Dancing With The Stars Bill Nye Busting His Empennage For The Paso Doble

Bill Nye tells TV Guide that dancing the Cha Cha was like dancing on the wrong side of the road last week, but, this week the Paso Doble is a better fit for him. He explains more in detail below as well as what rehearsals have been like.

What are you working on for this week?
Nye: The paso doble. This is actually easier for me. The posture I end up in, trying to correct for my [natural] bad posture, is not inappropriate. And it also has the magical thing where you start with the man’s left foot, at least on a few of [the steps], which is huge for me. Having the cha-cha not start on number one, starting on the number four of the previous measure, it’s like driving on the wrong side of the road. … This week, although the dance is quite a bit different, we’re ahead. All these weeks, [Tyne’s] been sprinkling in paso doble things in the middle of the cha-cha, and I didn’t realize it. Or maybe if she told me, I didn’t grasp it. We’re OK. We are by no means ready, but we will be.

Was it surprising to you that it’s as taxing emotionally as it is physically?
Nye: It’s not surprising. These are two people. One of them is trying to bring this guy along who’s just not skilled, and it’s just got to be so hard for her. On the other hand, I’m there just really doing my best to try to catch up. … And that’s frustrating. You just wish you could wave the wand and have it go, but that’s just not the case.

How grueling are the rehearsals?
Nye: Although I am of a certain age, I have a lot of stamina. I’m in pretty good physical shape coming into this. I’m not riding my bike and not surfing now and not running, because any of these activities could very easily lead to an injury. [But] from a cardiovascular standpoint, I’m in excellent shape. So that part hasn’t been hard. It’s the mental part that’s difficult. But I can imagine some of the other contestants getting really worn out by this. You come home tired [and] you’re just hungry all the time.

What else do you have in store this week?
Nye: We’re going to have a little bit of a show. I’m busting my empennage on the steps, on learning the dance and the whole attitude and the hand position. [Ed. Note: Nye goes on to provide a lesson in aerodynamics, explaining that empennage, related to “fuselage,” refers to the tail of an aircraft.] This doggone paso doble, the hands. Sometimes they’re thumb down. Sometimes they’re thumb forward. And you watch Tyne, it’s just so intuitive for her. She’s like, “Bill, dude, do this.” … That’s another thing. I cannot let Tyne down. She just works so hard, I just can’t let her down. We’re coming to play. We’re gonna bring it!

LOL to busting his empennage and how he had to provide a lesson in aerodynamics! More at TV Guide and here’s to wishing the best for these two this week.