Black Athletes in the Spotlight: HBCU Sports & Local Highlights
- Jackson Olson said he was a shy kid who found a passion for entertaining and 'manifested' this opportunity on Good Morning America.
- Olson joked in TikToks about joining Dancing With the Stars, then saw comments that made the idea feel possible.
- Ciara Miller admitted jitters about the live audience and the world watching ahead of her Dancing With the Stars debut.
- Ciara Miller is stretching and improving hip flexibility on advice from Kenzie Annis to avoid injury before season 35.
Savannah Bananas star Jackson Olson addressed criticism that his involvement with a dancing baseball team means he may be more experienced than other celebrity contestants on season 35 of Dancing With the Stars.
Olson, 28, took to Instagram on Thursday, July 23, to share a video of him having a pretend conversation with someone who claims he has “an unfair advantage” because he is “already a dancer.”
The athlete then showed clips of him performing at various Savannah Bananas games. In the videos, Olson’s moves include twerking and dancing around the baseball field with a caption that reads, “Yeah so the first rehearsal will be interesting 😭.”
In the comments section, DWTS fans reminded Olson that ballroom is a different form of dance. Olson is one of four celebrities already announced for season 35 alongside The Traitors alum Maura Higgins, Summer House star Ciara Miller and Jimmy Kimmel Live! sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez.
“When I was a kid, I never thought any of this was possible, even playing for the Bananas or anything like that,” Olson said on a May episode of Good Morning America. “I was a shy kid that never danced, never put myself out there, never entertained and found a passion for it. Now, I kind of manifested it.”
Olson reflected on his love for the competition show.
“[I] posted a couple TikToks last year, just joking, ‘Pranking my coach that I was going to be on the show,’ never thinking it was a possibility,” he quipped. “When I posted it, I’m, like, ‘Maybe there is a possibility.’ I saw some comments and thought, ‘Maybe this is possible.’”
Olson isn’t the only one nervous about his first practice for DWTS. Miller, 30, recently told Us she was also dealing with some anxiety about taking on such a challenging opportunity.
“Literally, my friend said today, he was like, ‘How do you think you’re gonna get past the jitters?’ He’s like, ‘Not only the live audience, but like the world?’ I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t need this right now. I don’t,’” Miller told Us earlier this month. “I wasn’t thinking about it, to be honest.”
Mirrorball champs or not, Dancing With the Stars has featured some impeccable professional dancers in the years since the ABC competition series premiered in 2005. Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke and Maksim Chmerkovskiy are among the talent who have lit up the ballroom. Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. Subscribe to newsletters Enter your email Please enter a […]
Miller has put some thought, however, toward preparation.
“If I’ve learned anything from Love Island and Kenzie [Annis], it’s [that] I need to stretch more,” she added after cohosting Love Island: Aftersun. “You release a lot of tension from your hips, so I’m taking her advice and pivoting that into my Dancing With the Stars prep.”
She continued: “I want to be as flexible as I can for this, and obviously don’t want to be carried out on a stretcher when practice starts. So I’m trying to prep now. I’ve got my work cut out for me. It’s going to be an intense few months or however long I’m there, but obviously I’m going with the intention of giving it my all and to not go home within the first week.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 will premiere on ABC and Disney+ this fall.
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