Sean Spicer says Dancing With the Stars was harder than working at Trump White House
Last night’s Dancing With the Stars saw former White House press secretary Sean Spicer sent packing. Managing to stay alive for nine weeks, Spicer said the stress of the show was actually worse than thwarting journalists on the press core podium.
“The show was worse,” the politico said of the pressure on being on the dance competition Tuesday while on EW’s DWTS recap podcast, Eye on the Ball.
Spicer and his partner Jenna Johnson (who replaced his longtime dancing partner Lindsay Arnold the last two weeks after a death in Arnold’s family) called into Eye on the Ball, which is hosted by Lynette Rice and Patrick Gomez and available on-demand every Tuesday on the Sirius XM app. Spicer talked about losing 20 lbs. on the show, if he’ll ever consider doing reality TV again, and his relationship with the other contestants.
Here’s an excerpt of their interview with Gomez and Rice.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What did the other cast members say to you when they ran up to you at the end of the show after you were eliminated?
SEAN SPICER: Very congratulatory, well wishes. And everyone was saying, “We’ll see you again, we’ll see you at finale soon.”
You mentioned your weight loss. You’re at 20 lbs. lost now, right?
SPICER: Just over…. Although I had a big breakfast this morning, so we’ll see.
When you signed on to do this show, what was your expectations? How many weeks did you think you would last, because you mentioned last night you never thought you’d make it this far.
SPICER: My goal going into this was to make at least one week of eliminations. It was my birthday on that first elimination, my family was here and all I wanted to do was not have to fly to New York that night. And then beyond that it’s just grown. It has exceeded my expectations in every way. And I’ve been so, so proud and honored to be part of this season.
Your judges scores always left you at the bottom of the leader board before the added in audience votes. Did the other couples ever say anything to you about that or did you ever feel like they thought they deserved to stay over you?
SPICER: I enjoyed every day that I was on the show. And the beauty of it was quite the opposite. They, the other cast members, the pros, the crew were, to a point, unbelievably supportive and encouraging. And I think where Lindsey and then Jenna continued to help me focus was to say, “Look, this is a competition that is half judges and half people. And there are people out there that want you to continue. And you need to remember that that counts just as much, and that these people want you to stay on. And we need to work hard to show that we want to be there.”
Did you ever feel the level of stress on this show that you might’ve felt as Press Secretary or was that still way worse?
SPICER: No, the show was worse…And I don’t mean worse than a bad way. I mean…. How about this: It was greater.
Because it as out of your comfort zone?
SPICER: I think it’s a combination of two things. One, yes, it’s way out of my comfort zone. And two is, when you’re dealing with incoming questions, you can figure out how to punt the question, divert it. When you’re out on a dance floor for a minute and a half, you have to go. And you can’t hide and you can’t defer to somebody else. And every step that you take, is going to be watched and viewed and judged.
Do you think you’d consider another reality show after this experience?
SPICER: I’ve learned with this show to never say never. But I don’t look at [DWTS] in the same category as any of the other shows. This show is very unique in that it brings people together. It’s a unifying experience. As much as it’s a competition, everybody’s cheering each other on. There’s no other show that can come to mind where that’s an attribute that would attract me to it, and I’m just not strong enough to do American Ninja Warrior.
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Eye on the Ball is available every Tuesday on demand on the Sirius XM app.
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