TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
Cat Deeley Doesn't Think She Can 'Dance'
'So You Think You Can Dance' Host Saves Her Best Moves for "Very Dark Nightclubs"
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May 28 -- It's the hottest reality show of the summer, and 'So You Think You Can Dance' host Cat Deeley is ready for another round.
In an interview with TV reporters, Deeley weighed in on the new season of the show, which plucks the top dancers from around the nation, crowning one with a title and prize money.
And though she's surrounded by some of the country's best, Deeley says she has no delusions about her own ability to boogie down.
Last summer, the show was such a success. Are there any major format changes this year?
To be honest, there isn't any major change. It's just back and it's bigger and better, to be honest. It's one of those things, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." When we held auditions this time, we found that the numbers had tripled if not quadrupled. So we must be doing something right. So, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, get on and do it.
How is the talent looking?
The talent that we have seen this time is just amazing. The bar has been raised even higher, because now people understand the show, they understand the concept and they understand what we are looking for. So the dance moves have got to be even more impressive. The personalities have got to be even bigger. There is even more at stake. I think that people understand that now and they know what the show is.
As a host, do you develop a personal relationship with the dancers? We've seen you dance with them at the end of the show.
Badly. I think that's part of my job, actually, to make them look really fantastic, because I am like the man on the street who can't dance at all. (Laughs) They need to have me dancing in a very dark nightclub, preferably when nobody else is watching. The contestants are put into this extraordinary situation. Very much for dancers, they're used to being the team players, being the backup guys. They are taken from, in some of the cases, from the b-boys just rehearsing on street corners, and then we put them in the studio with 10 cameras and ask them to learn different routines every week.
And so they look to you for consistency?
I think that because they are placed in such an extraordinary situation, I'm kind of the thing that remains the constant throughout the show. They have to do all different styles and they are put into all different types of situations. I'm the constant that remains. And I see them during rehearsals, I know what they are going through. When we're doing rehearsals and we are all dressed casually, we're just chatting to each other, I hear all of the gossip and I know who's injured what and who has a crush on who and all of that kind of stuff. So I would be not be very human if I didn't develop some kind of relationship with them.
Have you kept in touch with any of them from seasons past?
Yes. I've seen Dimitri, Benji and Heidi. I haven't seen Natalie because she's over in Greece. I've seen quite a few of them, actually. Some of them came down to the auditions, too, because they were just interested to see who the next batch of dancers would be. But they're doing so well. We were preparing to go to the New York auditions, and I got MTV on and Benji was dancing in the brand new Christina Aguilera video. So it's incredible to see where they've gone and what they've done with it.
Do you plan to dance on the show?
I keep dropping hints to Shane Sparks, perhaps could I come in and maybe do a few moves? And it just falls on deaf ears. It's really strange, he doesn't bring it up again. He just changes the subject. So I think that maybe Shane Sparks thinks I'm beyond help.
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