PureDWTS Exclusive: Sharna Burgess Talks Of Keyshawn Johnson, Their Rehearsals, Costume Hints, And More
Hey All! We have a new PureDWTS exclusive interview with Dancing With The Stars pro Sharna Burgess to share…and just in time before the premiere!!! She tells us about her summer. She also talks about what it was like meeting Keyshawn Johnson and what their rehearsals have been like so far. Sharna also highlights his strengths and weaknesses. For an extra bonus, Sharna also gives us a wee hint about their costumes for tomorrow night (Say wha…. Sharna? lol). Too fun, lots more below….. and Sharna thank you thank so much!!!! Go get em tomorrow night!!xxx
Hey Sharna!! How are you? How was your summer and how does it feel to be back to work on Dancing With The Stars?
My summer was wonderful, it just went by so damn fast!!! I feel like we just finished last season! I was working a lot and then relaxing a lot too. My mum came over from Australia and stayed for 5 weeks. It was so amazing, that’s the most time I’ve spent with my mum in 10 years, I’ve been away so long I usually only get 10 days over Xmas.
It feels so good to be back, and I am just so excited about this season. We are going to see some incredible dancing! We literally have people that have danced for a living in our cast, Corbin, Elizabeth, and Christina, I’m totally expecting something special from these guys. And I have a feeling Derek will make some magic with Amber, that girls personality is just heaven, so much fun and so much sass.. And we know I love sass on the dance floor 😉
It’s the new format too so I’m waiting to see how it all feels just like you guys are. I will say that I’m pumped for it though, I think it’s going to be great.
What was it like meeting Keyshawn for the first time?? Did you have fun in New York City with the Cast Announcement and what was the whole experience like?
It’s was amazing meeting Keyshawn, I was super excited to have an athlete and his such a cool guy on top of it all. I have a lot of love for that man. His really thrown himself into this process 150%, and if there’s anything I keep hearing about him it’s that his driven and dedicated.
We had to rehearse in Maui for the first week, and of course that was just beautiful. I had never been to Hawaii before and I absolutely fell in love with it. I seriously want to retire there one day!
GMA was fun!! Finally getting us all in the same room was nice. There was lots of catching up and lots of introductions going on, and truly everyone on the cast is so lovely! I feel like this season is going to be fun again 🙂
How are rehearsals going for your first dance so far? Can you weigh on Keyshawn’s strengths and weaknesses?
His doing great!! Our cha cha is on fire, and his really got the moves down. We have this totally awesome trick that I’m hoping wow’s our audience 🙂
As far as his strengths and weaknesses go, he learns incredibly fast, his extremely visual, and has such amazing work ethic. We do it till is right, and I love that because I’m the same way.
His weakness will be speed through his movement.. Not his feet!!! But things like turning with me in frame, there is so much of him to move (His 6ft4!!) that sometimes his behind the beat a little, but we work on it every day and his improving in leaps and bounds.
The other thing for us as a couple is our height difference.. His 6ft 4 and I’m 5ft 4, we have to sacrifice his line a little bit when we are dancing in frame for our standard dances. I can only reach so high!! But I’m hoping the judges and our audience understand that.
One last question: any color hint on your first costumes (you know we had to ask you on this, right? Lol)?
Think precious metal 😉 omg this costume btw.. I’m so nervous about, not for him, for me!! It’s a little crazy and I think I had too much coffee when I came up with it lol, and totally underestimated how errm… Unforgiving it will be. Believe it or not we sometime get self conscious about these costumes we wear, and this is totally one of those weeks!! Lol.
Lastly, lots of hugs and good luck! Go Get ’em!!!xxx
YAY!!! Love you guys, please vote vote vote and let’s talk again soon.
Pic courtesy of ABC Dancing With The Stars
Love Sharna. She is such a delight and a great addition to the pro cast. Keyshawn showed a few moves this morning on Sunday NFL Countdown and also a bit of rehearsal footage. I am looking forward to seeing them dance.
Loved the interview, How can’t we love Sharna? Wish her good luck this season =]
Sharna is one fabulous and funny lady…love her to pieces! 😛 How sweet of her to take the time to give Pure an exclusive.
If Keyshawn really has buckled down and committed himself to doing this 100%, these two could be dangerous.
As for the costume color, “think precious metals”…hmmm. First thought was, of course, gold (USC’s colors are cardinal and gold). I suppose it could also be silver since he was a Dallas Cowboy, but I’d rather they went with gold.
Good guess Cidra!! And I agree…she’s so funny (and humble too). I love how she writes.
Deens, I’m kicking myself for not watching the NFL Sunday Countdown. I wish they had a place to watch it at their site like other shows.
Carlos, I agree. How can we not love Sharna is right!
I agree Cidra, Keyshawn may be around for awhile. I am excited to see what Sharna can bring to the dance floor this season, last season she was simply spectacular with Andy. My only concern would be the height issue with Keyhawn sometimes that makes for awkward looking dancing and posture issues.
Height will be an issue and Sharna is already aware of it (clever girl). What concerns me most about the height difference and it’s effect on Keyshawn’s frame in standard is how Len will react to it. Len’s prejudiced against footballers and he’s also biased against certain body types. Keyshawn pushes all the wrong buttons for Len.
I love me some Sharna! She seems like so much fun to be around.
The Keyshawn DWTS footage was at the beginning of today’s show and not shown or mentioned again. I remember him as more than adequate player but know him better as an ESPN analyst. Keyshawn holds his own with the very big personalities on Countdown and I have always liked him and his contributions.
As does Amber, Cidra. I’d already been thinking that. Lens bias against certain body types is very strong.
@Heidi – GMA had s sneak peek of some of the couples rehearsing and Amber looks awesome.
I can’t wait for tonight’s show! Thank goodness little league baseball practice is Tuesday nights this season instead of Monday. Don’t these coaches know that DWTS is Monday night!!! Geez!
The comments about Len’s bias towards/against specific body types made me wonder if there is a bias in the general public as well – and I think there might be.
If you look at the female winners, pretty much all of them had a dancer’s “aesthetic” – pretty much the only one you could make a case for as not having it is Shawn, but she did have an athletic build. There were of course, women who went far who didn’t (Kirstie Alley, Ricki Lake, etc), but none of them won.
On the other hand, if you look at the male winners, I think very few of them had that quintessential dancer’s look/body type. Probably JR Martinez was the closest, but Hines Ward, Emmitt Smith and Donny Osmond didn’t have it, and while many of the winners had an athletic look, the contestants who really fit the “male dancer look” got close but didn’t win (Gilles, William, etc.)
I have no idea what all that means (except that the public seems to give men more leeway in terms of body types – which is kind of obvious anyway if you look at our culture), but it’s interesting.
Great interview! The height difference really concerns me as well. With a 1 foot difference between them, he may not be able to help but stoop over at times.