DWTS 12 – Ralph Macchio “The process is a horse race. It’s not a sprint…”

TV Guide has a great pre-show interview up with Ralph Macchio. Ralph is asked about his rehearsals, the dance he’s doing with Karina, and more. Here are a couple of takes. He’s so charming and humble. Be sure to see the link for the full interview.

Do you take a lot of breaks in rehearsals?
Macchio: It depends. We’re putting in anywhere from five to seven hours a day. [If I go] seven hours one day, I know I need to take longer breaks the next day. If I was 21 years old, I could probably hold the pedal down to the metal the whole way, but you do have to pace yourself. At least I feel I am doing my best. As soon as the show starts and the longer you stay on, you’re going to have more dances and basically four days to turn them around. I’ve heard that when you get to two dances is when you want to kill everybody who’s ever represented you and say, “This is probably a good thing.”

How’s the foxtrot looking?
Macchio: The foxtrot turned out to be a bit harder than I expected with the framing and structuring of it. It’s all posture. And if you’ve seen pictures of me, you see my posture is bad. I get into that framing position and I’m hurting just standing there. That’s the truth. I feel it in my upper back and my shoulders just standing. And then moving in concert with someone else and not stepping on them. But it is a beautiful and an elegant dance when it gets to that point. I don’t know if I’m there yet, but I’m working on it.

Are you nervous for the first show?
Macchio: I’m totally nervous. To be honest, not that I wasn’t a fan, but I didn’t watch the show very much, so I have to YouTube the way it works. I don’t think I’ve ever watched the elimination shows. I don’t stick around for the hour; you just have to tune in for the last three minutes. “Oh, he’s gone.” Unless I want to see whoever the guest is sing. I get why it’s so popular. It is not train-wreck reality television. It wants everybody to do well. I think that separates it from most in the reality-competition category. There are a lot of positives to take from it. I can only focus on myself. I’m working hard and I know I can present myself in the best way as I can as far as packages go. I’ve always been, for the most part, what you see is what you get.