Las Vegas Weekly

January 5, 2009 · 9:49 AM

Exclusive Interview: Samantha Harris celebrates her birthday and a new job and dishes about Dancing

By Robin Leach

Photo: Brian Steffy/Blush

After four years with E! Entertainment news, sparkly Dancing With the Stars co-host Samantha Harris begins her new job as senior correspondent at The Insider today. She’ll also serve as the standby anchor, and her first assignment is this weekend’s Golden Globe Awards. She celebrated her new contract over the weekend in tandem with a belated birthday party here in Las Vegas.

The partying ran three days from start to finish and included a family dinner for 20 people at the new Encore restaurant Society and a party for 40 family and friends at Blush in the Wynn. Her husband, Michael Hess, was on hand, and they even brought their 15-month-old daughter Josselyn with them. Their group also took in the spectacular water-themed production Le Reve, and Samantha met the cast backstage. Click HERE for our Saturday morning report.

“Our Max Chmerkovskiy from Dancing With the Stars did all the new choreography for Le Reve, and he’s simply amazing. I’m actually seeing it twice while I’m here,” Samantha told me. “Max had hoped to get a day off from the Dancing tour, which was playing Oklahoma City on my birthday, but he couldn’t get a pass. They’d all hoped to zip in and out to join me, but they had to work!”

Incidentally, congratulations to Max, who popped the question to fellow dancer Karina Smirnoff on New Year’s Eve at midnight. She said “yes” -- six months to the day she’d broken off a romantic relationship with Mario Lopez, her former dancing partner! Both Karina and Max are from the Ukraine, and Samantha promises to make a fuss about that love match on The Insider tonight and when DWTS resumes in March.

Photo: Alex Loc Thieu

Maksim Chmerkovskiy, not dancing, at Tryst.

Samantha’s mother and sister flew in from her hometown of Minneapolis for the fun festivities. Said Samantha: “My birthday has always been over the Thanksgiving and Christmas New Year’s holidays. I always went home for those holidays after I left Minnesota, so I always got to celebrate my birthday. It was never overshadowed or squeezed out by the holidays. It became a part of it, so it was an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

“However, this was the first weekend in a long, long time I had three days all to myself and my family. I feel like the princess at the ball. I’m so excited to have all of this excitement ’round the clock in Vegas. I love coming to Vegas. It’s not just about the gambling: It’s about great food, great shows and, yes, dancing!

“I love being here at the Encore. It is breathtakingly beautiful. I’ve been dancing two nights in a row at Blush, so I’m kicking up my feet for a night off on the third night and just going back to see Le Reve again.”

At Blush, Samantha was presented with a birthday cake replica of the gold disco ball DWTS award. I asked her why she thought the TV show had become a top-rated series in the U.S. when ballroom dancing shows stateside had never done well previously.

Photo: Denise Truscello

“The timing was just right -- and important -- because viewers simply wanted good, wholesome, entertaining fun. They love the drama of when people have something at stake, but we’re not mean-spirited like all the other reality shows. My 3-year-old niece can sit and watch it with my grandparents. Everybody of all ages can root for somebody dancing on the show -- and that’s why it’s friendly competition and everybody enjoys it.”

Samantha revealed that Season 8 begins March 9 on ABC and that rehearsals will begin the weekend of Feb. 8. She said we can expect the new lineup of celebrity contestants to be announced on Good Morning America this month. I told her that my friend Donny Osmond had started taking dance lessons in case he accepted the show’s invitation to participate in Season 8.

“It never hurts to take dance lessons,” Samantha laughed. “Donny would be incredible for our show. He knows what’s involved because he was there for every show that sister Marie danced in. He really gave her tremendous support, and I’m certain if he takes part, the roles will be reversed and Marie will be there in the audience cheering him on for every show.

“I used to think I was a dancer. I was in ballet class at age 7, but after watching what our professional dancers do, I realize I’m just a person who can move, not dance properly. Their showmanship and technique is something to really admire and marvel at.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

“You understand when you see what they put their bodies through with all that twisting and stretching, why we had so many injuries last season. It was the most we’ve ever had. The previous shows had set the bar so high that all the dancers wanted to go way beyond that. Sometimes rehearsals would run nine hours in a day. It was the most injury-prone show of all that we’ve done.

“With all that slicing and dicing, it led to injuries and to the point of casualties where the producers were asking themselves if they would have a show. It’s a very difficult task to work the body day in and day out for weeks. We were really concerned for Julianne Hough. But even she came back from the hospital with a reignited passion, and her fervor infected all the others to push even harder!

“Who knows what the next set of stars will bring with their dancing shoes? It’s hard to believe, but they may be even more competitive.”

Also seen at Le Reve in addition to partying at Blush was Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy. He sipped on Jack Daniels while the rest of his party, including Edi Gathegi who played Laurent in Twilight, enjoyed Dom Perignon and Ciroc Vodka.

— From Vegas Deluxe

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