Photo Credit: COURTESY ABC

Week 3: Tony Sings Nursery Rhymes During Rehearsal to Make Me Laugh

The former Broadway star takes Us behind the scenes of the hit ABC show

EMOTIONAL ELIMINATIONS
I am super sad Penn [Jillette] left – I love him! A lot of people see him as a big blowhard but when he was backstage he is a sweet, sweet man. I was sad to see Monica [Seles] go, too because I know she was so out of her element.

GOTTA HAVE FAITH
I really tried as much as I could to focus on what Tony [Dovolani] said [in rehearsals] and let him teach me. The hardest thing is when he talks, I want to talk right back at him. It’s hard to be out of control of the situation completely and I think that is what I have been working on the most, just saying ‘I have blind faith and blind trust in Tony.’ Last week it came through more and it will continue to come through. I am trusting the universe that he is going to steer me in the right direction.

ALL SMILES
I can’t gauge my emotions at all and I will keep smiling! You might see me crying, you might see me laugh; I pretty much wear my heart on my sleeve and as much as I try to control my emotions, I can’t. Whatever I am feeling you will see, I can’t fake it.

TONY’S TRICKS
I do feel out of my element. Tony tells me ‘You don’t have to be someone else,’ and I don’t want to be someone else. I don’t want to be one of the other dancers - I just want to do what they can do. When I get really down Tony definitely lifts me up, he sings nursery rhymes to me and jumps around like a goofy and crazy animal. He’s a dad and thinks ‘this is what will make my daughter happy so this is what will make Marissa happy.’ He gives me a lot of positive reinforcement; he keeps telling me to drink coffee and eat an apple, like ‘Oh if she eats a snack she will be happy.’

BY MARISSA JARET WINOKUR