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Rising TV Star:Stacy Keibler - February 15TH, 2006 By Emily Feimster Hollywood is a fickle place - one minute no one knows your name and the next minute people can't stop talking about you. This happens to be the case for the WWE's Stacy Keibler, who is currently making quite a name for herself on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." Yep, over 20 million viewers a week are seeing this gal in action. You can't ask for a better fan base. However, before putting on her ballroom dancing shoes, the aspiring actress spent countless hours going on auditions for bit parts here and there. She finally landed a gig on "Big Momma's House 2" as a Victoria's Secret clerk, but when asked about her role, Keibler informs us, "It got cut out. They called me and let me know about it last week." Bet they're kicking themselves now! "They were like, 'It couldn't be worse timing - we had no idea.'" Despite the disappointing news, Keibler doesn't seem to be sweating it too much. Probably because she's got other things to sweat about - like, the competition. Plus, she's no dummy. All she has to do is look at the lucrative offers that came to last season's favorites, Kelly Monaco and John O'Hurley. This kind of new path would certainly be a welcome change for Keibler, who started her entertainment career at 18 when she won a dance contest to get into the WWE. She explains: "I lived in Baltimore and when watching wrestling one day, I saw an ad that said, 'Win $10,000 and be the new Nitro girl.' They were the girls who danced during commercial breaks in order to entertain the thousands of people in the arena. So I entered the contest and ended up winning. They offered me a contract and I ended up touring, but then the producers told me they'd like me to actually be on the show. I went to the wrestling school and the rest is history." Though performing with the wrestling community proved to be a big break, it wasn't quite as glamorous as one would think. "I was traveling four days a week, driving myself from town to town," Keibler tells us. "We always had to pay for our own hotels and rental cars so it was tough being 18 and being thrown into that. But I was performing in front of thousands of people each night so I got used to it pretty quickly." With this kind of experience under her belt, it was Keibler's mom who thought she would be a perfect choice for this season of "Dancing With the Stars." "My mom was a big fan of last season and she was like, 'Do you know if they're having a second season? You should look into it.' So I did and then I had a meeting with them. I waited around for months and finally got a call that they wanted me as a contestant. I was like jumping up and down in my living room," she cheerfully recalls. Now that she's on the show, Keibler is working hard to balance her old dancing habits with her new ones. "I've had some challenges with having taken ballet. There are some habits that I've had to break, which has been hard, because the technique of ballroom is so different from any other style of dance. It's about the posture, the attitude, remembering the steps, and not tripping up my partner," she says with a laugh. As for what's next for the blonde beauty? She hopes the exposure will help her transition into the acting world, but she's not expecting anything for free. "My motto in life has always been don't wish for it, work for it. I never came out to LA thinking, 'Oh, I'm on television every week with the WWE so I should have a lucky break,'" she notes. "A lot of people think it's so easy to become an actor. Some people do get a lucky break but when I started in acting classes, I realized that there is so much for me to learn." Keibler continues, "I've realized from this contest that I have a really strong work ethic. Anything that I put my heart and mind to, I can achieve it. I just hope that I can always be able to entertain people and put a smile on their face." |