Victoria Arlen is living her wildest dreams. The 23-year-old celebrated her birthday on Tuesday, September 26, by getting flowers from Taylor Swift and spending her day on the set of Dancing with the Stars. Arlen told Us Weekly at CBS Studios what it was like to get Swift’s stamp of approval after dancing to “Look What You Made Me Do,” on Monday, September 25.
“This is an epic birthday,” she told Us. “I mean being on the show and Taylor Swift sending me flowers is a pretty fun celebration. I think we are now going to eat that delicious cake that was smothered on my face earlier.”
“I am definitely going to say thank you. It was such an honor to be able to dance to her song. We worked so hard on that tango. The fact that she saw it and loved it means a lot to us for sure,” the ESPN personality said about responding to the Grammy winner. “So, thank you. I don’t think thank you is enough for that. Those flowers are gorgeous.”
Even after getting the attention of one of the world’s biggest pop stars, Arlen says her top priority is to impress her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy.
“I don’t do it for the flowers, I want to continue to dance and show up and make this guy proud and continue to do our thing,” she told Us. “It has been so much fun, we’ve got three dances under our belt right now and I feel like we are just getting started.”
Arlen developed two rare medical conditions as a child and eventually had to re-learn basic skills, including speaking and walking. The former Paralympian swimmer, 22, told Us, “My body is holding up. My legs are doing what we want them to do. Val is an incredible teacher and has really helped me find my legs.”
“I’ve spent a lot of the last year and a half looking down at my feet. For the first time, I’m not looking down, I’m looking up at Val and we’re dancing,” she concluded.
“If she makes a footwork mistake or misstep, she wouldn’t know the difference. She can’t feel the difference. But we can sense each other, and that’s what we’ve been trying to develop,” the Ukranian pro dancer, 31, told Us about his partner. “You don’t necessarily need to actually feel your legs as much as you need to feel your partner.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Monday at 8 p.m. ET and Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
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