Gilles Marini insists it was Cheryl Burke's idea for him to go shirtless for their paso doble on last night's Dancing With the Stars.
"What, are you crazy?" Gilles tells me he said to Burke. "It's too much. It's a family show!"
But then our favorite French actor got a text from Michael Patrick King, the writer and director of the Sex and the City movie and its upcoming sequel.
Read on to find out what happened next...
So Michael texts you and...?
He said, "I want to come next Monday to support you." So I said, "Cheryl, I'm taking my shirt off. I want to show Michael I'm still in shape. I know he is writing beautiful things lately and maybe he could put me in one of his projects."
Was last night an audition for Sex and the City II?
Yes!...I'm just kidding. He's a very good friend of mine. He's a brilliant man, and I just wanted to say, "Thanks, Michael, for what you've done for me last year and this year."
The audience goes crazy for you and Cheryl. What does that feel like when you hear the cheering and see the standing ovations?
The people were so loud screaming out there last night. I couldn't hear the music at all. So I was just like, Gilles, believe in all your work you have done, stay in character, breathe and stay close to Cheryl.
After Len Goodman was the only judge who had any sort of criticism of your performance, Tom Bergeron joked that Len must have pec envy. Could that be true?
I think Len had to make the point that you don't come onto a dance floor without a shirt on. But he still gave us a nine, and nine is a very great score. So now I want to return the compliment and say that Len was dressed beautifully last night and it was the best suit he's ever had. [Laughs.]
Your son, Georges, was on the show last during the pretaped segment of you and Cheryl practicing. How did he like being on television?
He loved it. But you know, he's not happy because school is on vacation. He wants to go to school the next day and be like, "Hey, that was me on television last night!"
What's up for next week?
A jive. Cheryl showed me a little video of what the choreography is going to be like, and it's like 400 steps. It's insane. I said, "Cheryl, I am not a dancer. You are raising the bar too much. There is no way I could make it happen." She said, "Do you want to just run around the stage and get eliminated?" So I was like, "OK, boss. I'll do whatever you say, boss."