“We’re really, really lucky to have such incredible partners and they really have been doing amazing jobs not just teaching us these dances, but letting us have fun with the experience even though we’re both so incredibly busy,” Davis said. And busy is right—during the last half of the season, White and Davis have been traveling across the country performing with Stars on Ice as well as competing on DWTS each Monday.
So how are the ice dancers handling the pressure of competing against each other? We chatted with the pair during a rare lull in their tight schedule to get some details about the show, whether or not they’ll dance together, and what’s really going on between Davis and Chmerkovskiy.
Has it been tough juggling both Stars on Ice and DWTS?Meryl: Absolutely. It’s been really challenging, but I think Charlie and I are both so excited about the opportunity that we have. The schedule is definitely pretty jam-packed. Throughout the week we’re traveling across the continental US, doing shows for Stars on Ice, and then of course on Monday nights we’re always in L.A. doing the live show for Dancing With the Stars. So we’re definitely busy, but we’re having a wonderful time.
What’s it like to go back and forth between skating together and competing against each other each week?Charlie: Well, I feel like first and foremost we really don’t feel like we’re competing against each other. I think both of us are so proud to stand up there in our little skybox and watch everyone just kill it every night. It’s just been a great experience. We feel like we’re going through it together, and that’s the basis of our partnership. We’ve been together so long that I don’t think anything we do, we ever feel like we’re going head to head. We’re always on the same team. But certainly, stepping out on the ice feels like going home. We’re trying really hard to look natural on the dance floor, but when we get back on the ice it feels easier than walking. It’s a nice thing to do.
What’s been the hardest part about DWTS?Meryl: The hardest thing about being on a show like
Dancing With the Stars is definitely the limited amount of time we have to learn the dance. We have a week from one show to the next to learn the style you’re given Monday night or Tuesday morning. And so not only are we learning the routines and trying to prepare for Monday night, but we’re also trying to learn the technique of these dances, [for] which quite honestly six days really isn’t enough time. So we’re trying to jam a lot into a very short period of time.
Did you feel like you had a good foundation coming from ice dancing?Charlie: I think we’re definitely comfortable dancing with another person and that’s a huge benefit, but on the ice when you’re dancing with your partner, you support each other, but it’s in a completely different kind of way. The lead and follow is entirely different and we’ve certainly learned that the hard way coming to the ballroom floor. The technique of how you move your hips and your leg movement are very different. I think we’re starting to get more comfortable with just the basics on the floor, but it hasn’t been easy figuring it out.
Charlie, we’ve seen your girlfriend, fellow ice dancer Tanith Belbin, in the audience a few times this season. What does she think of your dances with pro Sharna Burgess?Charlie: I think that she’s been really impressed. I think she loves seeing me have such a great time. It’s an amazing experience and her and Sharna have become close. She’s really grateful that I got such an amazing partner, someone with such patience that can make me look like a pretty good dancer. So she’s been enjoying herself. I think there was one cutaway where Carrie Ann gave me a lower score and the camera goes straight to Tanith and she’s just shaking her head [laughs], but she’s enjoying the show and is going to try and come out a few more times.
Meryl, one of the big topics this season is the incredible chemistry you have with Maks. Does it come naturally?Charlie: Ohhhhhhhh! [laughs]
Meryl: Yeah [laughs], I mean Maks and I have developed a really great friendship. From the first time we met, we were really on the same page, so we’re having a really great time.
And Meryl, this week you said you’re connecting on a personal level in the rehearsal video. Do either of you hang out with your DWTS partners outside of rehearsal?Meryl: Charlie and I are kind of rare cases in that we force our partners to travel with us throughout the week. I think a lot of times the celebrities will stay in L.A. during the show, but since we’re also doing the Stars on Ice tour, we have obligations from Maine to New York to Florida, just all over the country. In order to stay on top of things with our dances, Sharna and Maks have been traveling with us throughout the week. We’re really, really lucky to have such incredible partners and they really have been doing amazing jobs not just teaching us these dances, but letting us have fun with the experience even though we’re both so incredibly busy.
Charlie: I think definitely we’ve come to rely on each other a lot because we’re so tired and all of us are familiar with the benefits of a strong partnership. It’s brought all of us closer together. And I think that shows, too, when we’re dancing, that connection that goes beyond just hours of rehearsal. The friendship and connection is part of what makes dancing special in general.
Charlie, you’ve been chasing the perfect score for a few weeks now. What’s your strategy to finally earn a 40 from the judges?Charlie: I don’t think we’re going to worry about it too much, honestly. It’s been an interesting journey and we’ve kind of expressed all of that frustration. But honestly both of us are having so much fun working with one another, we just want to let that show, and at the end of the day I think that’s the most important thing to us anyway.
Who’s the better partner, your pro or each other?Meryl: We can’t possibly compare. We’ve been together for 17 years and it’s just different. We like to highlight the fact that Charlie and I have always been partners, and on Dancing With the Stars, Sharna and Maks aren’t just our partners, they’re our instructors. So it’s a really different dynamic to have one versus the other, so we really can’t compare.