Diana Nyad Writes About Her Journey On Dancing With The Stars
Diana Nyad wrote about her complete journey on Dancing With The Stars. She had such an amazing time and loved the cast so much, that she had withdrawals after being eliminated. Here is more from the Huffington Post….
I found each and every pro and celebrity warm and caring and embracing of the moment, as were Henry and I. Most of us would practice at the same location. We’d help each other with both the emotional stuff going on and with our actual routines. Sean Avery said to me one day: “I suck at this!” Sean’s an athlete, both intense and demanding of himself. And I said to him: “OK, let’s say you do suck. So why don’t you go out there and suck double time?” And Sean had similar advice for me. He appeared sullen to some. I really liked him.
Derek Hough showed me a great deal of respect. He took the time to watch The Other Shore documentary and welled up with tears in telling me how much the story moved him. I have read several tweets saying too bad I’m not still on the show because, after Derek constantly having talented partners, it would be some kind of poetic justice to wind up with me on the switch week — finally a true challenge for him. Sorry to disappoint, Derek.
Who can doubt that Meryl Davis is arguably the most talented dancer ever to perform on the show? She is simply dazzling. She and Maks make their complex routines appear effortless. I am in awe. Whenever one of the stars can allow their pro partner to show off, then you’ve got magic working on the floor. As a matter of fact, as an unabashed fan, I can safely declare this to be the highest level of talent among the stars in the history of the show. Along with Meryl, James is smooth as butter. Charlie is light as air, so very debonaire. Danica executes such a high technical and artistic level every time she steps on the floor. Candace has body control and expression in spades. And Amy Purdy is nothing short of miraculous.
Henry and I pretty much knew the depth of the field our very first morning together, for the first Good Morning America announcement of the cast. We were in the make-up trailer at 1:30am. Charlie and pro Tony Dovolani were kidding around doing some triple spins on the toes of their sneakers, landing with a sharp staccato pose for cameras at the end of the spins. Henry and I needed no words. Then, Meryl came over to take a piece of fruit from the buffet table. She just can’t help her grace. She lightly spun, lifted a pointed toe toward the ceiling as she took a slice of cantaloupe. Again, no need for words between me and Henry. Just then, in humorous relief, Billy Dee struggled by with a cane. Surely, we thought, there’s one we can beat. But we were soon to learn none of that mattered. All we could do is live our time together, Henry and I, in fierce and utter conviction. And so we did.
I loved what she said about Derek! More at the Huffington Post. Thanks to Lara for sending.
LOL! Oh, Diana! I think it’s actually, “Sorry to you missed out on the chance to dance with the fabulous Derek!”
Read the whole blog everyone, it’s fantastic, she writes so beautifully and has such great things to say about the cast.
So sad they treated her so poorly.
Can’t believe even in this blog, there are references to Derek haters. Don’t they have better things to do than to plot ways to sabotage him and say mean things about wonderful people like Diana in the process? It would have been fun for us to see Derek works with her as well on switch week.
I agree with you, @EPmusic! (#2). Really an eloquent blog. Diana does slam the producers and wardrobe – so, of the 3 eliminated so far, all 3 have been griping to some extent about TPTB (I recall reading that Billy Dee was ticked about something in his week 3 video package, which never aired).
Lord Conrad is really on a tear this year. 🙁 Makes me wonder if he’s had some sort of “get the ratings up, or get out” chat with the even higher-ups.
Beautifully written. Even though they were treated badly and Henry had such a short stint as a pro she is obviously determined that everyone knows how wonderful and talented he is. The producers should be ashamed.
I was glad that Derek tweeted about The Other Shore, otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it. It was a great documentary and I really admire Diana. It was cool to see her as a young woman too.
Diana and Henry were treated with such disrespect the night of the elimination -I hope no one else is ever eliminated that way again. We’ll look forward to seeing you again on finale night.
Thanks so much for posting this; she has such a lovely spirit and joie de vivre! Too bad we didn’t get to see more of her this season, and of Henry.
Great blog Diana! Thank you for sharing such great things about Derek! Haters are always gonna hate no matter what. Honestly, I think Derek would have done well with Diana if she’d have been his main partner for this season. Sadly, we’ll never know. I DO hope they give Henry another shot in the pro ring next season. I don’t think Derek will be back as a competing Pro so let Henry take over. I see him fitting that role MUCH better than Val C ever will!