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"Welcome back, Mirrorball readers! Hard to believe it&amp;#x27;s already that time of year again, but here we are behind-the-scenes of Dancing With the Stars season 18! I can&amp;#x27;t wait to read your comments below, but I thought the premiere episode could not have gone better, and Erin Andrews hit it out of the ballroom (how&amp;#x27;s that for my dancing/sports analogy?) in her debut as Tom Bergeron&amp;#x27;s cohost. Best Surprise Guest: R2-D2 and a couple of Ewoks, who made their way backstage for a few photo opps (I freaked!). Billy Dee Williams&amp;#x27; dance was something out of the Kate Gosselin/Bill Nye dance books, but it sure was entertaining. This Season&amp;#x27;s Leah Remini: If there was an award for the best personality, give it to NeNe Leakes, who had the entire press room cracking up with her hilarious trash talk in her rehearsal package. And did you see her strut her stuff when she entered the ballroom? This is a gal who will leave kicking and screaming if she&amp;#x27;s eliminated before her time&amp;amp;#8212;and rightfully so. Most Surprising Fact: Meryl Davis told me that one of the best perks of being on DWTS is getting her makeup done because she did it herself at the Olympics! Maybe that shouldn&amp;#x27;t shock me&amp;amp;#8212;it&amp;#x27;s not like Olympians have huge budgets&amp;amp;#8212;but that&amp;#x27;s a lot of responsibility for an Olympian who has bigger things to worry about! Most Changed Dancer: Maks! The hunky Russian was not about to trash-talk the judges when I told him backstage that all of us thought he and Meryl got robbed of straight 9s. &amp;quot;I think the score reflected their opinion, and since I&amp;#x27;m one of the most opinionated people this ballroom has ever seen, I have to be able to take it,&amp;quot; he admitted. Well, color me impressed. So fine, I&amp;#x27;ll be opinionated for Maks. He and Meryl deserved higher. Cutest Moment: Jordin Sparks, who was in attendance to see boyfriend Jason Derulo open the show, freaked out upon meeting Candace Cameron Bure. &amp;quot;I mean, she even knew who I was! I love Full House!&amp;quot; I&amp;#x27;m so happy I snapped this moment of the two meeting. Most Interesting Story Line: Peta and James Maslow. I do not like how their first date ended, and he pulled a disappearing act. (OK, so he was on tour. I get it.) Still, I love Peta, and I&amp;#x27;m not entirely sold on James yet. He&amp;#x27;s going to have to cut the &amp;quot;I&amp;#x27;m here to learn how to dance; the dating can come later&amp;quot; act if he wants to go far. Viewers want to see romance on this show, and Peta happy. Got it, James? Best Post-Show Decision: Cody Simpson, who decided he was going to go out after the show and grab a burger: &amp;quot;I don&amp;#x27;t have to be at rehearsal until 1 P.M., so, yeah, I think maybe this might work.&amp;quot; I sent him over to burger mecca Short Order at the Farmers Market, so I&amp;#x27;ll find out how that worked for him next week. Biggest DWTS Fans: Diana Nyad (who told me she would win DWTS trivia&amp;amp;#8212;she actually binge-watches the show when she&amp;#x27;s off from doing things without access to a TV...like, you know, going for a 1,000-mile swim or something) and Drew Carey (&amp;quot;It&amp;#x27;s like a dream! I&amp;#x27;ve watched this show for years and years!&amp;quot;). Can&amp;#x27;t we give them a mini-mirrorball or something just for that? Easiest Commute: That goes to Drew Carey, who tapes The Price Is Right one studio over from DWTS on the CBS lot. &amp;quot;I could sleep in my dressing room if I wanted to! It&amp;#x27;s got everything I need!&amp;quot; By the way, the host could not have been more excited over his dance. &amp;quot;I&amp;#x27;m over the moon! I&amp;#x27;m so happy!&amp;quot; Most Adorable Star: Move over, Cody and James, because Charlie White is the hottest star on the dance floor. The down-to-earth Olympian and I became fast friends when I freaked out over his gold medal at the Elton John Oscar party (watch that here if you haven&amp;#x27;t seen it yet), but when I asked him if I could wear his medal during our interview that night, he sweetly told me that it&amp;#x27;s not something you really do. No problem, completely understand. Except that last week I saw Mario Lopez on Extra wearing Charlie&amp;#x27;s gold medal around his neck! So what&amp;#x27;s up with that?! &amp;quot;I knew it!&amp;quot; he sheepishly laughed. &amp;quot;I knew that was going to happen! I freaked out in the moment! I mean, it&amp;#x27;s Mario! But you&amp;#x27;re right, I&amp;#x27;ll bring it for you next week!&amp;quot; Charlie, I&amp;#x27;m holding you to it. Best Interview: This exchange between Candace Cameron Bure, me, and Mark Ballas. Glamour: Mark, were you a Full House fan? Mark: &amp;quot;Ummm...I&amp;amp;#8217;ve seen Full House, but remember, I grew up in England!&amp;quot; Candace: &amp;quot;It&amp;amp;#8217;s not like Full House wasn&amp;amp;#8217;t on in England!&amp;quot; Mark: &amp;quot;I know, but it&amp;amp;#8217;s a cult thing here! Everybody watches it!&amp;quot; Glamour: &amp;quot;I have a request. Last season, Elizabeth Berkley re-created Jessie Spano&amp;amp;#8217;s &amp;#x27;I&amp;amp;#8217;m So Excited&amp;#x27; dance...&amp;quot; Candace: &amp;quot;I already tweeted out I&amp;amp;#8217;m going to re-create D.J. passes out on the treadmill...&amp;quot; Glamour: &amp;quot;I have an even better one.&amp;quot; Candace: &amp;quot;&amp;#x27;Forever&amp;#x27; by Jesse and the Rippers?&amp;quot; Glamour: &amp;quot;No, but that would be amazing!&amp;quot; Candace: &amp;quot;OK, I give up. What?&amp;quot; Glamour: &amp;quot;Lollipops and Gummy Bears.&amp;quot; Candace: &amp;quot;No!&amp;quot; Mark: &amp;quot;I don&amp;amp;#8217;t even know what that means.&amp;quot; Mark, this is what that means. Behold this piece of sitcom brilliance: Most Inspirational: As if that honor could go to anyone but Amy Purdy. The double-amputee is a lesson in perseverance if I ever saw one, and it&amp;#x27;s a lesson that partner Derek Hough has taken to heart. &amp;quot;There&amp;amp;#8217;s a great saying that failure can&amp;amp;#8217;t stay in the company of perseverance. It just can&amp;amp;#8217;t. Eventually if you persevere long enough, failure will just give up. Amy is a true testament to that.&amp;quot; Things You Learn at DWTS: So, Derek, Amy, and I conducted our interview in a way I&amp;#x27;ve never conducted an interview before. (See below). According to Derek, &amp;quot;It&amp;#x27;s actually stretching out my back pretty well and giving her legs a break. Standing is actually more painful than moving around because it puts the pressure on all those pressure points. So when you&amp;amp;#8217;re having to stand on a red carpet for hours at a time, just try to keep moving.&amp;quot; So, will Billy Dee Williams be the first elimination of the season? Did Candace Cameron Bure&amp;#x27;s amazing gymnastics routine surprise you? And who do you think will end up in the final three?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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