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Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke talk ‘Dancing With the Stars’

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There are only two pro athletes left in this season’s ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ and occasional Times blogger Hannah Mitchell, 10, had a chance to sit down with one of them, Chris Jericho, along with his pro dance partner, Cheryl Burke, and ask them a few questions.

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Hi, Hannah Mitchell here, and what better way to follow up on my Vancouver adventure and my Kings-Zamboni ride than by sitting down with former WWE champion Chris Jericho and two-time ‘Dancing With the Stars’ champion Cheryl Burke. They invited me to their dance studio to answer some questions. They were both really nice, and I want to thank them for taking the time to talk to me. And don’t forget to vote for them each Monday night on ‘Dancing With the Stars!’

Q: Chris, has being a pro wrestler helped you to learn to dance?

Chris Jericho: Yes, well, we’re in Week 6 on the show, so I must be doing something right. There are a lot of similarities between dancing and wrestling. The costumes are the same, the spandex and all that, but you have to be light on your feet to do both, and you have to remember choreography. How to switch your balance back and forth and that sort of thing, so there are a couple of things you use in wrestling that you can use in dancing as well.

Q: Cheryl, what was the toughest part of training Chris to dance?

Cheryl Burke: I think the toughest part has been getting him to be a little more graceful, especially with his arm movements on the slower dances. Really trying to make sure everything he does isn’t abrupt and show the graceful side of Chris.

Q: When were you more nervous, headlining WrestleMania or your first dance on the show?

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Jericho: That’s a good question. When I headlined WrestleMania, I had been wrestling 12 years, so I had a lot of experience. I was nervous, but I knew exactly what to do and knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish. My first dance, I didn’t know what was going on. So, more nervous on my first dance, because it was uncharted water.

Q: How long did you have to train to become a great dancer like you are now?

Burke: I started dancing at age 4, and I’m almost 27, so it has been a while.

Jericho: How old are you?

Mitchell: 10

Jericho: Wow.

Q: Which WWE Superstars would do the best and worst on the show?

Jericho: I think Christian could do good because he has a dancer’s body, with longer limbs. The Miz would do pretty good because he has a big personality. You have to have a good personality and know how to connect with the audience, and a lot of WWE superstars know how to do that. The worst would probably be Great Khali because he is a giant. He is 7-5. The Big Show is like a giant egg and you can’t really dance if you are a giant egg.

Q: Were you the best dancer at your prom?

Burke: I didn’t really dance much at my prom.Everyone was pretty good. I’m more of a ballroom dancer, I’m not really a club dancer. I’m not that good at that.

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Q: What is the most interesting thing you learned about each other?

Jericho: (laughingly) She doesn’t know much about anything that’s not related to dancing. She doesn’t know what’s going on as far as TV or music. I found that interesting. But I learned that Cheryl studies dance even now. She is always learning new techniques. She went to South America, Argentina, to study a different style. So I thought that was pretty cool, because even though she is a great dancer she still want to learn and get better, and that’s really important to push yourself, even if you are a great dancer, like Cheryl is.

Burke: I didn’t know Chris was a musician. I thought he was just a wrestler. And I thought he was going to be mean and ugly and big. And I didn’t think he would last this long, but he’s actually a really hard worker.

And that was the end of our interview. Next we shot a video to remind everyone out there how to vote for them each week. I tried to remain a pro and not show the number, but they found out my weak spot (candy) and bribed me. I’ll be voting for them every week from now on, and you should too!

-- Hannah Mitchell

ALSO:

Hines Ward’s weekly Times blog on his experiences on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

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