Gilles Marini is in pain. The French hottie of Dancing With the Stars just confirmed to me that he will undergo surgery for a separated shoulder he suffered after he began training with partner Cheryl Burke.
"I don't really like to talk about it," Marini says. "I don't want people to pity me."
He won't have the procedure, which includes about three weeks' recovery time, until after the season ends.
Marini refuses to worry about hurting himself during the competition. Just take a look at the flying leap he took last night at the start of his and Burke's jive. "I jump so hard from those stairs," he says. "I'm like, I am going to break my knee but who cares! Let's put on a show."
Read on to find out why Marini couldn't sleep last night, why he's cutting his hair for next week's show and what prompted him to finally kiss his wife on camera.
How are you?
I woke up at 6. I couldn't sleep last night. I couldn't sleep because I worked so hard. I dedicated everything I had. I thought I was on time and I thought I did good. I still don't understand.
Gilles, you got a 26! Not bad.
It's just the dedication. I put my heart and soul into it. It's not that I want to come out on top every time, but I just worked so hard. I gave everything I got. But the fact of the matter is we don't choose the song. The song wasn't proper for our jive.
Yeah, it didn't seem right to me, either.
It's an impossible song. It's a crazy song with a million steps. I want to see everybody else doing the dance we did last night and see how they do. I never struggled in my life in any sport like this...It was insane. We worked eight hours a day, not even eating in between. I couldn't get the dance until Sunday at 4 p.m.!
Don't you think you're being a little hard on yourself?
Getting an 8 was like getting a 3. Bruno said that I give 110 percent, but I want to give 5 million percent.
Last night, you ran into the audience at the end of your dance to kiss your wife. I don't remember seeing you ever do that before.
I do that every week before and after the show but no one sees it. I was getting a lot of s--t online: "Why don't you give your wife any props?" I was like, "Are they crazy?" But then I realized they don't see it.
What's up for next week?
We are going to do a Viennese waltz. We're going to see another side of me, more sophisticated and sensual and a very different tempo. I will get a tight haircut on the sides.
You're really going to cut your hair for the show?
I'm going full on, Marc. I'm not messing with anything. I want to show that a nondancer with no experience at all, ever, can pull it off—because that makes you and everybody else know that they could do it, too.