Supermodel Paulina Porizkova was on Dancing with the Stars in 2007.
However, she was hit hard when she ended up as the first person sent home on the show; something she said filled her full of “shame” and “self-pity.”
Looking back on this Dancing with the Stars moment years later, Paulina has another way of looking at her elimination.
She said that Dancing with the Stars was not about the talent of the best dancers, and she said DWTS was a popularity contest.
Paulina Porizkova calls Dancing with the Stars a popularity contest
Paulina Porizkova was on the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars and partnered with pro dancer Alec Mazo.
This season saw speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno win and included stars like Joey Fatone, Laila Ali, Ian Ziering, and Billy Ray Cyrus.
Paulina and Alec danced the foxtrot in the first week and received a 19 from the judges, tied for the fifth-best score.
In the second week, they danced the mambo to La Bamba. Their score was a 21, which was tied for the third-lowest of that week. They ended up in the bottom two and were sent home.
Paulina took to Instagram yesterday to look back at the moment.
“Dancing with the stars changed my life. And that’s not an exaggeration,” she started.
“I was the first one booted off – not because I was the worst dancer, but because I lost the popularity contest.”
Pauliuna talks about Dancing with the Stars changed her
In the post, Paulina said that she was devastated after her elimination.
“I was so filled with shame and self pity after the show, all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole,” Paulina wrote. “I got into the town car hired for me after doing Jimmy Kimmel and just wanted to cry.”
However, Paulina said she had a conversation with her driver that night, who was an older woman. This woman told her a story that put her elimination in perspective.
“She had had a church picnic on a lovely afternoon with her friends and children,” she remembered. “After the picnic, she wrapped up her stuff and crossed the road to get to her car. Her little son, seeing his mom leave, left his big sister and followed her. She turned to see him crossing the road, and panicked. She reached out her arms and he ran to her. At the very moment, a truck barreled by. It was the last she saw her little boy alive.”
Paulina said that the disappointment from Dancing with the Stars was so insignificant in life compared to that, and the pain wouldn’t last in her case.
She also said that this showed her that she should never fear to dip her toes in “turbulent waters” because in those cases, the bravest thing she could do “is to swim along.”
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The reality competition should return to ABC in late 2022.