“I’ve loved this show for a very long time,” The Miz said. “Watching the professionals teach people that have never done this before and make them look like professionals, I think is an art all in itself, and there’s a huge beauty to it that I just adore.” But there have been some surprises along the way, including losing 15 pounds since he’s been dancing because he can’t consume enough calories to maintain his WWE body weight. “I’m turning into dancer shape and my wife doesn’t like me skinny,” he said. “She likes me a little thicker with a little bit more meat, but when you’re dancing here, you can’t eat enough. And honestly, I’m just getting that body now. Whenever I get back to wrestling, it’ll be weights upon weights to get back into wrestling shape.” Even though Maryse isn’t fond of his weight loss, The Miz says that she is his biggest supporter both at home and by showing up each Monday night to watch him perform in the ballroom. “It’s amazing to have that type of support system at home,” The Miz says. “A person that always supports you in goals that you didn’t even know you had. I’ve always wanted to do Dancing with the Stars; I just never had the opportunity because the WWE is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year job. There’s no off-season, so this was the first opportunity where I could be able to actually say, ‘I can do this.’” Years ago, The Miz competed on MTV’s The Challenge, so DWTS isn’t the first competitive reality show he has done, so he understands needing to get the votes to stay on, but last week, he had a new surprise when both Melanie C and Olivia Jade were in the bottom two and that Melanie C went home. “Everyone brings something different to the table and, man, Mel C and Olivia, as well as Val and Gleb have been doing an incredible job this entire time,” The Miz said. “To see them in the bottom two, I was like, ‘Wait! What? Are you kidding me?’ It just goes to show that you need to have votes. But, honestly, we can only just tell our stories, dance and have fun. It’s up to everyone else to advance us.” With 3.1 million Twitter followers and 3.5 Instagram followers, The Miz has a strong voting base, but he still says the pressure is on to do better and keep the votes coming in. “As far as my following is concerned, it is what it is,” he said. “This is the game. It’s how good are you on the ballroom? How well do people like you and watching the dance? So, I think if I have 3.5 million followers, I can be like, ‘Well JoJo has 10 million, or this person has this.’ There are always different excuses that you can make. I’m not making excuses, I’m getting better each and every week, so that’s what I’m looking forward to doing.” Improvement in his dancing skills is The Miz’s plan to get the judges to give him higher scores and to keep the viewers voting for him. “I got four 8s [last week], which is a good score, but if you really look at it, it’s toward the bottom,” he pointed out. “So, I need to get myself back up and say, ‘OK, what did I do wrong? How can I do this better?’ I think it’s just harnessing my energy. I think the audience might have had a good time because I’m still here. So, it’s just one of those things to do my best every time, put my best forward, and try to get great scores and, hopefully, the audience really sees that.” Following is more of the conversation with The Miz: Do you think that Melanie C revealed too much in her video package on Grease Night and that may have contributed to her going home? With Mel C, I think she was real and whenever you’re real and who you are and you’re giving your emotions to everyone, I don’t think you can ever go overboard. I felt exactly what she’s saying because I think we’re all going through things in different ways. Me, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I get so frustrated, and I do it differently than other people, but I think everyone’s going through these different things and dealing with it differently. So, I think she was absolutely real and, honestly, I connected with it, and I thought it was beautiful of her to share that. Is it hard to work on Monday night but not in a WWE ring? Absolutely, I love being a WWE superstar. I love seeing a live audience every week and doing something that I’m actually really good at and I’m not judged. Actually, I’m judged by millions, but I’m not judged by professional wrestling people every week going, “You get a 10 for that match.” Well, Vince is kind of, I guess, the judge. What was Maryse’s reaction when you first told her you were doing DWTS? I asked, “Do you think I should do it?” She goes, “You’re doing it.” I was, “I don’t even have a say in this?” She was like, “No, you’re doing it and you’re going to win.” I was like, “Well, I’d like to just have fun.” My wife is more competitive than I am, even when it’s me in the competition. She is full force. I remember the first day that I was done with training, she was like, “Show me the dance.” I was, “Well, I just learned it.” She was, “Show me it. Let’s go” I’m like, “OK, I really don’t know what I’m doing, babe.” She had pointers already. Do you think Maryse should do the show? She’d beat me. I’ll tell you that for one thing. She would be amazing on this show. She is gorgeous, she’s hard-working, she’s dedicated, she’s smart and she can dance. Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, Here Are All the Celebrity Dancers Still in the Competition for Season 30
