Danny Amendola and partner Witney Carson chat with THR at the 'Dancing With the Stars' premiere and talk pre-dance rituals. Plus, he reveals the previous sports players who have reached out to him to offer advice for the show.
00:00All right. Night one is in the books. How does it feel as far as now that you have been through it, do you feel going into the rest of the season you kind of have like a sense or does it make you more nervous?
00:11No, I feel good about it just to get out there in front of the fans and seeing how much fun they had definitely brought a lot of energy to the building.
00:17And then once that music kicks on, it's a lot of energy. So it's you just got to hold on and do the best you can. It's a lot of fun.
00:24However, rehearsals evolved so far. Do you feel like you're starting to get to know each other a little better? Habits like shorthand?
00:30Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. We have a blast. You know, we we sit around, tell stories, get to know each other, families, lifestyle, make a lot of tick tocks.
00:39And then most importantly, try to dedicate as much time to the dance as possible. So we're having a lot of fun.
00:46How do you feel you performed tonight? Did it meet your expectations? Were you surprised? Were you a little more impressed with yourself?
00:52Well, I she did amazing per usual. I have room for improvement. I'm going to try to get better.
01:00But overall, it was great to get out there and, you know, see how happy and how much energy that the fans brought.
01:06So do you have any football pregame rituals that maybe you brought in tonight as you were getting ready?
01:11No, I I didn't. I wasn't a man of like superstitions. I felt like if you did have a superstition and something you didn't fulfill that, then you'd you know, you could potentially set yourself up for some, you know, bad game.
01:28So I just don't do it. I take it. You know, I live in the moment. Whatever happens, happens. Usually I eat a patella, a peanut butter Nutella sandwich.
01:37Did you have one today? No, I didn't. We did our handshake before, though. And that's going to be probably. Yeah, that's it. I'm into superstition. So I've got to do that now.
01:45Yeah, yeah. Even though you're not like I've got to a handshake. It is. We got to take it. And a peanut butter Nutella sandwich.
01:53That's fun. Can you show us the handshake? Of course.
01:58Effective. Effective. Oh, we love it. So athletes have had a pretty good track record on the show. Do you have any fellow athlete friends who have reached out, offered you words of support or encouragement or advice?
02:09Yes. Calvin Johnson reached out a long time ago. Emmett Smith, I've talked to about it. Nastia Lukin, who was on the show, is a friend of mine. Just a lot of people I respect in their, you know, sport, our sports. And it's good to be a part of that list and try to represent them best I can.
02:28Anything that they've said that really has stuck with you? Yeah, move your feet.
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