Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke is blogging exclusively with Us Weekly about her quest to take home the season 25 mirrorball trophy with partner Terrell Owens! Check back each week for her latest update on the competition.
Rehearsals are going great so far. Terrell was a last minute addition to the show, so we are not where everybody else is in terms of rehearsing. They have had three weeks to train and we, unfortunately, only had seven days before the first show. In a way, it’s a good thing that we didn’t have a lot of time, because it’s training him to learn a dance in a short amount of time. We don’t have three weeks to train for each dance, so at least he knows that’s the actual pressure of the show. You really only have a few days to learn a new dance.
I have to say, in just that short amount of time, Terrell is doing amazing; he is in great shape. The fact that he’s an athlete helps as well, because he is used to being coached. It’s as if he just got off the football field, and he really takes good care of his body. Terrell is known for his touchdown dances. I’m going to incorporate some of that choreography into our dance for the first week.
Our first dance is not easy. We have the cha-cha and we are dancing to “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations, so it will be very lively. It’s a great premiere song and dance to kick the show off. The downside is that I’m only 5-foot-4 and he is 6-foot-3. Our height difference isn’t working for us, that’s for sure, but you will really be able to tell that when we do more of the ballroom dances, like the fox-trot or tango. He has such a long wingspan. His arms are very long and they kind of get in the way. He is also a size 14 shoe size, so his feet don’t help either! Because he is so long, if he doesn’t finish his lines, he can look a little awkward at times, so we are working on that. I’m also working on his posture as well.
Our goal for Monday is to get 7s to start off with. An 8 would be amazing, but I wouldn’t be mad with all 6s, especially with the little amount of rehearsal time. I’m sure the judges are going to be hard on him, because they will see potential and will probably tell him to work on his technique. I’m expecting 6s but 7s would be like a 10 for me now!
Football players tend to do well in this competition, so there is that added pressure. I just hope people still understand that this guy has never danced before, especially ballroom dancing.
Obviously, like everybody, we want to make it all the way! I keep telling him it’s one step at a time and one dance at a time. This whole show is a journey and it’s bigger than just a dance show. It’s about showcasing his real personality and it’s about changing people’s perceptive of him, and I hope people will get to see that. I’m just trying to make him look as comfortable as possible considering we had such a short time to rehearse, but I’m confident I can do that.
There are a lot of younger celebs this season, and everyone has some sort of experience, but we will see what happens. You just never know! It’s going to be a fun season.
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