Tavis Smiley On DWTS And Why He Decided To Dance (Interview)

The Washington Post interviewed Tavis Smiley on Thursday after the Dancing With The Stars. He kept declining the invitation to do the show, but, then he changed is mind. More below…

“To my surprise – to my horror – the many reasons to do this far outweighed the reasons not to. I was stunned by that,” Smiley said in a phone interview from Los Angeles on Thursday, mere hours after he was announced as a contestant on the upcoming 19th season. “That would not have been the case years ago.”

That’s because Smiley was busy establishing himself as a brand, and a serious one: PBS talk show, NPR radio host, bestselling author, commentator, head of a charitable foundation. Besides, people who interview top political figures and regularly appear on Sunday Beltway shows can’t don sparkly costumes to do the rumba on national television and compete for something called a “Mirror Ball Trophy” – right?

Except that Smiley’s doing just that, already deep into rehearsals with his professional dance partner, Sharna Burgess, before the season premiere kicks on Sept. 15. He’s seen enough research on his personal image to know this is the last thing people would expect him to do. And that’s what makes it appealing – plus the fact that he wanted to do one more “foolish” thing before he turns 50 this month. It’s also an unusual choice for the show, which often casts reality stars and nostalgia actors hoping to make a comeback.

Good for Tavis! More at the Washington Post.

Tavis also chatted with USA Today. Below is a little of that interview….

“I decided I would do one last foolish thing before I turn 50,” he says.

He began training about seven weeks ago, and in that time has already lost weight. “I’m about 20 pounds down,” he says.

And he’s taking it very seriously. “I’m not going to lie. I’d like to win. But I also understand it’s about the journey. I’ve always believed that success is oftentimes not what we receive for our effort, but who we become by our effort.”

As for dance experience? Um, none. “I was raised in a very strict religious family. We were forbidden to dance.”

He says when he told two friends he was going on the show, they “both had the same reaction – they bowled over with laughter.”

And even Smiley wasn’t sure he had made the right decision.

“On the first day, I asked myself three times, ‘What have I gotten myself into?'”

He’s had surgery on both knees (one injury from tennis, one from basketball) and one of his knees has been flaring up a bit in recent days. Plus, he says he needs to work on his “hip swivel.” But he’s a competitor. “I’ve said for years. If you ever see me in a fight with a bear, help the bear!”