Private Members Area – DWTS Season 18 Week 8 Discussion
Tonight was week 8 of DWTS Season 18 What did you think of tonight’s show?
I’m not sure anything else needs to be said about Abby Lee Miller. I’m interested to see the ratings and if they were affected by her being on the show. There are so many (including myself) who are really upset that she was involved in the show at all. Makes me wonder the back story of the decision to have her as a guest judge.
The other topics of conversation are the Dance Duels and all the injuries. What did you think of the duels? Love it or hate it? Are the injuries that much worse this season than past seasons or did the producers just choose to make the injuries the story line?
I loved SO many dances from tonights show BUT due to the guest judge it really left a bad taste in my mouth. Thank goodness for you tube so I can re-watch some of my favs. I went into tonight expecting the best about of ALM but right off the bat – w/ her talk, Talk, TALK nonsense she put a cloud over the entire evening for me. The only positive that I can think of is that she is finally behind us now. Interested to hear what the #’s for viewers were for tonights show …. I read about a lot of people boycotting.
Hey John. I don’t watch Dance Moms, but I’ve seen enough of the commercials and have enough friends with daughters in dance that I was aware of who she was and her reputation. With that being said, I thought that often the SUBSTANCE of her comments was more useful to some of the celebs than any comment by the regular judges have been. She called Charlie out on a bent knee and floppy foot, which it totally a technique thing and something he can actually work on and correct. She called Meryl out on her feet, which again, is something she could work on to correct (if Maks cares to pay attention to it). Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, she gave actual technique critiques to the ice dancers and Danica and a bit to Candace about her extension. Amy she gushed over, James she drooled over. The problem with her is her overbearing, abrasive personality. If someone else had made the same comments, I think they would have been received differently.
I think the “concept” of the dance duels was interesting. For me, the problem was in having just the 2 male celebs left. It made the Meryl/Danica pairing very odd and then getting Samba for 2 girls was a crappy luck of the draw thing. However, I thought the OTHER 2 sets of couples did amazing. I’m a Charlie girl, so Candace and Charlie’s contemporary kinda blew me away.
Since I don’t watch the show with the same dedication as some, I can’t really comment on the injury situtation.
HOWEVER, the obvious storyboarding of this week was just a bit annoying for me. Loved Charlie’s QuickStep but didn’t think it was 40/40 quality. Didn’t love Meryl’s rhumba but thought it was a straight 9’s dance. The flopping of Charlie and Meryl from top to bottom and bottom to top is just too damn “convenient” for words. *sniff of disgust*
I’m one of those who “boycotted” the show last night. I recorded it and have now watched just the rehearsal packages and the dances. I refuse to give someone like ALM any time on my TV. It made me mad because this was actually a very good night of dancing and I would have liked to sit back and enjoy the show.
As I scrolled past the judges’ comments I could see the expressions on the pros faces. I could tell they were *not* happy about having ALM at the table. I saw a lot of “closed” looks (narrowed eyes, thinned lips).
While it would be lovely to see a drop in viewership for last night’s show, sadly, I think the numbers will either stay the same or even go up because the “Dance Moms” crowd might have tuned in as well as some who just love controversy and bad behavior on TV.
I don’t think there have been more injuries than previous seasons, and the show always makes a big deal out of them (especially if – as in Danica’s case – the celeb wants to talk about it).
While I’m glad to see Danica go part of me wanted to see her in the finals to put a spoke in Maks’s wheel. However, now that she’s gone, I think it will be harder for my team Charlie/Sharna to win the MBT if they make the finals. Meryl and Charlie are splitting the FS vote, and up ’til now the Chmerkovskiy fans were splitting votes between Maks and Val. Now all the Chmerkovskiy fans will throw their support behind Meryl/Maks. Charlie doesn’t have a “reserve pool” of votes he can count on to counter-balance the extra votes flowing to Meryl. If Amy doesn’t make it, I believe a lot of her fans would vote for him, but I fully expect to see Amy in the finals. She performed brilliantly last night. I think James’s fans will stop voting if he’s eliminated. Some of Candace’s fans might transfer their support to Charlie. If he makes the finals, I could see him finishing 3rd (which would suck in my opinion).
The thing is, I don’t think the Samba with two girls HAD to be awkward. A good choreographer :::cough, cough::: can make that work. If you found that dance awkward, it not because it was two girls, but that the two pros couldn’t find a way to make it BETTER. Do you honestly believe that Derek would have had any problem at all choreographing a two female samba?? Or even Mark??
Perhaps there’s more going on in those relationships than we realize.
Heidi, I can agree with you about the choreography in that Samba. I didn’t like it and I didn’t like how the girls executed it. THEY looked very awkward in the choreo so much of the time, even Meryl, who I have to admit, it a damn good dancer. Altho, those chest pops or shimmies at the end? I almost burst out laughing watching those two girls do that. THAT’S what I remember about that dance, in point of fact.
I definitely felt there were some underlying tension in that samba. I don’t know if it’s a Meryl/Danica or a Maks/Danica thing, but I think there was clearly some other issue there. Plus the choreography wasn’t great, but I do give them a bit of a break because that was just a god-awful song. I hate to say it, but at least ALM called them out on those terrible shoes.
Even to that gawd-awful song, the 2-girl Samba could have been cute if the choreography had been better.
I agree, there was definitely real tension in the Samba foursome and I feel it was mainly from Danica and Maks. Yeah, I know that’s what TPTB wanted us to think, but this is a case where I don’t think they had to slice and dice the footage (much) to get what they wanted. While I don’t think Meryl and Danica bonded, I don’t think there was real animosity between them; maybe some envy on Danica’s part and benign neglect on Meryl’s.
Even though Danica was Maks’s switch-up partner, I bet Danica has been suffering serious “left-out step-child” feelings. Val-Meryl-Maks are a tight knit threesome, and I don’t think they made a lot of effort to include Danica in their family dynamic.
Combine that with her personality being the worst possible type to respond well to Maks’s negative teaching style, and you’ve got a recipe for friction. I can honestly see how she felt every other word out of Maks’s mouth was an insult. She needs to have everything explained and then she needs to be praised when she gets it right. That ain’t gonna happen when Maks is teaching.
@Jackie- Not sure if it was Abby in general, but the ratings do seem off. DWTS hasn’t been below 14 million viewers yet this season with last week being a high of 15.88. This weeks show had 12.74 Million. I’m not as familiar with trends throughout the season and if it usually gets this much lower before the end, but last night was definitely the least watched show of the season.
Kaitlyn,
I hadn’t seen the numbers. A drop to 12.74 million from the 14-16 million is a pretty significant drop in viewers.
As someone tweeted, dislike for ALM was finally something that every fan of the show agreed on.
Yeah, but, on another note it still led in viewership compared to the other shows in both hours…… http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/tv-ratings-24-return-clocks-in-strong-while-the-voice-leads-nbc-monday#Tbz5F24YSLBgqFZz.99 …
haha John too funny…I was the one that tweeted that! It could have something to do with 24 being back on last night…but thats a pretty big dip.
As for last night, I think I posted this in the public area at some point over the weekend, but I just felt bad for the pros overall. They’ve worked really hard to make DWTS a respectable dance show and ALM doesn’t have much credibility in the dance world.
I’m just happy that this week is over and we can move on to next week…Kenny Ortega! There is nobody more qualified than him to be judging! He has TV dance experience, he’s judged more than once on SYTYCD, he respects the pros, and is an all around nice guy. And Macy’s with Derek and Christopher Scott…now that should be epic!
I really enjoyed the dance duels and think it’s one of the things they’ve tried that really did work out. I think it pushed the celebrities and we got to see a creative dance that still involved the partnerships.
Somehow the C bros didn’t pay attention to the right things with their partners’ duel dance. The most important thing was for them to be amazingly in sync, and the choreo should have been geared to that, period. I was amazed at how passive-aggressive Danica was with that oblique comment to Meryl about insults. For the sake of the dance, what should have happened next is for Maks to take the high road (I know, I know, fantasyland), realize that this is a young, insecure, neurotic girl, and make some general comment that would allay her fears and let them all get back to dancing. But Maks never passes up an opportunity to give his power away, and therefore always responds from a weakened position. Hence, his comment about Danica being condescending. Really? Such a colossal waste of time and energy.
One more note about Maks. When he made that comment about wanting to continue whatever it is the two of them have going once the show is over, my eyes rolled so far back into my head I was afraid for a moment I wouldn’t be able to get them back! For someone who has had so many public relationship beginnings and endings, you’d think he’d be a little circumspect about going there yet again. I guarantee you, once the two of them emerge from the spray-tanned, bedazzled bubble they’re in, there will be nothing keeping them together, and everything pulling them apart. Don’t know quite what his problem is that he can’t see that.
Isn’t Danica 40 years old?? While I agree with your main points, Susan, she’s actually older than Maks is, I believe. Maks did handle that all wrong. When someone says straight up that your teaching style is doing more harm than good, the smart pro (heh) would try to make an adjustment. And this is why Maks has never won and could see it slip away once again.
#PH — Thanks for pointing that out — I never would have thought she was on her way into her 40’s, certainly not older than Maks by 5 years!! I guess I’m responding to her energy, which is of a very naive, sort of sheltered, nerd-type, not worldly in any way. Young in experience, if you will. I may be in the minority, but I don’t think they’re going to win. Maks has terrible trouble getting out of his own way. He could have finessed it anyway had things kept perking along. But with last night’s results, that disgruntled, weakened energy will come back and if Meryl can’t jolly him out of it, it will make a hot mess out of their chances.
I tend to agree with Heidi and Susan about Maks letting things slip away. One of the video packages posted on another thread was an ABC reporter from, I think, PA? ABC 27? The video blogger commented how Maks has always been her favorite and he was the ONLY person last night who wasn’t friendly and fun to interview. She literally called him “grumpy.” And then she commented on how this was her second time interviewing him and he’d had the same attitude both times. I won’t speculate on what made/makes him that way, because I don’t live inside his head and don’t know him or his situation personally (that whole “judge not, lest ye be judged” mentality I TRY to remember to live by, but for a reporter who has been a fan of his over the years to specifically mention it on air tells me it must have been fairly bad/obvious to her.
I’m definitely not condoning Maks’s teaching style, as I do think he’d would be better served tailoring his approach to different personalities and styles. However, Danica seems to be a demanding presence that would grate all but the most patient of coaches, and we know that’s a trait Maks does not have in abundance. I just think they are ill-suited to be in any type of mentor/student relationship, and it showed.
Although I don’t love Val, I do kind of feel bad that he got two relatively neurotic and insecure celebs in a row, and it was obvious he did not enjoy the last two seasons as much as his time with Kelly and Zendaya. That being said, I don’t feel THAT bad and his smug mug can maybe use some tempering.
I’ve been lucky to meet a bunch of people on DWTS and SYTYCD in person. I’ve found that about half of them is a total disappointment to meet in person. The other half are even better than you’d expect. Of course, there’s a spectrum on both ends of those things, but it’s really sad when you meet someone you love and it’s a disappointment. Luckily, the ones that are wonderful more than make up for it.
Seconding what John just said – I have only met Julianne & Val (and both were a looooong time ago, before either were on DWTS – and both were very nice when I met them) and Lacey & Dmitry (at the DWTS Vegas show – Dmitry seemed nice enough, but Lacey came across kinda standoffish) – but I have met some other celebrities through concerts and comic conventions and not all of my interactions have been as…pleasant. On the positive end of the spectrum? Donnie Wahlberg from NKOTB, Sean Patrick Flanery from The Boondock Saints & Powder, & Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead. All three are very chatty in person and treat you like you’ve been friends for years. On the not-so-positive end? Jordan Knight from NKOTB is an arrogant jerk, John Bernthal from The Walking Dead is an obnoxious drunk, and Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead just comes across as kind of phony. Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones kinda falls somewhere in the middle – nice guy, but came across somewhat disinterested. I guess I’ve just learned that celebs are people, too – and they, like us, have good days and bad days, and good moods and bad moods. But you kinda learn not to put people up on too much of a pedestal – and when you don’t have this grandiose vision of them in your mind, it makes it a LOT easier to talk to them. 😛
As for the DWTS cast – I’ve heard the whole spectrum of experiences from fans meeting them: I’ve heard people say Derek is very friendly and welcoming, and I’ve also heard some people say he’s rather intense and brooding; I’ve heard people say that Karina comes across as “a b*tch” in person, and I’ve also heard that she’s super sweet in person. I’ve heard both positive and negative fan experience stories about almost all of the pros – the only pro I’ve heard universally nice things about is Emma, and she’s still fairly new so I’m sure someone’s bound to have a less pleasant experience before long. Sometimes I think the fans might have unrealistic expectations of the pros when they meet them – and when they fall short, it tends to color the fans’ experience negatively.
I feel like I’m super lucky when it comes to meeting the DWTS Pros. I met Derek, Anna, Tristan and Peta at one show but they really only allowed a quick picture (not their fault) but we stopped them in the hallway after and all stopped to talk for a minute at different times. Derek and Emma together was my favorite show as there was much more time and both were super sweet. Maybe I just keep my expectations low? haha!
I can definitely see people having bad days though. I can understand if you just bump into somebody on the street or at the airport they might not be as sweet cause they’re trying to go about their every day life. One would think that if people were paying for a meet and greet though you would try to be really nice to them.
BWAT is in my area over the summer and Sharna, Maks and Val will be there. I’m debating right now if my love of Sharna outweighs my distaste for the C bros. Right now I’m thinking it does. Who knows…maybe they’re nice in person.
For years I dated the son of a famous Chicago-area sports executive, and with it a lot of exposure to the media, star athletes, and other celebrities, and a good understanding of how media portrayals can really color our expectations of the celebrities we meet. I also like to think I’m more empathetic to celebs having bad days, either on-camera or in-person. Of course I still form opinions based on what my eyes and gut tell me, but I hope that I can appreciate the human imperfections and that these are just people, good, bad, but most are pretty decent folks.
I have yet to meet any of the pro dancers, although that may change this summer at Derek & Julianne’s show since I’m considering splurging for some VIP upgrades for me and my daughter. But I tend to avoid those things since I’d rather meet someone in a less “fangirl” capacity, if that makes sense? I never ask for autographs and only take pictures if they offer.
I have met four celebs that have appeared on DWTS, and in retrospect two of them couldn’t be more different but sort of similar scenarios. The first was Mario Lopez, and he was a bit of a smarmy, smooth guy and tried to convince me to join he and the girl he was with in some menage a trois action. It was obvious that if I didn’t agree to it (which I didn’t) that he’d find the next available cute girl. I saw him later that night with three women draped on him. He’s just never done it for me, although I do objectively appreciate his physical attractiveness.
The next was Andy Dick, and he and I bonded together at a blackjack table in Vegas. We played for hours while he got sloppy drunk and tried to convince me and the male dealer to join him in his suite. Again, not interested, but as much of a wreck as he was, at least he was kind and funny – until one of his friends/staff/whatever had to pick him up off the table and escort him away – and all of this surprises no one, I’m sure. That same trip I partied with Sean Hayes of Will & Grace fame and he was an absolute doll.
I also met Billy Dee Williams briefly, and he offered to give me a signed picture (which I did not plan on asking for at all) and not only did he give me one signed Billy Dee, he gave me another signed Lando Calrissien. He was so nice and charming about it, and I admit the Star Wars fangirl squealed inwardly at the second pic.
The other one was Metta World Peace, but I met him when he was just a young kid known as Ron Artest. Of the four, he’s the one I had the most interaction with because of my ex-bf’s father. He was a genuinely nice guy with a whole lot of issues, and he is the first to admit it. I empathize with his emotional struggles, and while he was a terrible dancer, I was glad to see him at least give it a try.
Other really positive celebrity meetings include James Earl Jones, Carmen Electra, Erik Estrada (haha) and a few dinners that I’ve had with George RR Martin.
The low points were Chris O’Donnell, who was absolutely rude on several occasions and Dane Cook – who grabbed my breast right in front of the guy I was dating. I could also do without seeing Michael Jordan ever again.
But most of the celebs I’ve met are somewhere in-between, like Cameron Diaz I spent two different evenings with and one night she was kind of a petty, gossipy, vindictive bitch, and the other night she was a positively glowing and charming woman. Or Eddie Vedder, who was quite nice but smelly and out-of-control drunk.
Anyway, there’s lots more but I what I hoped to convey is that there’s a lot of intrusion on the part of the media and fans, and while that is part of the package in being famous, I think there’s a lot of unrealistic expectations that people have when they encounter celebs. While I do hope that if I was famous that I’d be all rainbows and cheer every time I encountered someone, I know it’s a tall order to be that way 100% of the time. But then again, some people get their very deserved reputations for being dicks and assholes, haha.
Heh, Fig, I used to spend a lot of time in LA (just for fun – had friends who lived there, some worked “in the business”) and I’ve had some interesting encounters, although not quite as interesting as yours. 🙂 I’m very similar to you in that I don’t approach anyone and ask for an autograph. It’s just not in me and I don’t see the point of an autograph anyway. I stunned myself by getting myself a VIP ticket to Derek and Julianne’s show. Most people in my position would have called his publicist and asked for one – again, not me. I did ask for a press pass and will likely get one.
I’ve had friends tell me that Julia Roberts is the nicest woman on the planet, although I’ve not met her. Every single time I went to Malibu, I would see Dick Van Dyke and Suzanne Somers. He’s the most charming guy around – talked to him for a bit about the “new” five dollar bills (this was a while ago) and how he was always afraid it would be rejected because it looks like monopoly money. I saw him at Starbucks and the girls there adored him – very friendly and chatty and nice. Suzanne seems like a nice woman, but she’s loud – like she wants to be noticed. I walked in to Starbucks in Malibu one afternoon and it was Dick, Suzanne, her husband and Barry Manilow. My friend who was with me said, “Did we just walk on to an episode of the Love Boat?” Hilarious. Suzanne was loudly proclaiming that Barry was going to make her Lola…to this day I have no idea what she was trying to say. This was probably 10 years ago – well after all of them had their height of popularity. And Copacabana had been out for a million years by that time.
My favorite celebs were David Duchovny, John Cusack and Pierce Brosnan. For obvious reasons. 🙂 I didn’t talk to any of them – John was eating and Pierce was on his bike. David, I’ve seen him around MANY times – never seen a more gorgeous man in person. MUCH better looking in person – just beautiful. Intimidatingly so. He’s the guy that walks into Starbucks and the place goes quiet. I saw him at a triathlon once – wearing white sweats with no underwear. Lord have mercy. Anyway, he seemed very nice, but quiet and reserved. Saw Pam Anderson once as well – telling ya, the Starbucks on the southern end of Malibu is the place to hang out. Pam is TINY. Very tiny. She was dressed to the nines at 7 am. Malibu is a beach town and everyone is dressed like it’s a beach town so of course one of the regulars there asked her what the hell she was doing so dressed up so early. I don’t remember what she said, but she seemed nice as well.
There’s probably lots more that I’m forgetting, but most of the time I see them in a very casual setting like Malibu and there were no paps or fangirls running around and they’re just normal people doing normal things – they just happen to be very good looking and/or very rich. 🙂
Oh, I did forget one of my favorites – Linda Hamilton. I saw her in Malibu so often that we said hi like we were old friends. Super nice woman.
Loves these celeb stories!! Ok, here are a few of mine….
Dan Rather – Some friends and I ran onto him in Central park in NYC. He was with his wife and grand kids. He was dressed in wrinkled khaki pants and a t-shirt. His hair was a mess. I think he was purposely trying to look scruffy so people wouldn’t recognize him as he looked nothing like what we see of him in suits on TV.
Suzanne Somers – A friend and I saw her in Vegas at the Donny and Marie show. She was sitting a few tables down from our table. Heidi is right. She is loud and has a loud laugh.lol
Lee Horsley – He was invited to a Celebrity Goose hunt and dinner where I live now. He was so nice and full of charm. He kissed every woman’s hand including mine. My Grandmother was with me and she about passed out.
Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs on Dallas) – Same as above. He didn’t kiss our hands like Lee lol, but, he was sweet. Very shy and classy.
Enrique Iglesias – I met him once backstage at a concert. He was sweet…but, more quiet and shorter than I thought he would be. He smelled good too. 😀
Madonna’s publicist Liz Rosenburg – Although I never met her personally, I use to talk with her on the phone every week to stomp out rumors for a Madonna site. She has a reputation for being intimidating, hard, and bossy, but, she was never like that. She was very sweet and easy to talk to.
On another note: my Dad has met John Wayne (this is when when we lived in Moab, Utah when I was little. Moab is a hot spot for filming Westerns). Well, John got cut on the set and my Dad (a doctor at the time, now retired) was called in to help sew him up. My Dad said he couldn’t stop thanking him (can you imagine?).
My parents also met Ricardo Montalban in Moab when he was filming a movie. Some friends to our family called up the hotel where he was staying and invited Ricardo to a dinner party never thinking he’d show up and he DID.lol
They also met Ernest Borgnine while staying at the same hotel in Hawaii and said he was really nice.
Speaking of Suzanne Somers I have an encounter of my own….
I was face to face with Suzanne Somers and in my excitement I loudly blurted out her name, “It’s Suzanne Somers”, the only problem was, it wasn’t her…. It was Sally Struthers… oops!!! Foot in mouth.
This post is becoming verrry interesting…and scandalous 😉 I like!
So while we’re spilling the beans on our celebrity encounters, I’ll go ahead and share one of my more interesting (and recent!) brushes with stardom. I was down in Louisville at the end of March for Wizard World ComiCon, meeting up with some gal pals that I had met at previous conventions. We were staying at the Hyatt Louisville, which is also where most of the celebrities from the convention were staying. On the Friday night that we were there, we opted to post up in the hotel bar to watch the UK-Louisville game…and that was the best decision we could possibly make, because the celebrities ended up coming to us. In the span of about 3 hours, we had Sean Patrick Flanery, Scott Wilson (Herschel from The Walking Dead), Manu Bennett (Slade from the tv series Arrow), John Bernthal, and Sarah Wayne Callies (of Walking Dead and Prison Break fame) all watching the game with us and taking turn buying drinks. We also got some love from Michael Rooker for about 15 minutes, when he stumbled in around 12:15…very inebriated, and being escorted back to his room by his handler 😛 And oddly enough, I managed to strike up a conversation with a tattooed gentleman that looked extremely familiar to me – it dawned on me about 20 minutes in that it was Ami James from Miami Ink and New York Ink on TLC. Around 1:15, I had decided I had had enough to drink, and headed back up to our room – I was already in my pajamas when there was a knock at the door and my roommates came barging in with Scott Wilson, Manu Bennett, and Jon Bernthal in tow. Talk about embarrassing 😛 Apparently the bar had closed, and the girls had invited them up for shots of Fireball. I managed to sneak a picture of Scott chatting with two of my roomies while sipping Scotch: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10103504295011638&set=a.829714139188.2558723.13701184&type=3&theater Scott was sweet and Manu was a nice (if not a bit odd) guy, but Jon was a loud, obnoxious drunk that just kept saying “I’m gonna go get my bag of weed, guys!” Maybe I’m just a prude, but I’ve never met someone so eager to share the fact that he is a big fan of a substance that’s still illegal in 48 states 😛 He was so loud that the hotel manager came up to our room (on the 14th floor!) to ask us to keep it down. It was a surreal experience, to say the least.
The next night we posted up at the bar again, but a lot of the celebs had opted to go out that night, so after the bar closed, we stayed in the lobby until about 3 AM. Things witnessed? Jason Momoa rolling in, piss drunk, at about 2:30, and making the Chewbacca noise…loudly. 😛 Also saw Matt Smith, the most recent Dr. Who, drunkenly arguing with his handler (and possibly boyfriend?) in thick British accents. We also witnessed a certain male celeb escorting two “ladies of easy virtue” up to his room for what I can only assume was some sexytimes 😛
This is fun!
Since this is a private members area maybe we can think of other fun things to talk about on occasion, just to lighten things up. Nice treat, considering how crazy this site has been this season. Whew!
@Courtey – I clicked on your link and it says it’s unavailable.
OK, so my story is not so interesting, because it deals with Daytime stars.
I attended the 2010 Daytime Emmy Awards (in which I saw DWTS alumni and future contenders/winners Kelly Monaco, Susan Lucci, JR Martinez, Cameron Mathison)
At the time, I was a major fan of Days of our Lives and so I just had to meet my crush since the age of 10, Nadia Bjorlin, who is still drop dead gorgeous by the way. She was as sweet as could be, but she was standing next to an actor named Galen Gering who also was on the DAYS cast (and whose character I didn’t like). So my focus was on Nadia the whole time. I was not being rude to Galen, BUT I will admit I was ignoring him, which seemed to hurt his ego. So I got this random fan to take a picture of Nadia and I. Again, she was very nice and when I asked her “Can I take a picture with you?” She was like “Sure.” and then Galen opened his mouth, “He just wants one of you naked”. I was honestly taken aback and my face showed it. I tried to take it as a joke and I tried to laugh it off and told Nadia “No, not at all.” But she got extremely nervous. So, Galen started walking off and the fan taking the picture went psycho on us and yelled at him to get in the picture. Yeah.
So I did kind of feel bad for him in that I would hate to be that guy, so I begrudingly told him to get in the picture. So it’s him, Nadia and I and then he put his arms around mine, I had my arm around Nadia as did she right? So he made sure he stretched his arm to where he grabbed me and SQUEEZED THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF MY ARM! Now, for any fellas reading this, you know what that squeeze means. It means, “Back off, you aren’t having your way with her.” FLASH. THe picture is taken, and it is still the most awkward photo ever, I’m trying to hold back tears, Nadia is AWKWARD and Galen has an evil smile on his face. The little punk.
So, I immediately extended my arm out at him with a HAWKED OFF face and said, “Thanks so much for doing this. It means a lot as a fan.” He was stunned and started stuttering “Uh, um, you’re welcome.” He couldn’t believe it. Now I gave him a firm handshake which, fellas, back me up, meant “I AM NOT TRYING TO HIT ON HER, DUDE. YOU REALLY MESSED UP.” And his tone of voice also said that he totally read me wrong.
Then I went back to talking to Nadia and told her that it was because of her CHARACTER that I became a fan and that no matter how the writers wrote her, the fans would stick by her. She was still with the comment that Galen said, and so she put on a smile and said “Thank you.” So I left.
That’s the story. I still have the picture too. Tee hee. Also, at that time, the GH cast was FULL OF IT. They thought they were super stars at the airport because I was there when all the casts landed. Hee, we all landed at the same time. They were all trying to avoid people as if people took notice (no one did), but I will say they all seemed to eat humble pie after ABC cancelled two shows. And they are now sweethearts.
Oh and Billy Miller was an absolute NICE guy (he won the Emmy that night) as was Maura West, who is currently on GH.
I totally wish I had cooler celebrity stories! I guess Boston is not the city to meet people…or I’m just not going to the right places! (downfall to liking dive bars instead of crazy clubs)
Not really that juicy and people may not know them, but others in the dance world (non-ballroom) that I’ve met were Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini and Jaimie Goodwin after their Shaping Sound show last year. Jaimie was as sweet as ever. It was just a month or so after her piece on DWTS with Derek so my friend and I told her how much we loved her in it and she was so happy/surprised. Nick was hysterical…wanted to take selfies and was yelling at security cause they wanted to push everybody out of the room. Travis was was a total d bag though. His boyfriends family was is from Boston so you could tell that he didn’t really want to talk to anybody else. I mean I kind of get that, but when you’re basically the star of the show and are at a meet and greet, at least don’t throw dirty looks around when someone says “great job!” and asks for a picture. He did at least throw a smile on his face for the pic….i’ll give him that. But definitely the big name in the business I think has given him a bigger head.
Side note: I did see a funny BuzzFeed yesterday of Rihanna vs. Avril Lavigne at meet and greets. Rihanna is doing like humping poses with everybody and Avril won’t let anybody even touch her. Quite funny!
@Nathan – Maura West!!!! She is one of my all time favorites of daytime. I watched her for many years as Carly on (As the World Turns), along with Jack (Michael Parks) her TV husband, they both won their daytime Best Actress/Actor Emmys together before the show ended. Okay, now I am jealous. 🙂
I would love Maura to do the show, but I know that will never happen.
@Sandy
That was the year I went when Michael and Maura won. ATWT had just wrapped up filming that week and the cast was so emotional. Maura was just so gracious though and VERY nice to the fans, including me. I never watched ATWT but her speech was so heartfelt that I just had to congratulate her after the show ( All this went down at the Emmy Party, which I also got tickets too 🙂 ) and she was by far, the most genuine and sincere one there.
You never know, now that she’s on GH, she could be on DWTS soon, with her status as a Disney family member now!
Wow, talk about a starstruck moment. I would walk right past Brad Pitt and Angelina just to meet Maura and Michael. 🙂 Okay, clearly, I need to get a grip.
Thanks for sharing your story Nathan.
Haha, this is fun!
Heidi, I love David Duchovny – if he’s more gorgeous in person, yowza! I also adore Dick Van Dyke and I always wanted him on DWTS, even at his age. I did meet John Cusack twice, once right before he snuck off with my co-worker to have sexual relations of the oral kind. The next week I was with him again, although this time he and his girlfriend at the time Neve Campbell kept away any groupies.
I used to work with Joan Cusack’s husband, and both of them are great, smart people. She would come to all of our company events and even endured my exbf (not the son of the famous guy, a different one) making jokes about her old cell phone commercials.
I had quite a few encounters with Alicia Keyes, and one time I stepped on her boots and scuffed them and I felt really bad. She wasn’t COOL about it, but she wasn’t overly bitchy either.
I did meet Madonna, but it was brief. She drank water as a few of us chatted backstage, I made her laugh with a joke about VIP credentials and what that can get me. Then she went back to her dressing room or whatever den she was occupying. Also met all of the Smashing Pumpkins and they were pretty cool.
Oh yeah, and David Scwhimmer. I went to his birthday parties a few years in a row and I cannot express how quiet and reserved he was. Not a dick, just not very outgoing, but the few conversations we had he was really kind of a smart guy. Joey Slotnick was there at those parties (he was on the show The Single Guy) too and was much more personable.
Many of the famous people I’ve met are athletes, and like I said upthread, Michael Jordan left a bad taste in my mouth on every occasion I met him. He hit on me in front of my boyfriend at the time (who was his friend). I don’t take it as a compliment, because he literally would have sex with any female. Any. But he was very self-centered and just one of my most disappointing celeb encounters, but the media portrayed him so favorably for years but it was all because they didn’t want to piss off His Airness. I can’t get into too much more about it because of my exbf’s family – but let’s just say that while he IS the greatest basketball player that has ever lived and as a Bulls fan I’m so glad he played for us, I can’t think of an athlete that I personally like less.
Elton Brand, very nice guy (and omg since we are in the private members area, let me just say that I was in the locker room a few times and he was certainly the most impressive man I’ve ever seen).
One of my more recent encounters was with Ron Donachie, who played Ser Rodrik Cassell in the first few seasons of Game of Thrones. I met him at a party and he was an absolutely lovely man and he and his wife were so personable and excited to talk. The funny part was the next day I was at a restaurant in Chicago and HE approached ME because he and his wife spotted me there and recognized me from the night before and wanted to say how lovely it was to meet. Also, just a random Game of Thrones fact – Podrick, Tyrion’s squire, is played by Ron Donachie’s son.
Okay I’ll stop for now, haha this post is way too long already!
Courtney – why am I not surprised about Jon Bernthal? I’ve heard things about him on the set and that all makes sense. I can’t see the picture you posted 🙁 Also that image of Jason Mamoa is going to be forever flirting about in my brain.
Nathan – although I don’t know any soap stars (except the ones that have been on DWTS) that’s still a fascinating encounter!
What an interesting twist of a topic. I think I figured out what the Private Members area will be like in a few weeks when the show is over.
Oh yes, and Nathan as the only other guy on PDWTS;-) I’ll back you up on what you say.
Thanks John!!! Glad I have backup LOL.
Heh – I forgot this too. Years and years ago, when Jennifer Garner was still on Alias, I was great friends with the sister of her female friend on the show – the sister is a movie/TV producer. She was telling me about various parties they had at their house where Jennifer and…wait for it….Bradley Cooper all attended. Bradley was an unknown at the time and very sweet. She also said Jennifer was just fantastic. I absolutely LOVED that show, so it was nice to hear how nice everyone on the show was. Including Victor Garber, who my friend just adored.
Nathan, you know I love Maura West. 🙂
Yeah, Fig, it’s funny – in interviews, Jon Bernthal acts like he really has to “dig deep” to play kinda off-the-rails characters like Shane in The Walking Dead and Brad Bodnick in The Wolf of Wall Street, but when he’s drunk, he IS those characters. Just a loud, hot mess. But Momoa is a cutie pie – just seems like a guy that loves to drink & have a good time. He & Michael Rooker are like two peas in a pod at these conventions – always going out to the diveyest bar they can find and just getting lit and hitting on every girl in sight. Momoa will flirt, but whenever anyone mentions his wife (Lisa Bonet) in an interview, you can tell he’s just over the moon in love with her. No harm in a little flirting, though 😛 Many of the other male celebs I’ve met, though, are considerably less restrained by the fact that they are married or in a serious relationship…and I would say Manu Bennett is one such example of that. 😯
Am I the only one without a Suzanne Somers story? lol
I guess so Courtney. Although, my only Suzanne Somers story was I was an extra in a movie she was filming in Salt Lake. I only saw her while I was sitting in a bus and then we’d walk off the bus as extras. I was in high school at the time. However, I still remember my dad being an extra and getting called in to sit around the table with her for some scene. He was over the moon at the opportunity. I just remember thinking my dad was a little creepy at how much he liked her. I guess now I’m the creepy dad. My dad said she was really nice though.
haha I have no Suzanne Somers story! As Sandy mention, I’m seriously loving this post and hearing these stories! It’s a nice to still talk with the people that I’ve come to know on Pure without all the craziness that has been happening this season 🙂
Yes, it’s a rather nice little escape from the chaos of this season 🙂 Anyone else lurking that has any funny/interesting/juicy celebrity encounter stories to share?
In my world, my “celebrity” sightings, meetings are celebrity chefs. Anthony Bourdain, Michael Symon, Thomas Keller, and Michael Ruhlman, whom I do recipe testing for.
All of whom I’ve met at least once.
I have heard that Jason Mamoa is fiercely devoted to his wife, so it’s interesting to give that rumor some substance. Sadly it’s definitely the minority, especially in celebrities.
I have also heard great things about Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper, although I haven’t met either of them personally. I also have no Suzanne Somers story, but I’ve heard great things about her and Pamela Anderson.
It’s funny that you mention Gwyneth Paltrow in another post Courtney, since Cameron Diaz gave me a lot of juicy scoop on her, on how she’s a serial cheater and really just one of the most promiscuous women in Hollywood. I gag every time I think of her bestowing her “wisdom” on us plebs, or each time she name drops Beyonce and Jay-Z I want to slap her silly, haha.
Yeah, it was refreshing to see Jason light up in his Q&A session at the con when asked about Lisa – everything was “my beautiful wife”, or “my better half” or “my lady”. I did get some of it on tape if anyone’s interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nPMAH9qyvQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHjilFLCGqg He may answer saucy questions and humor his fans when they want him to take off his shirt and whatnot, but he’s certainly not the type to make a night of it with some groupies. He may go out and get trashed with his handlers and/or Rooker, but he’s definitely going back to his hotel room alone. And I can’t blame him – Lisa is still drop dead GORGE 25 years after she was Denise Huxtable. She & Candace must own the same model of hyperbaric chamber 😛
Gwyneth is probably my LEAST favorite celeb these days (Gisele Bundchen, another pretentious asshat, is a close second), so I feel a bit vindicated knowing she’s not nearly the saint she pretends to be. I always kinda wondered about she & Chris Martin’s marriage – now that they’re working on a divorce, there’s been a lot of speculation that they had an “open marriage”, but I wonder if that’s just a euphemism for “she cheats a lot and he just tolerates it.”
Another thought: I would love to see Buzzfeed come up with a list of the most and least faithful celebs in Hollywood – Jason seems like a shoo-in for the good list, and maybe Tom Hanks & Kevin Bacon as well; I’d love to see Gwyneth on the bad list 😉
Hmmmm – my celebrity encounters have pretty much been at Sci-Fi conventions, where I’m an unabashed fan. Not many juicy stories, but I can say that Dirk Benedict (Starbuck on the original Battlestar Galactica, Face from A-Team) can be an ass. To whit – this particular convention had a “Dinner with the Stars” deal where, you guessed it, a convention guest sat at your table and mingled with you one-on-eight for an hour or so. I was thrilled to have been able to select Dirk’s table and was really looking forward to drooling over him (hopefully discretely) for the time allotted. Only he never showed up! They finally chased him down and he said he couldn’t join us because of his diet (I think it was a macrobiotic diet), and he was never part of the Dinner session and generally the folks running the con were told to piss off. Yeah – only problem was he never told the convention organizer he wasn’t going to do it, so he was listed as one of the guests attending. *scowly face*
The upside was the guy running the con was so infuriated/embarrassed/upset that we wouldn’t have anyone at our table, we got him! And boy, was *he* willing to share stories! =D
Other than that, not much to add. George Taikai is as fab as you would expect, and his partner (husband by now?) is a sweetie. I got into a conversation with him while he was waiting for George to finish up his autograph session.
Oh – and Peter Jurasik is a very down to earth, sweet man, and Claudia Christian is a wild woman 😉 (Both from Babylon 5)
Loves these stories! Ok, I have one more celeb story to tell….this time on two athletes;
In the 80’s I went to see Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe play a tennis exhibition match in Denver. We bought 4th row tickets right behind the service line (this is when they still put up folding chairs right beside the court for a VIP area). Well, guess what? John missed hitting one of Bjorn’s serves and it hit me in the eye instead. OMG, I remember it hurting so bad. John turned around and asked if I was ok and through tears swelling, I said I was ok. I ended up getting a small black eye from it for about a week, but, I was never so proud to wear it being Bjorn was my tennis idol and who I tried to emulate my game after. As for John, I had a new found respect for him after that. He’s always had an explosive, bad boy reputation, and ego. Well, maybe…but, not that day.lol
So Sorry…. I just need to vent!!!! I was on Facebook a few minutes ago. DWTS posted a picture of Amy with her running feet and Derek. I thought WOW what an incredible woman and she is able to be such a shining example to those around her and teach us all about having a positive attitude. I especially have a tender heart for our Wounded Warriors that watch her and get inspired about what they CAN do.
I then read some of the comments and can not believe the cruel things said by others about Amy and Derek. I understand that we all have our favorites, have reasons we want our favorites to win and own opinions. I don’t understand the need to be so mean.
It’s amazing how quickly people lose perspective. Thanks for the reminder.