Gilles Marini Comments On Hope Solo Allegations And DWTS At 17th Annual Angel Awards
Gilles Marini attended the 17th Annual Angel Awards held at Project Angel Food. He took some time out to talk with a reporter about the charity and his new gig on Dancing With The Stars. He does a flamenco pose while saying he’s already tired already thinking about what’s ahead for the show in his charming way. He’s been practicing on the physical part while they wait to start rehearsals on September 1st. He says he’s been “pretty crazy” about “working hard”. He wants to “shock people”. Lots more at Blip TV.
Celebuzz also interviewed Gilles. He commented on the allegations by Hope Solo on Maks and the show. Here is a snippet….
“I think this is what it is, and hopefully no one takes it wrong,” Marini told Celebuzz at Project Angel Food’s 17th Annual Angel Awards in Hollywood. “His way is hard. We all know about it. If a lady doesn’t like to be treated in a hard way on the dance floor with Maks, then they should tell the producer, ‘I don’t want to get in on this ride. Because I’m scared.’”
One of Chmerkovskiy’s former Dancing with the Stars partners was Olympian soccer player Hope Solo – who said Chmerkovskiy was too rough of a dancer to work with, and that he was inappropriate with her physically.
What else did Marini say about Chmerkovskiy and Solo?
Marini continued, “Most of them I know about, they like the bad boy. Then everybody says, ‘Well, this and that.’ When you start ballroom dancing, next thing you know, you end with someone like Maks, you have to be aware it’s a hard ride. That’s the way he teaches. If Maks is teaching me tomorrow, I want him to be super hard on me. Otherwise, I won’t learn.”
“I think dancers like Maks, they were so young when they started dancing — so young — that they know only one way. And it’s the hard way. ” Marini told us. “It’s very hard for them to transfer from teaching someone patience, to a race against time, in a kind way. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong. I’m saying that’s the only way he knows how to teach. And guess what, the show asks him [back] all the time. So no matter what people will say he does, he’s still going to be on TV. He’s going to do what he needs to do to make his partner win.”
Well said, Gilles!! You can read the full article at Celebuzz.
Voguerista; Well said?!? Really???? I’m speechless.
He said “hard” six times. Sorry just made me laugh.
Sorry, I hit send before I could add – He wants to defend Maks but in saying his teaching is hard so many times he sends the message that Maks is aggressive and he doesn’t get his point across well.
I don’t really get where you getting that he said Maks is aggressive. All I get out of it is that Maks is a tough coach.
But Gilles didn’t read what Hope wrote. Hope was not complaining that Maks’ a tough couch. Just saying.
Mo – When you use key words that have impact in your speech like ‘hard”, “rough” and “scared”, it indicates force and using “scared” indicates that some people are afraid. This is my opinion only. I think Gilles was trying to defend Maks but it didn’t come across that way to me.
Katarina, this whole overdramatic “speechless” act of yours is getting tiresome. Take it elsewhere.
And Maddy, you need to hone your deductive reasoning skills – I think that by commenting on Maks being a tough coach and growing up in those tough coaching methods himself, Gilles was illustrating that what may be acceptable coaching behavior to Maks is not necessarily acceptable coaching behavior to some others. And unless you’ve got your bff Gilles on speed dial, I don’t think you know for sure whether Gilles has read Hope’s book or not…just sayin’.
I would think the wiser course of action for anyone involved this season would be to say they can’t comment since they are unaware of the specifics of this case. We can all hypothesize all we want but none of us are sure of exactly what happened in this case since none of us were parties or witness to what did or didn’t occur. Gilles also can’t be sure. I hope he was thoroughly aware of all the allegations before dismissing them as a hard teaching method. I hope he knew the issue was “inappropriate with her physically” and not just that Maks was “a hard dancer to work with”. Otherwise he’s going to have a lot of backtracking to do if this alleged ABC letter does, in fact, show up. I’m not sure I would want to be quite so cavalier in suggesting Maks is just a “bad boy” and that is what women like, so they should be ready for a “hard ride”. I’ll be honest, that makes me cringe a bit. I wish if Gilles felt the need to elaborate so much and defend Maks that he would have just said what he has seen from Maks in the past shows a man of character and he would be surprised if this was true.
I’m sorry, I mean coach not couch . #autocorrect fail.
Did Gilles say he was “doing the flamingo pose, cause his other leg was tired.” – LOL
I love everything about Gilles, his accent, his love for his wife and family… 🙂 I can’t wait to see Gilles and Peta hit the dancefloor…
I like Gilles and am sure he’s trying to help here, though not sure he really did nor that it’s wise for other AllStar celebs that haven’t been in a studio with Maks for hours on end to be weighing in (particularly those who happen to be partnered with Maks’ l’amour de la saison). Anyway, I’m much more interested in what ABC or Maks has to say than a third+ hand source.
Strike 1, Mo. Find a way to comment without insulting other posters, or don’t post at all.
My apology to Voguerista. I should have commented on the article and not snarked at you 🙂
Love Gilles..but he says “he’s going to do what he needs to do to make his partner win.”…Maks has had many partners that could have won..but didn’t..I’m thinking that what he is doing to make them win isn’t working very well, and maybe he should think about that.
I think Gilles should’ve kept his comments to himself.
Is there really a woman who’s going to tell the producers they’re scared to work with Maks? And if he’s that bad, then why are the producers continuing to employ him?
Also, while Gilles may like Maks or be friends with him or feel the need to say something because he’s dancing with his girlfriend, the truth is that Maks didn’t last very long during Gilles’s season so he really wouldn’t have much of an idea about his teaching methods and what actually goes on with him.
Thanks Courtney!! xxxx
In Gilles’ season, Maks had Denise Richards, and he made her cry in pretty much every training session they showed.
Gilles could be basing his opinions of Maks on that?
Just a theory.
It’s interesting to me that they haven’t tracked Derek down yet…or if they have he’s ignored them. Derek was in there, after all, and is specifically mentioned in the book. Of course, Derek will likely give his standard PC response…but it would interesting if he would go with a “no comment”. That might be telling.
Um, yes, I am sure that there are women who will look at Maks’ style and say “no thanks”. Some people will know they don’t want that sort of teaching method. I don’t get why that’s hard to believe??
Thinking back, TPTB issued a ‘do not talk about it’ order to season 12 pros & celebs when Hines was mistakenly arrested for auto theft even after it was quickly resolved. As this is a more serious, open ended allegation, I’d think they’d muzzle everyone here too, which makes me wonder if Gilles comments were a bit orchestrated. It will be interesting to see what tact the show takes with this.
#19 Heidi, I was referring to Gilles saying that the women should tell the show they’re scared of Maks, not that they don’t want any part of his teaching style.
I was a bit startled with Gilles’ choice of words when obviously trying to defend or explain Maks’ teaching style. Then I reminded myself that English is not his first language. Yes, he’s an American citizen now, and he’s pretty fluent in English. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if his response would have been more nuanced had he been speaking French.
Awaiting a reporter to Karina about it….haha 🙂
Cidra, that’s a good point. It may be that his word choices were somewhat limited by the extent of his English vocabulary. Heck, it’s my first language, and I struggle to find words sometimes. 😉
This is JMO, but I’m not buying the English-isn’t-his-native-language argument as an excuse for how it sounded. Gilles has been in the U.S. long enough, and he (or someone on his agent/management team) had to know he was going to get asked the question.
Sally, I’m not trying to be confrontational (I think most who post here know that’s not what I’m about), but I want to know — do you speak another language, and have you lived for any extended length of time (a couple years) outside your native country? I grew up outside the US and my mother’s first language wasn’t English. She was a fluent English speaker, and she said that until you can consistently think in the second language, you’re always doing massive instant-translation in your head to frame your thoughts and get them out.
About English as a second language issue………….
My sister-in-law is a first generation American, both parents were born in Italy and came to the States as young children. I remember meeting her grandparents, who had lived in the US for MORE than 50 years at the time, STILL didn’t speak one word of English. Communicating with them during Family functions was always difficult, since my family speaks no Italian.
And look at Helio, he’s been in the States for many years, also, and he still has problems with English. Remember his season? He “joked” that he only knew 50 words in English. I remember how often Julianne had to interpret things for him.
I guess I’m saying, that I can understand Gilles still trying to work through what he wants to say.
Cidra, I know you’re not trying to be confrontational… 🙂 And you & I agree on most things. I speak (very little) Spanish, and I’m admittedly horrible with it. 🙁 I never have lived outside the US, either.
I hear you about the notion of doing a massive instant-translation. I also understand that all non-native-English speakers will gain that ability to think in English at different rates. It’s just my opinion that Gilles has been in the US, and been in enough red-carpet situations like that, that he should be pretty comfortable with it by now. A bigger point for me is that Gilles (and/or his staff) had to know he was going to get this type of question – just the fact that he’s on Season 15 would pretty much ensure that; the added fact that he’s paired up with Peta makes it a slam-dunk, IMO.
When I put all of that together, I just don’t believe that English/French translation was an issue…
If there was a language issue, Gilles would’ve been better off saying nothing. I agree with Sally – Gilles had to know he would be asked.
Thanks, Sally. I appreciate your taking my question the way it was intended. 🙂
You’re right on that he had to know he would be asked to comment on the situation. So it’s entirely within the realm of reason that Gilles said exactly what he intended to say. I’d have to hear him say more about it, and honestly, it probably would be better if he didn’t address it again. If he feels he needs to show support for Maks, there are other ways to do it.
OK. I think I’ve beaten this into the ground. On to other things. 😉
Love you Maks! I have my money on you for this one. Please be happy and beautiful. I give you all my energy and all my love to you and Kirstie. Go Maks,
I agree that he perhaps shouldn’t have commented. And I strongly agree with Cidra that lots of people who are “fluent” in a second or third…language still can have a limited vocabulary for gray areas in their non native language. I’ve noticed this issue about Gilles before. I think living in a different country and experiencing people who speak more than one language helped me to see this.
LOL – Maks fans try to use the “english as a second language” argument for him as well even though he’s been here since he was 12 years old. Definitely doesn’t apply in Maks case, but I could see Gilles still having a few issues since he’s only been here a couple years. If that.
I’ve lost a little bit of respect for Gilles after reading these comments. No one should have to put up with a scary dance instructor on a silly reality show.
And, I object to the notion that any woman who refused Maks as a partner is ‘scared’. Maybe they have enough self-respect that they demand to be treated with respect at all times, and Maks doesn’t know how to do that, so they decline. Good for them. No need to call them scaredy cats.
I also think it is laughable that Maks is tough because he’s teaching them how to win. When has Maks won? When has Maks taken as non-dancer and turned her into a pretty good dancer? I’ve not seen it happen. All Maks’s partners who looked pretty good out there came into the show with dance experience — Willa, Mel B., Brandy, Erin. Maks was utterly ineffective in teaching Denise, Debi, Melissa, and Hope to dance. Maybe he was effective in teaching Laila and Kirstie, a bit. But I’ve not seen Maks take a non-dancer like Joanna Krupa or Maria Menounos and make her look good out there, as other pros do.
I don’t know the details of what happened between Maks and Hope. But I do know that I’m tired of Maks and his mean, ineffective teaching style and lackluster choreography. I’d be happy if DWTS dumped him from the roster. And I was a fan of Maks back in the Laila and Mel B days.
Did someone just say Brandy Norwood came to the show with dance experience? I don’t know about the other dancers cited above, but Brandy – BWA HA HA HA HA!!!!
I think the person meant Brandi, the singer.
Brandy did have a little bit of previous dance experience – I don’t think it helped her a ton on DWTS, but she was not a complete stranger to dance. We kinda hit on it in our Great “Previous Dance Experience” post back in season 11. Little bit of hip-hop, little bit of waltz for a movie role – but not a ton of dance in her background.
My point about Brandy has always been – if you say Jennifer had previous dance experience, then you have to say Brandy did as well. Both went to performing arts high schools, both learned a dance for a movie.