What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here for Young Hollywood. Guess where we are. Back behind the scenes at Dancing with the Stars. Okay, Harry Riley, Dancing with the Stars rehearsal space. I love the vibe here. Every time I'm here, I feel a bit cooler, a bit more talented. Tell me, first of all, it's both your first rodeos here. So, uh, let's start with you, mister. How's it feel?

Yeah. I definitely don't feel cooler and talented. I actually have talented list. Oh my God. Oh my. Wow. Wait. Actually, I didn't even plan that. We planned this, guys, this was planned.

Wait, you're far from talented list because you've made it this far. So, what are you feeling going, like, kinda on the way, imagine?

The fact that this show is live is so scary. I've only ever been live on Instagram, and that was scary enough. Um, so to be on a live show where I have to dance and not embarrass myself and not fall over is absolutely terrifying. Oh, it's getting harder and harder. That's the craziest thing is I realize, like, I thought I'd be able to go to bed and like, download all of the dancing from the universe and be able to wake up and be a professional ballerina. But, it turns out you actually have to work, and now my arms are sore, my legs are sore. My ego is sore. Yeah. It's crazy.

Okay, how does this reality TV differ from your past? Because now you're dancing.

Yeah, well, I think like the other ones, I could be a bit more of a sausage, be a little bit more crazy, like get a few drinks in me and just be, just be wild and fun. Feel like this one is like you gotta be good at it, and you gotta like figure out how to do the moves right, and there's people judging, and there's nasty comments, and there's all this stuff, so you gotta get good at it so that those can get less and less. I think my biggest challenge in this competition is the fact that I'm 6'5" and I'm super lanky. Um, so I'm a little bit worried about how I'm gonna go.

So, teaching this tall drink of water, what's it like?

It's actually been really fun. We have a lot of fun. I mean, it is hard 'cause dancing is hard when you're tall and big, but we're making it work and it's been really good.

And it's your first time too.

Yes.

Being in this space, you feel like I wanna stay or Yes. No, yes.

I want this to, I wanna do this forever. I mean, it's definitely been nerve-wracking for my first season and it's come with its challenges, but I'm loving it. I'm, every week, I'm getting more used to it and Harry's been a great partner. A great first partner, and I feel like I'm just getting used to it and I really, really love it.

Okay, you said the word "challenges." Give me like a few challenges that maybe the audience doesn't see. Like, take me behind the scenes. Right. Right. The nitty-gritty.

So, the only preparation I did going into this competition was, uh, watching a bunch of YouTube videos and then I started to stress myself out. Um, so I texted Nick Lachey because he said he did it before as well, and he also said he got stressed out. So, um, I'm only stressed going into this.

So, I mean, I'm choreographing all the dances and it's a new dance every week. And, you know, that's just come with its challenges 'cause it's stressful. You wanna make a good dance, you wanna make sure that Harry feels comfortable doing it, and you wanna make sure that like everything's good about it 'cause it is my first season, so it's like I kinda do have to prove my spot and show everybody who I am and who I am as a dancer. So, that's been the most stressful, but other than that, it's really fun.

Okay, I wanna know how you got to be here. I wanna know who like did what to get you here. I want the phone call, the email, who'd you call first?

So, it was actually Emma that made me do this. Like, I saw her at a few events and she's like, "You should try it." Like, just don't count it out. And I remember reading my DMs with her and I was literally like, "Come on." Like, I don't dance, I don't know how to do it. Like, it's not my scene. And then she like convinced me to do it. So, then I was away filming Amazing Race, and I was in Cambodia, and I got the call for it. They're like, "Yeah, like we really love your vibe, whatever else." We had the conversation, like, "It's really hard, though." I'm like, "Guys, I'm doing Amazing Race. It can't be much harder than this." Turns out it's probably a lot harder. Um, so

Wait, it's harder than Amazing Race?

Yeah, this is crazy. Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah. Like, Amazing Race, you film it, it's done. You gotta wait a year for it to come out or six months, whatever it is. But like, you know, they're long days, but you're not being critiqued on like how you're walking. So, meeting Riley, I was super excited. She's, uh, super mature and very humble and very patient with me. So, I'm so excited to get to spend a lot of time with her and, most importantly, get to dance with her 'cause, uh, yeah, I heard she's from a very royal bloodline, uh, and Dancing with the Stars.

Oh my God, I think covering this show for like a decade, and every time I'm here, I'm like, "I wanna be on the show." So, how do we, how do I do it? Like, who do I, what DMs do I slide into?

To like Deena Katz. Yeah. Deena Katz is the casting director. So, she's the boss. Everything goes through Deena. Yes.

Okay, speaking of sliding into DMs and the internet and social media, without gossiping, there's buzz about you two. How do you create the chemistry or you don't even have to create the chemistry 'cause it's already there?

Like, we enjoy the same stuff, like making content, doing this stuff, and we just have so much fun together. So, I guess it like carries across like to TikTok and whatever else, and I think people kinda see it that we're having fun and, um, yeah, and I guess 'cause we just make so much content. So, yeah. Yeah.

Okay, speaking of making content, talk about Taylor Swift. Ah. You get invited to the tour. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk Taylor Swift.

Yeah. Yeah. No, it was crazy. Yeah, so my, uh, my publicist was like, "Hey, Taylor Swift's team wants to invite you guys to this." Um, and we were there. It was, it was really wild, but we were, I was so busy eating all the popcorn that I didn't realize that we were in the same theater as her family, like the band, Flava Flav was beside us. I think Adam Sandler was there. Like, I was just too busy like trying to consume this popcorn and then she came in and she's like a goddess. So, and Riley was freaking out.

I was freaking out. Like, Taylor Swift was just right in front of me. I got so lucky that Harry brought me along with him 'cause it was so much fun.

Wait, I mean, did you get to talk to her?

No, well, she like came into our theater and kinda talked about the movie, and she was like, "My family and band is in here," and I was like, "Wait, what?" She's like freaking out. Like, we're in the movie theater with her family right now. Yeah. It was crazy, but it was really fun. It was really special.

It was honestly like how well it was all put together and like just the quality of the, the whole movie and just like how like the outfit changes, like selling rally was like, "Her microphones changed like 10 times." Like, it was, it was actually insane. Yeah.

And it like from her movie, you can like feel her energy still, so if you missed the concert, go see the movie 'cause it's literally like the same thing.

Yeah. It was wild.

Okay, if you could have asked anything of Taylor Swift, what would it be?

After watching that movie, like it's kinda interesting to see how hard she works and how much like dedication, love, and passion that she puts into what she's doing. And I think like my question to her would be like, "How did you find that thing that makes you wake up every morning and just be so motivated to be such a positive influence?" Right.

Yeah, mine would probably just be like, "How do you do it?" Like, "How do you do it every day and like what motivates you?" And like 'cause she does work so hard. She's so amazing, and she's gotten so big. So, I feel like that would be my question to her.

That would be my question for you guys. What motivates you guys every day being here?

God, I think like, you know, it ebbs and flows. Um, being here, like there's obviously a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, and everything in between. But at the end of the day, just knowing that there's so many people that want us to keep going through and keep getting better. So, there's a lot bigger than just us. Right. So, I wake up in the morning and, you know, maybe I'm a little bit sore, maybe I'm a little bit slow getting out of bed. I'm like, "God, I know this is Riley's biggest dream to be here. If I don't perform or show up, it's gonna suck and I'm gonna hate myself forever." And then I'm like, look online and everyone's just like, "We want you to do good. You're improving." I'm like, "God, okay, like Okay, this is way, way bigger than me."

Like, so, yeah, I think just the, the support is really gets, gets us going. And next week we have most memorable year.

Yeah. Yeah. Can you give me a little sneak peek what that is?

Yeah, so most memorable year for me was 2020. It was obviously the world shut down, but it was kinda when my life changed. It was when Too Hot To Handle came to air and I was the first time I was on like a public stage. And with that, there was so many highs and lows and it was a really like testing year for my character and who I wanted to become and the, the person that I wanted to show my audience. It was really like, it was so many ups and downs and it was a very scary time, but we made it through and it was the biggest blessing.

Well, maybe 2023 will be your next most memorable year because

It already is.

You might win dancing with the Oh. Yeah. Even before I say you win. Oh. I didn't even get a part of it. Yeah. Wait, I didn't even say you were gonna win Dancing with the Stars yet, but you just said it was the most memorable year before I said you could win.

Sure. No, I think this year like obviously making a new best friend and, um, it's, you know, it's such a vulnerable and like nerve-wracking experience. I've never been in front of a live audience before. I've never danced. I've never been judged on something that I don't know anything about. Um, and it's just like, I don't know, it makes me like inspired and excited for the future because I'm like, there's so many things that I've never tried, never, never would, but there's now there's this fire inside me to try all these things.

I need a group hug right now. Oh, sweetheart.