35 hit the dance floor on Tuesday night, and everybody seemed to have a great time. In post-show interviews, the celebrities gushed about their DWTS experience so far, and fans found it all quite adorable.
Harry Shum Jr. and his partner, Jenna Johnson, laughed over the body roll he did at the end of their performance. Johnson told Good Morning America that Shum threw it in during a rehearsal and she decided it needed to stay. He was hesitant to do it on stage, but he admitted, “When the music goes, and the confetti,” he seemingly couldn’t resist.
Johnson joked that Shum’s body roll is almost certainly going to become a GIF now, and she asked Dancing with the Stars fans to tag them when and if any of them use it.
A supporter on Instagram gushed, “He was Amazing!! WOW!! They are fabulous together!!
During an interview with GMA, Paralympian Ezra Frech said, “That was one of the best moments of my life.” He admitted, “It is scary, in some ways, but you don’t want negative thoughts to get in.”
One fan on Instagram commented, “Love these two beyond words.” Frech is partnering with Dancing with the Stars pro Daniella Karagach.
Another fan admitted, “It made me cry.”
Tyler Cameron told GMA, “My mom always wanted me to do this show, and to be here doing it, she would have been thrilled with this, and she would have loved Sharna [Burgess]. It’s just been one of the best days of my life.”
The former Bachelorette star’s mother, Andrea Cameron, died unexpectedly in March 2020 of a brain aneurysm, People shared at the time.
A fan on Instagram gushed, “Tyler is incredible! What a dream team!!!!!”
In talking with Extra TV, Taylor Hanson noted that while he’s been a performer all his life, “The idea of dance, performing as a dancer, being an artist as a dancer has not been where I’ve lived.”
He continued, “But this is such an incredible craft. … I get to get a masterclass. Now, it hurts a lot, my body hurts a lot, but that’s the process.”
One Instagram fan noted, “Quickstep week 1 was DIABOLICAL @dancingwiththestars LOVED seeing Taylor and Britt KILL IT!!!!!”
During his chat with GMA, Connor Wood revealed he had made significant mistakes all seven times he ran through the dance with his partner, Rylee Arnold, who noted he has a lot of anxiety.
Wood shared that one thing that helped him shake off the anxiety was the thought, “I have to do this for Rylee.” Wood also joked, “Once I put on this belt buckle, it truly was like I’d never danced before.” Luckily, he’s excited to come back next week.
“Addicted to this young man. What else can I say,” raved one fan on Instagram.
Another lauded Wood as “Our anxious earnest king.”
Jackson Olson told On the Red Carpet that getting scores of five from all three judges was a little scary to him at first. However, he explained, he reminded himself this was their first performance, and “We survived and advanced.”
Olson is excited to tackle another week, and his fans are eager to see more. One fan on Instagram noted, “They’ll get better scores very quickly! The first dance to open the season always gets low scores.”
After their performance, Guillermo Rodriguez and his partner, Witney Carson, did a quick check-in with Jimmy Kimmel for his show. Kimmel shared that Rodriguez, his show sidekick, is taking Dancing with the Stars very seriously. Rodriguez even skipped the Emmy afterparty the previous night.
Rodriguez declared, “Now, I wanna come back next week, so I gotta practice harder, and I’ve gotta do a better job, and I’ve gotta get at least 17 next time.”
One supporter commented, “Guillermo has had me laughing out loud all night.”
Sadly, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Conner Leavitt was eliminated at the end of the night. He told GMA that his biggest takeaway from the experience was learning to let himself be vulnerable.
“Very disappointed they got robbed,” a supporter on Instagram declared.
The ladies of Dancing with the Stars perform for the first time on Wednesday, September 16, and for week 2, the remaining 14 couples will all hit the dance floor again on Tuesday, September 22.
