Las Vegas Weekly

March 23, 2009 · 1:56 PM

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin discuss the aches and pains of DWTS

By Robin Leach

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin.

Photo: ABC TV

Professional dancer Dmitry Chaplin didn’t know who The Girls Next Door and Playboy starlet Holly Madison was when they met for the first time. “I don’t watch television, so I didn’t have a clue who she was,” he told me during their three days of rehearsals in Las Vegas for tonight’s samba on the ABC hit Dancing With the Stars.

Tonight is Dmitry and Holly’s third appearance after he had been working with his original partner, singer-songwriter Jewel, who had to exit the show due to injuries. The producers teamed up Holly and Dmitry just five days before their first dance.

“I was really thrown off by Jewel’s injury,” Dmitry said. “I had to start all over again. I was at the airport when they called me to tell me I suddenly had a new partner. I didn’t know who Holly was or what to expect when she first walked through the door.

“That first morning was a real mess. She had no idea how to move or what to do with her body movements. With Jewel, we had four weeks to work together, so we had time for basic training and technique. We could take it all a little slower. With Holly, we had no time for anything but to jump right into the deep end of the pool.

Photo: ABC TV

Singer-songwriter Jewel shows her moves to dance partner Dmitry Chaplin in preparation for the eighth season of Dancing With the Stars.

Holly told me: “It was crazy. The last time I danced was as a cheerleader at school, and you can’t call that dancing. I didn’t even dance at the prom. I just took steps. I have zero dance experience, so those five days were tough. It wasn’t a good thing for either of us. It sure got me over stage fright real fast.”

Dmitry added: “She’s much better now and finally starting to look like a ballroom dancer. This week, though, we have the samba, and if that’s not the hardest, it’s certainly one of the hardest! We have a lot of different actions in the choreography.”

Holly said: “It’s been six hours a day of nonstop rehearsals! Every day! I’m exhausted! My feet are killing me. My knees are bruised. Welcome to my world! You try doing this in heels and with a mic pack on your back that constantly bruises me! The cameras follow us the entire time. There’s nothing but dance, dance and dance six hours a day between the results show and the next performance show. It’s really difficult every week because you switch dancing styles. It becomes the complete opposite of what you’ve just done before. So you learn it all new again.

“It works out to about 30 hours of training for the new dance each week. Dmitry is teaching me technique at the same time as teaching me the new dance, and he has to choreograph the routine, too. We were changing it right up until today -- our second full rehearsal day here in Vegas. Now we dance and dance and dance it.

Photo: ABC TV

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin.

“There’s nothing else in my life. I was so mad today. My feet are hurting so bad. Whoever designed women’s shoes wasn’t caring about us dancing in them. They may look good, but they are not for dancing as much as this. Every single move is a new move for me. This is not easy stuff. I wanted to do a slide, but Dmitry says that would be too easy!

“I am so buried in the studio, I have no idea what’s going on outside. We start at 10 a.m. every day and go until 4 p.m., and then I just crash. It’s so bad I haven’t even finished my taxes. It’s tough getting in and out of my car with the aches and pains. I’m too exhausted to drive home. It’s too far, so I’ve been crashing with friends on whatever side of town I’m at. It’s like living out of my car! I’m tempted to take over the trailer at night and stay there at the studio.

“I’m in lockdown with practice. There’s no time for anything else in my life. No dating. No boyfriends. I’m focused on this now and then my career. I don’t honestly have time for anybody right now. One day we’ll get back to finding the right person and getting married. But now even at my Prive party in Planet Hollywood, there’s no guy around. Just me with my girlfriends. It’s going to be a while before there’s time to start dating again. There’s no hurry for another relationship for now. I’m in a good place, and I’m very happy how everything has turned out.

“So far, though, knock on wood, no injuries like some of the other dancers on the show have suffered. I’ve escaped the so-called Dancing With the Stars injury curse. I’m bruised up like crazy because it’s a lot of rough moves. For me, it’s a case of Epsom salts and lots of baths and the Jacuzzi.”

Photo: ABC TV

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin rehearse for Dancing With the Stars.

Russian-born Dmitry, who has danced professionally in America for 10 years but is on his first DWTS season, interjected: “It affects even me. You feel it in the back of your knees, and old injuries from the past come up again. So we stretch before and have to relax afterwards with the hot-hot bath and massages. If I was working with a professional, we could probably do it in two hours, and one day together would be enough. But remember, Holly has never danced before. But she is getting better every day. She’s already stronger and better because of it. She’s in better shape than when she started. She’s a good advertisement for ballroom dancing because she’s been losing weight despite us just grabbing burgers and fries on the run.”

Holly commented: “I haven’t had time to weigh myself. But I’ve been eating junk food and still losing weight. All the dancing is even making me look better. We get along together. We have to really work hard together, so it’s inevitable we fight, we bicker, but we are both committed to doing the best dance we can. It’s not really fighting -- it’s in a work atmosphere -- so we’re arguing with disagreements, but no big deal and no problems. It will never come to a knockdown, drag-out fight! This has all taught me about perseverance. I was stuck with the fact that everybody else had four weeks of practice before I started my five days, so I’ve given it everything because I don’t want to look like a fool.”

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

Holly Madison outside Prive at Planet Hollywood.

Dmitry and Holly had three days of rehearsals here at Delgado Dance Studios in Summerlin (click HERE for that story). Originally, they’d come here to shoot a teaching segment with DWTS Season 1 winner Kelly Monaco, but Kelly’s own Peep Show rehearsals and move to the new Planet Hollywood theater prevented that. Holly did, however, host her own “Vote for Holly” party at Prive (click HERE for that story).

“I love Vegas,” Holly told me. “I love being here. I’ll probably spend more time in Vegas in the future than in Hollywood. I feel more at home here. I want to get into the production side of television and would love to shoot a reality show here in Vegas.” After successful negotiations, Holly was offered a contract to guest star in a Strip show, and, although she turned it down, chances are that it will be reactivated and might be included as part of her reality show.

Holly flew back to Hollywood early yesterday for more rehearsals before tonight’s broadcast. “There was no time for anything fancy this trip to Vegas. I got to see Carrot Top at the Luxor, and we had dinner at Koi in Planet Hollywood. But that was it, except for some quick meals at Red Robin. I’ll be back, though. I’ll come back to film with Kelly at Peep Show. I might be in town for Hef’s birthday celebrations here at the Palms (April 4). I’ve heard he’s been watching the shows every week, and I know he’s rooting for me.

Photo: TVT

Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt inside the Playboy Store in Caesars Palace.

“I love the support I’m getting from everybody about the show. Bridget and Kendra have been texting me, and a lot of my Playmate friends, some really hot girls, will be rooting for me in the audience.

“I’ve had a hand in designing the outfit I’ll wear,” Holly said. “It’s a two piece, really little: red and sparkly with fringes. Last week, I escaped the crucial first exit. It was scary because it wasn’t until the last minute they told us we were safe. I was really scared. Every week now, the bottom two will compete in the dance-off. No pressure there! My heart was pounding. That elimination is brutal. I never want to do the dance-offs!

Still touch and go about performing tonight is Jackass star and Strip regular Steve-O. He suffered a back injury, internal bleeding and bad backside bruising from his fall onto a mic pack during last week’s dress rehearsal that KO’d him. He was sent to a hospital and missed the live telecast. He is still suffering a pinched nerve, a sprained back and hematoma bruising from a sprained blood vessel. If he’s well enough, he will dance the foxtrot with partner Lacey Schwimmer.

Steve-O wrote on his blog: “Lacey had told me not to do the flip, saying it was a bad idea. It was sensationally idiotic. I was a real jerk, and I exercised very poor judgment. I really hope I get the chance to stay in the competition and make it up to her.”

Photo: Alex Loc Thieu

Maksim Chmerkovskiy, not dancing, at Tryst.

Tomorrow night on the results show, British singer-songwriter Adele, fresh from her Grammy Award win for Best New Artist, will perform in a musical number with pro dancers Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo. Veteran music duo Hall & Oates will sing their hit “Maneater” for a dance routine with Dmitry, our Le Reve choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, his fiance Karina Smirnoff and Tony Dovolani, who trains and teaches at Delgado Dance Studios.

Returning to the show will be Cloris Leachman with her pro dance partner Corky Ballas to show the remaining dancers how to perform the lindy hop and the Argentine tango, which they will perform next week.

Vegas DeLuxe will be back this early evening with a spoiler-alert story as the remaining contestants compete with their samba and foxtrot routines.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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