When Nancy O'Dell was forced to bail on Dancing with the Stars because of an injury, executive producer Conrad Green told Us Weekly that the immediate thought was 'who could we get?' "It was necessary that the public felt sympathetic toward whomever was stepping in the last minute. Melissa jumped straight to mind," the executive revealed. That certainly applied to Melissa as she had just been dumped on TV in front of about 17 million viewers.
It worked well, she was fabulous on the March 9 premiere as a contestant and Rycroft put all her energy into the show. "It's a tough job for someone to come in this late," Dancing veteran Lance Bass dished.
Melissa's partner speaks. With just two days before show time Rycroft threw herself into rehearsals. "I combined cheerleading moves (Melissa was once a member of the famous Dallas cowboys cheerleaders squad) with the routine I had designed for Nancy," her partner Tony Davolani said.
"Melissa has the right attitude about the way she approaches things. To think of what she went through on the Bachelor and then to come to our show and be so positive, what a trooper," Tony said.
It worked well, she was fabulous on the March 9 premiere as a contestant and Rycroft put all her energy into the show. "It's a tough job for someone to come in this late," Dancing veteran Lance Bass dished.
Melissa's partner speaks. With just two days before show time Rycroft threw herself into rehearsals. "I combined cheerleading moves (Melissa was once a member of the famous Dallas cowboys cheerleaders squad) with the routine I had designed for Nancy," her partner Tony Davolani said.
"Melissa has the right attitude about the way she approaches things. To think of what she went through on the Bachelor and then to come to our show and be so positive, what a trooper," Tony said.
