ABCIs it just me, or have the outfits gotten a lot skimpier and tighter on Dancing with the Stars?
Just ask R&B singer Mario about dancing last night with Karina Smirnoff. “Her outfit was taped on,” he said with a laugh. “So any wrong move and it would be devastating for her.”
Thankfully there weren't any wrong moves. Smirnoff not only kept her clothes on, but their sizzlin’ samba earned them their best score yet: 27 out of a possible 30.
Read on for the latest installment of my exclusive weekly one-on-one with Mario. We talk Stevie Wonder, Def Leppard and his very tight pants...
You and Karina went to meet with Stevie Wonder last week. How did that come about?
I had a really tough day in rehearsal and I was feeling uninspired. I had been to Stevie’s [radio] station before, and I remembered how much fun I had there. I just wanted to go and talk to him to get back to my world again...Even though he can’t see the dance, I still connected with him and could relate to him about letting my soul through the dance.
What did Karina say when you told her where you were going?
She was like, “I’m going with you.” But then we got to the studio and she’s all quiet.
Tom Bergeron said on the show last night that Def Leppard is going to be performing on Dancing. Isn't that an odd choice? It seems so to me.
Dancing with the Stars is so diverse. The audience is diverse. The show is diverse. There’s no color. There’s no ethnicity, so why not? I love being on a show that’s so diverse. It’s a challenge to please everybody.
What's in store for next week?
We’re going to be dancing a rumba. It’s one of those dances that I’ve been waiting to do. I feel like rumba is going to really allow me to connect with Karina in a certain way and connect with the audience in a way that I haven’t done so far...I actually wake up looking forward to rehearsal. It’s not like, Oh God, not again!
Let's go back to the outfits for a second. Were you able to breathe last night? Your pants were really tight.
I had no problem breathing. I didn’t realize how tight they were until everybody kept saying, “Your pants are extra tight.” They didn’t feel tight. Karina's outfit was much more revealing than mine.