Danielle Fishel (15:41)
Rehearsals this week were great. For one thing, the Foxtrot is quite a departure from the cha cha. So what what is remaining of my hamstring injury really got a break this week. Try as I might, Pasha refused to put cartw wheels into our Foxtrot. So no splits, no cartwheels. I just got to glide around the floor and my leg is 90% better. Of course I still have a grade 3 tear that is not going to necessarily heal on its own, but the swelling is significantly down the bruising is significantly down, and I feel overall like I'm back to operating almost as if I had no injury. I'm a little tight. Like, I can definitely tell where that injury is. I'm not as flexible as I once was, but I'm still in pt. I'm still taking, you know, using compression leggings, and I'm elevating every night, and I'm using contrast therapy, so alternating ice and heat. I'm doing all the things you can do to get better, and I'm feeling so much better now, which is such a blessing. Tonight I got three sevens. Triple seven, baby. Like a slot machine. So excited about that. Definitely my highest score to up to this point. My number one goal going into this week was that Bruno was going to see my shoulders down and was going to say something about me listening to him. And then when he said that he could tell that I was a good student, I. The Topanga in me just lit right on up. Yep, that's right. Your girl likes straight A's. So I was really happy that I accomplished my number one goal. And then I think it is the biggest compliment the judges can give you when they very specifically give you a note. Because to me, it says they believe you're capable of it and they believe that you're working hard enough that you're actually going to try to implement it, that they're not just talking to a wall. They can really give you something. They want to see you improve. And I feel that from them. I feel that from them when they judge others. I feel that from them when they judge me. I am here to learn. They obviously have so much expertise and so much knowledge. And between Pasha, the three of them, Julianne and Alfonso, I feel like I'm in a perfect situation to just be a sponge every second I can and just absorb all of their knowledge, take all of their notes, and Pasha and I keep. Keep a record of it. Like, we. We got those notes today, we got our scores, and we looked at each other and we immediately started talking about next week. How are we going to implement what Derek said? How are we going to implement what Carrie Ann said? How are we going to make next week's dance better and stronger so that they continue to see a trajectory that I am on, which is just getting better every week? That's my goal. I didn't come in here an A dancer. I didn't even come in here a c plus dancer. But my goal is that every week I get better. And so maybe by the time this process is over. I can look back and be like, I cannot believe that this is where I started and this is where I ended. And I hope that the end is nowhere near in sight. Next week is Disney week. I'm very excited about Disney week. I grew up in yorba Linda, California, which is 15, 20 minutes away from Anaheim. My grandfather lived in Anaheim. Both my parents were raised in Anaheim, California, and I grew up watching the Disneyland fireworks from my grandfather's driveway. And it's a place that has always been special to me. I have endless childhood memories of being at Disneyland. And I'm just super excited for next week. We get to go visit the park on Thursday, October 2nd. We get to go on a ride. We get to eat some food. We're shooting what they call our heart to heart interviews, which is the interviews you do immediately after your last performance. So I'm looking forward to kind of recapping the dance with pasha, seeing what he has in store for this week. I can tell you if the foxtrot is slow and graceful. What we have planned next week is quick, if you catch my drift. So I'm a little nervous about it because it's a dance that's unlike anything else I've ever done. I'm also realizing that as an actor or somebody who started my career as an actor, I like to play things a lot more subtle, just not as expressive as I maybe thought I was. And, boy, there is no room for subtlety on the ballroom floor. Like, it's just time to go big or go home. And I'm really working on that. So that's another area that I'm really looking forward to improving. I had such a wonderful group of friends in the audience with me. I had three of my best girlfriends from junior high. They are girls I met when I was 12 years old. They're women now, of course, but my girlfriend, Jamie hargreaves, who you know as the forever fine jewels lady. So I'm wearing. Being that we're talking about her, might as well cover this. I'm wearing her marquee diamond ring. Check out this bad boy set on an angle. Absolutely stellar. I'm also wearing two of her earrings over here and three of her earrings over here. And they're all called chub hub, chubby huggies. And I alternated between white gold and yellow gold. And I am also wearing the most gorgeous watch on loan to me from eric wind from wind vintage. It is this white gold and diamond piaget watch. I'm gonna have to see if I can show it to you. It's covered by some feathers. They're Sabrina Carpenter feathers, if you will. Look, take a look at this. I mean, what. What? Look at this. Watch. This thing is stunning. So I don't own it. Obviously, it's on loan, but it sure is pretty. And I love it so much. I felt like it perfectly fit the elegant vibe of this dance and this night for me. So Jamie Hargreaves, one of my best friends Since I was 12, she was here. Jen Kaminsky, one of my best friends since I was 12. She was here. Jamie left, my best friend since I was 12. These are girls I have met. I literally met on, like, the first day of sixth grade. Now they are only three of my girlfriends from that time. I'm still friends with, like, 12. We are a big group. Unfortunately, they still only give me six tickets to this tape night. It's pretty difficult to keep it to only six. So my three bestest girlfriends from junior high were here tonight. And then my husband, of course, who hasn't missed a show today. I forgot my shoes. I left my foxtrot shoes in my car, and they drove me here to work. They send a very beautiful car to drive me here on tape day. And I left my shoes in the car. What did Jensen do? Jensen said, I'm on my way. Be there in 38 minutes. And he hopped in the car and he delivered my foxtrot shoes to me. So my husband, the biggest support, couldn't do any of this without him. Means the world to me. He's not missed a show. He was here tonight. And then my very, very, very good friend, CM Punk, wrestler extraordinaire, maybe one of the biggest wrestling superstars in the history of the world, came to watch me dance in the ballroom. Like, that really means so much to me. So CM Punk was there. My dear friend Lauren Lapkis, she was here tonight. Arden Marin, she came with Lauren. Incredible. George freaking Lopez was in the house for me tonight. Mayan Lopez was in the house for me tonight, which means the world to me because I love them, adore them, directed their television show several episodes. George, I just. George and I have such a great bond. Mayan and I are such good friends, and Mayan is a very big Sabrina Carpenter fan. So I was very excited that they got to be here for that as well. Also, my dear friend Debbie Wolfe, showrunner from Lopez vs Lopez, who's become one of my nearest and dearest, love her. She was there. She brought her friend and another showrunner I have directed for Jessica Kaminsky, who Did was the showrunner for Pretty freakin Scary. So they were here as well. It was quite a star studded night. Now you may be thinking, well that's more than six people. Here's a little trick. You get six friends and family, that means non fames, non famous people. But then if you've got friends and family who are famous, those don't count toward your total. There's a loophole. So unfortunately for all my non famous friends, you have to fight and to the claw to the death for those six tickets. But if you're famous, you're welcome to come anytime you want. It's just the way the Dancing with the Stars production works. So anyway, it was really great to have all of those people in the audience for me. Oh, I can't even believe this. Also my friend Amanda dipiaza, Dear, dear, dear friend. My friend Hillary Zwick Turner also here. Guess how they got tickets? By submitting online, asking for tickets. And they, they got tickets. They, they acted as though they were fans because they know how hard it is for me to give part of my six tickets away. So they just showed up. Like what, what kind of lovely, wonderful, supportive people do I have around me who are willing to do that? Also dear friends and listeners of POD Meets World who've come to Pod Meets World live shows, they also submitted online and tried to get tickets and got them. They had to fly from out of town. They don't even live in the state. They flew in to come to the show to support me. So when I tell you that the amount of love and support I have felt from the time I started this process, when I tell you that it is through the roof, that is the understatement of the year. It is. It has just been absolutely incredible and I hope it doesn't stop. I appreciate all of you. Thank you for all of your comments. You guys are blowing up our social media. Our we every time we post something we are amazed with how well it does. Your comments are so funny. I'm so enjoying reading everything you have to say. I'm loving the support. Thank you for your votes. Thank you for texting. Thank you for going to abc.com it really means the world without you guys. We just go home. So we need you. Thank you very much. My dress tonight is very Cinderella coated and I love it so much. It's a little funny that I feel like such a Disney princess this week when Disney week is next week. But I'm also another thing I love. Anytime you can separate yourself from the pack and be a little bit different. I thought if there's ever a week where that I want to go old Hollywood glamour Sabrina Carpenter vibe, It's something like TikTok week, which is not what you're generally going to think of. You're not going to think of old Hollywood glam when you hear TikTok. So I wanted to separate myself maybe from some of the things other people were doing. And I'm so happy I did. We chose a very old school, glamorous soft wave look. We did a red lip, which we actually mixed with quite a bit of brown. It's gone now. I've just done eaten my lipstick off my face because one, I'm hungry and two, it's been a long time. But I absolutely love this look. I'm obsessed with this dress. I love the feathers. All of our inspo pages were all Sabrina. It was Sabrina in her baby blue Sabrina and her feathers. Sabrina with her gorgeous blowout and her curls. And so we, we just tried to emulate as much of her glamour as we possibly could.
