Cody’s First Reaction to Being On DWTS Was ‘Why Me?’

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-Tonight kicks off the semi-finals of “Dancing With the Stars” as the top 4 battle it out to win the title. Cody Linley called in to Star-Telegram last week to talk about the show. Check it out below and also added more older photoshoot pics of Cody.

When Cody Linley was approached about competing in this season’s Dancing With the Stars, his first reaction was, “Why me?” The Lewisville native, best-known for his recurring role as Jake Ryan in HannahMontana, has been appearing on TV and in movies since he was in second grade, but he wasn’t a dancer.

“Then after a while, it was like, ‘This could be a cool thing,’ ” says Linley, who turns 19 on Thursday and is the youngest contestant in DWTS history. “I could learn to dance, and I like to learn new stuff, so why not, let’s do it. And it’s been the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

But Linley’s season has had plenty of drama — his pro dancing partner, Julianne Hough, had to drop out of the competition for two weeks when she had her appendix removed, and Linley barely dodged elimination during the two weeks he had a temporary partner, Edyta Sliwinska.

But Linley has made it to the final four, with model/actress Brooke Burke, ’N Sync’s Lance Bass and former pro football player Warren Sapp. And Linley is scheduled to dance tonight with Hough, who has been so important to Linley’s season that he teared up when he and Hough talked to Dr. Drew Pinsky about her surgery on last Tuesday’s results show.

Linley called in late last Thursday to talk about his DWTS experiences.

You’re a braver man than me. I took dancing lessons once, and I was a complete klutz.

It is definitely tough. The good thing is that [for] five weeks, we had training before we had to start dancing. But now we have to learn two dances with intense choreography in five days — really, four days — and perform it live in front of 20 million people. So it’s scary. There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of physical stress and emotional stress that goes into it.

How have rehearsals with Julianne been going?

It’s awesome that Julianne’s back. She’s amazing. We had so much momentum and chemistry built up during the competition, and then she had her surgery. But now, with two weeks of rest, she’s back, and she is excellent and ready to dance. It went awesome today. We’re working on our salsa, and we’re also doing a pasodoble [tonight].

Were you prepared for how emotional the show would be?

I had no idea it was going to be this tough, or that I was going to be getting depressed and angry and extremely excited and nervous and scared and relieved. It’s the most intense emotions. We work on the dances nine to 10 hours a day every single day for five days straight, and I have only one chance to knock it out, in a minute and 30 seconds. . . . But there’s no adrenalin rush like there is when you’re out there in front of those people.

Have you ever had to wear any costumes as weird as some of things you’ve had to wear on Dancing With the Stars?

Well, I definitely have worn some very weird outfits on the show and in the past. The last movie I just did was an independent horror film called Forget Me Not, and I went through three hours of prosthetics and makeup, and they turned my face into a dead fiend, a crazy monster with skin peeling off. And then on Hannah Montana, [I was dressed as] a dragon slayer, and all the outfits are pretty over the top. But the great thing about Dancing With the Stars is, each week it’s so different, and I have a lot of fun with the versatility.

We’re you taken aback by [fellow contestant] Cloris Leachman?

She’s definitely one of the class clowns. But she helped bond our cast, because she was always doing the most outrageous stuff onscreen and behind the scenes. I’m trying to think of something that you could print. She has the most raunchy sense of humor I’ve ever heard. She has a mouth that makes an 18-year-old guy, who lives with two 18-year-old dudes and has four But she has a sweet side to her, and My hat goes off to her for having the bravery to compete.

Among the judges, is it scarier to listen to Len Goodman’s criticism, or to wonder whether Bruno Tonioli is going to get so excited that he just leaps over the table?

The judges’ comments are scary. I’m always so anxious to hear what they have to say. . . . I think Len’s comments influence me the most, since he’s the head judge, so I’m most nervous about him. He seems to be the hardest critic, but he’s the most professional expert when it comes to technique.

Source: StarTelegram