Johnson or Ochocinco, you don’t mess with Chad.
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Less than two weeks before the Bengals wide receiver trades his jersey for some tight-fitting, bejeweled number, Chad Ochocinco vows that while he will do his best, he expects fair judging from the panel of Dancing with the Stars.
“From what I’ve learned in watching these shows, those judges can be a little harsh,” Ochocinco tells Access Hollywood during rehearsal with professional partner Cheryl Burke. “They have to remember, I am out of my element. Don’t judge me like I’m a professional.”
He offers a word of caution to Len Goodman, arguably DWTS‘ harshest judge and sometimes referred to as the show’s Simon Cowell.
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“Len Goodman, I’m gonna say this to you and I’m gonna say it to you early before the show even starts: ‘Please do not step on my toes, because I will fight back. Thank you,’ he says.
Part of being out of his element, he reveals, is wearing ballroom shoes and maintaining ballroom posture.
“In football, you’re never standing right up. That’s how you get killed,” he explains. “When I got the shoes, it had the little heel on the bottom, but what I’ve been able to do is … to magnify my sway… I had to get used to it because I’m a man.”
Ochocinco, 32, follows the less-than-graceful footsteps of Dallas Cowboys’ Michael Irvin, himself a wide receiver during his time, who competed last season on Dancing with the Stars. Other NFL alums have enjoyed relative success on the DWTS stage, including Emmitt Smith who won season 3 alongside Burke.
And while Burke insists that Ochocinco has the potential and made a lot of progress, she admits that he’s not quite there yet.
Other than his professional record, Ochocinco is also well-known for his infamous end zone celebrations. He topped the Fox Sports list of top 10 showboats in professional sports.
Source: Access Hollywood
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
