‘DWTS’ winner says her family told her not to do reality TV — good thing she didn’t listen: ‘Actors don't...’
Kelly Monaco, the first-ever winner of ‘DWTS’, almost didn’t make it to the show. The 'General Hospital' actress nailed her dancing debut and lifted the coveted mirrorball trophy. She was partnered with pro dancer Alec Mazo, who became a longtime choreographer on the show. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Monaco recalled getting the ‘DWTS’ offer and how she almost didn’t sign up. “I had a letter in my mailbox in my dressing room at ‘General Hospital,'” she said. “We have these little mailboxes outside of our dressing rooms, and there was a letter in there, and it was a request to do ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” she added.
Monaco brought the letter home and asked her family to weigh in on the decision, but they were not on board. “They were like, 'You can’t do a reality show. Actors don’t do reality shows,'” she said. At first, she agreed with her loved ones, as she did not have any dancing experience. She admitted that she had never even “heard” of ballroom dancing before and was unsure what she was getting herself into. But eventually, she decided to go with her gut and say yes to the opportunity.
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“I was just like, ‘F–k it. I’ll try anything once.’ That’s how I’ve always rolled in life. If an opportunity comes, I’ll try it,” she told the outlet. Monaco even admitted that she didn’t tell about her ‘DWTS’ gig until after the first episode premiere. Since it was the very first season of the show, it was on a test run and only had six episodes. “I was like, ‘I’m not going to tell anyone I’m doing it, and hopefully I get voted off first and no one will ever see it,’” she confessed. The actress also felt “horrified” by the judges’ harsh comments in the first episode and for receiving the lowest score "in the history of Dancing With the Stars."
The actress took this failure as a challenge and decided to keep going and prove the judges wrong—and she did! “I didn’t think I was a good dancer at all. I improved weekly. I was so proud every week that I made it a week further,” she said. Eventually, all her anxieties were put to rest, and she became the fan-favorite contestant of that season. However, that doesn’t mean that her journey was all smooth sailing. In her fourth week, Monaco and Mazo performed a Samba routine, but she suffered a wardrobe malfunction when her dress broke in the middle of their act.
“Alec was very strict, and he prepared me for every obstacle,” she said of her dance partner. “So, he prepared me for that, but oh my God, it was so scary. I felt like someone had a laser beam from five miles away and shot my costume,” she admitted. Recalling her wardrobe mishap, she said, “It was a countdown to going live, ‘Five, four, three, pop!’ I was like, ‘What am I supposed to do?” With Mazo's help, she held onto her dress throughout the routine and somehow made the performance look effortless. The duo received a standing ovation for their act.