Erin Andrews has endured a rough year, one that keeps revealing difficult passages. The 31-year-old ESPN sportscaster's high-profile court case, where divorced father Michael David Barrett was eventually charged with filming Andrews through a peephole in her hotel rooms in several different states, ended in March as Barrett was sentenced to 30 months in prison. This month (and after our interview) it was revealed that Andrews had received death threats for over six months. Now, as Andrews waltzes and quicksteps on the 10th season of Dancing with the Stars, she talks with Movieline about moving on from the hellish court proceedings, finding new confidence, those romantic rumors with her dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy and the other ESPN personality she'd like to see on DWTS.
You've talked about using Dancing with the Stars as a way to rebound from all the horrifying court case drama. How is that going for you?
It's been great. You know, I wanted to surround myself with a family and a group of people that would be really supportive. Not that I didn't already have that, but I wanted a change. I wanted a different thing to channel my emotions with. So it's been wonderful.
Can you talk about the difference between this and your usual TV gig? The shift between the rigid, rehearsed nature of Dancing with the Stars and your more spontaneous ESPN sidelines stuff?
Yeah, my gosh. Well, I mean, I'm usually on in front of millions of people on TV, but I'm a pro doing it. That's my job, that's what I've studied to do. Here, you have the very humbling experience of putting yourself on in front of 25 million people and only getting a few days to learn something -- and trying to look fantastic while you do it. It's a lot different.
Do self-defeating thoughts creep into your head when you perform?
I think it's very humbling -- you become very self-conscious. You do your job in real life, you think you're pretty good at it. Then you go and do this, and you're like, "Why does my body not look like Cheryl Burke's when she dances? Why do I not look like Edyta when she dances?" You just feel totally out of your element.
Have you watched past seasons of the show? Do you have beacons of inspiration from past cycles?
Last year when I was watching the season that Kelly Osbourne was on, she did a Larry King Live interview when she was in the finals. She basically said how doing this show made her get so much confidence with herself, and it was just something she never had before. And I really thought that was so wonderful to hear from her. After I'd been through everything I'd done in the last nine months, I thought, I'm going to do this. I need something like this to help me get back on track.
Let's talk about last week's elimination. Describe your train of thought as you went from highly ranked judges' favorite to that scary results night.
I was actually calm, cool, and collected going into the night. Once people started being saved, and Max and I were standing out there, and we weren't, I sort of freaked out a little bit. I got really, really nervous. I didn't feel very well. Then we were in the last four couples standing, and I thought, "This isn't fun anymore. I don't like this."
Did you re-think your performance at all?
Not so much the performance, because I think I'm doing the best I can do. I think you're just rethinking, "Oh my Gosh, why did I do this to myself? Why did I put myself in this position?"
After Shannen Doherty was eliminated in a surprise twist, was there an outpouring of shock backstage?
I think everybody talked out about how really nerve-wracking it was. We were all really sad to see Shannen go. We all really liked her a lot. But we were all so happy that we were safe and coming back another week.
Was her elimination -- and your bottom-four placement -- ultimately discouraging?
I think it really, really proves how much people's votes at home really count. I had always heard that going into the show, but then when you see someone like Pam in the bottom two, it's like, "Whoa, I guess it really does count."
There's usually a romantic rumor every season or so on Dancing with the Stars, and this year the zoom lens is on you and Maksim. Is this frivolous scrutiny kind of fun compared to the mania of the past year?
Yeah, it's definitely different than having to deal with what I've had to deal with before. In my job, everybody's been trying to link me to somebody anyway. So this wasn't anything too new for me. But Max is great, and we're kind of just laughing about the whole thing.
How have the people you've known through ESPN reacted to your gig on Dancing with the Stars?
The one thing I can say is that people at ESPN and coaches and athletes have been so so supportive of this whole thing. There's been so many coaches that have texted me, "I've never watched the show before, but you can bet I'm going to watch now," or, "I'm so excited for you." I was actually kind of nervous going into the show because I'm very hard on the people I interview in college sports. I'll just say to them, if they lose a game, "Oh, come on. You put so much time and energy into this. How did you mess this up?" And I was thinking to myself, "God, if I make a fool out of myself, these people can turn the tables around and say, 'Come now, what happened, why wasn't that kick a little higher?'"
You call yourself a perfectionist. When you dance, do you feel like you're outside your body looking in, analyzing what's imperfect or needs improvement?
I can't get out of that mindset. I expect so much of myself day in, day out. A lot of that has to do with being around great coaches and great athletes in my job. You just see them hold themselves to a certain standard, and I do the same thing. That's kind of rubbed off on me.
Do any of those sports-world stars have words of advice that stick with you?
The one thing that everyone in the sports world has tried to get across to me is that they're big competitors, they just want to be the best. And be the ultimate champion within everything that they do -- and that you have to have fun. Because if you're not having fun, if you're not enjoying yourself, then what's the point?
Has legendary ESPN anchor and DWTS loser Kenny Mayne reached out to you?
No! And I broke the ESPN streak! And I don't understand! I didn't get eliminated the first week! He reached out to me when it was announced and everything, and he wished me the best of luck. But I was expecting a little more from Kenny. Maybe he's saving it for later on down the road.
Who else from ESPN would you like to see on the show?
He's been asked before, but I would love to see [Sportscenter anchor] Scott Van Pelt. He's 6'6, 6'7. He'd be so fun to watch. He has such a great, self-deprecating attitude. He's so fun. Digger Phelps really wants to be a part of it, so he'd be really great to watch too.
At this point, how do you plan approaching the rest of the competition? Did week one derail you?
I just want to get better from week to week. I just want to improve. Like I mentioned, I'm so hard on myself. I want people at home to see that, "Oh, she's gotten so better than week one." Or "So much better than week two." After the first elimination, I got really scared because I was like, "Wow, anyone can go home." I was thinking to myself, "Great, I'm going to go into practice and nail this thing." And then when that starts becoming a little challenging, you think, "OK, wait a minute, why am I not doing perfect? What am I going to do for next week?" I'm going to tell myself to stay level-headed and try from week to week.
And finally: Do the judges and their cutting remarks freak you out?
Nobody really freaks me out at all. Everybody's been nice and sweet and kind of funny. And I know that's the character that they play as well. You think about, "They've commented many times on my posture and finishing my lines and the death-grip I'm holding on Max." You think about that in the back of your head when you're practicing all week.