Allison Holker Talks DWTS to HNGN

Nice, in-depth interview with Allison by HNGN – of course I agree with her comments on the best pros on the show, but  I love what she says about being married and her daughter. 🙂  I also love how open and honest she is about having a partner with dance experience and how it helps. This is just a tiny bit of a very long interview. Click the link to read the whole thing – it’s a good read.

HNGN: When they announced that a few new dancers would be joining the show, nobody really knew that would be happening or if any new pros were coming on, it was kind of all of a sudden. Did it feel that way for you too?

AH: I feel like on the show, and this is just a personal feeling, it’s not a fact, I just feel like there hasn’t been a lot of new pros. Once they find someone that works, they stick to their crew and that is for the sole fact that it’s really just challenging for the pros, but in such a lovely way. Just being asked was a huge opportunity because they don’t do this often. That’s a huge honor. I really respect the show so much.

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Do you think it helped that Riker had dancing experience in the past?

I definitely think so. There are certain things that really benefit on this show. I think the athletes have an advantage because they already know how to be agile in their bodies and they already know rhythm and the same for band members because they already know how to count music, so I was lucky that Riker was in a band. The most challenging thing you have to teach someone is how to learn dance. When you get those actors or you get the singers that don’t dance, sometimes it’s more challenging because you have to teach them what the levels are and how to learn the next step.

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Does training start before “GMA” or right after?

Usually right after. You would hope before, but we try to keep it even as far as time so it’s not like someone has been working for a couple of weeks or something. They try to keep it pretty fair.

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As for the pros, who do you find to be your biggest competition?

The best pro in my opinion is Derek Hough, but I feel blessed at the same time because whether he really knows it or not, Derek has always been a huge inspiration of mine and he’s one of the first people I ever started to choreograph with and I learned a lot from him. He inspires me all the time and he always pushes me. And also Mark, he is very very innovative and very very creative. You can feel that they get to know their partners so well and care about them so the celebrities themselves shine and you can see it and I really look up to both of them.