MARVELOUS

mELissA
By rACheL sokoL

ancing with the Stars (DWTS) is one of ABCs highest-rated reality shows, and just wrapped up its fteenth season. What made this season so special and fun was that fan favorite celebrities from previous seasons were brought to strut their stu on the dance oor once againwith a professional partner. After the glitz and glam subsided, in the end, Melissa Rycrofta correspondent for Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonightand her pro-dance partner Tony Dovoloni emerged the winners of Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars. The duowho was also paired up when Rycroft rst competed in Season 8received DWTSs coveted glimmer- ball trophy. Just two days after her exciting November 2012 victory, the ever-cheerful Rycroft spoke with A Distinctive Style once again from her Dallas home about the entire experienceand how she went from feeling like an underdog to a top cat!

Ive Grown
It just doesnt feel realI still have to tell myself I won, she gushes. The rst time I was on the show, right after I was on The Bachelor Season 13, I was very guarded. I sometimes feel when I watch clips from my Season 8, I look like a little girl; my eyes are so big.... Her voice trails o, remembering. Its been three and a half years since then. Now, I have a husband, a child. (Husband Tye Strickland is an insurance agent; the couple has a young daughter, Ava) Ive grown up a lot since then, and this time around, Tony (Dovoloni) and I had more fun with it all. Plus, you have a dierent type of freedom on DWTS. Unlike The Bachelor, cameras arent with you twenty-four seven. Theyre there when you practice, but you have your own life.

Rycroft and Dovoloni became close friends during the whole experience. I credit my condence this time around to Tony, says Rycroft. Tony said dont worry what you look like! Im my own worst enemy. Even if I looked like the awkward girl, he always made me feel like I was a great dancer. Hes been one of the few people who has been here from the beginning of this whole journey. The dancing duo bonded over their children, too. We had so much more to relate to, we understood each other when one of us said, Im not mentally here now, I need to talk to my kids, my husband...we got it--we had the same priorities this time, which bonded us. Rycroft says she felt Americas support week after week, as fans voted for their favorites to remain in the competition. I would think, we must be doing something right and we dont even know what it is! I kept thinking, Dont underestimate yourself.
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RYCROFT Continued

Friends till the end

What Rycroft will miss the mostbesides her amazing abs, she jokesis the friendships she formed on the show. Shawn (Johnson, an Olympian and fellow contestant) and I were just texting yesterday; we got real close this season. Im going to miss her. It was a really great environment. This time around, it could have been uncomfortable and competitive, but Im so grateful it was the exact opposite. For more about Melissa Rycroft, follow her on her Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/ MelissaRycroft

Fight or Flight
Although both Rycroft and Dovoloni were sidetracked by injuries this season, she insists her neck is doing much better. Not only did she get back out on the dance oor after her neck strain, but her co-stars used her as a human jump rope in a group dance the very next evening! It must be an optical illusion, I promise my neck didnt move, I looked more contorted than I really was, she insists, adding that doctors gave her the OK to dance again. Its in my nature to say no when faced with physical pain, but this circumstance brought out the fight or flight in me. Its kind of cool when youre a bit stronger than you thought you were. Rycroft looks forward to reclaiming her full title as mom and wife now that DWTS is over. This is the stuff that makes me happyfamily, she beams. As for her 2013 career plans? Shes got more tricks up her sleeve, but remains mum on them. My worst case scenario is that I live in Dallas, and Im a wife and a mom and thats not so bad.

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