Dwight Howard recently talked about some grueling aspects of Dancing With the Stars, including long practices.
While appearing on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, Gil’s Arena, he indicated he spent nine hours the other day practicing dances.
“I done lost 15 pounds just dancing,” Howard admitted, adding, “I’m cut up out of lifting weights every day.”
Howard also spoke about his harrowing ordeal during another reality TV competition show.
According to Howard, he experienced “PTSD” after he participated in FOX’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
The former Los Angeles Lakers star and NBA Champion revealed his time on that show included all sorts of challenging experiences, such as being “kidnapped and set on fire.”
Howard revealed the most difficult reality TV show experience for him
When asked which reality TV show he’s participated in was more difficult, Howard compared ABC’s DWTS with Fox’s Special Forces. He appeared on Fox’s reality competition in Season 1.
The 16-person cast included his current DWTS castmate, former NFL star Danny Amendola, as well as other sports stars, musicians, actors, and TV personalities.
“Special Forces was so physically and mentally draining,” Howard shared.
“It was only 10 days, and it wasn’t 10 days for some people because they had left the first day. I was able to withstand being kidnapped, set on fire, and this a different type of thing than we’re dealing with on the dance floor. That was hard. I had PTSD after that,” he revealed.
He spoke about a part of the show involving getting dropped over the side of a mountain for a 200-foot “trust fall” and having to trust your teammate on the ground would hold the rope so you didn’t go “splat.”
“We had to sign death waivers. We had to write death letters to our families and kids,” Howard also revealed.
Only two players finished Special Forces Seasons 1: Former The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown and former soccer player Carli Lloyd. Dwight reached Episode 10 before getting disqualified during a 12-hour Interrogation Challenge for being too defiant.
“When it comes to the work we putting in [DWTS] is hard,” Howard said, adding, “When it comes to the mental aspect, that [Special Forces] was harder.”
Howard called DWTS hard because he’s used to hearing a song’s beat, feeling the vibe, and then dancing to it. He explained that even dancing to the slower song he created that they used on Dedication Night was difficult because the steps and counts were fast.
He also explained that on Disney Night, he had six days to learn how to do a one-minute dance with just his partner, based on Wreck-It-Ralph, and then a two-minute-long team dance.
“People don’t understand how much work you gotta put in and how much thought you got to have while you doing all this,” he told the Gil’s Arena group.
Dwight Howard called out judges for dance critique
Earlier in their discussion, Howard spoke about the judges’ critique of his Disney Night tango, which received three 8 scores from the judges. Howard said judges claimed he “missed some steps” during the routine.
“Me and [Daniella Karagach] was a little tight at the judges because they said stuff about- and it’s not like I’m against the judges or anything, but they said something about me missing steps,” Howard shared.
“How can anybody know that ain’t doing the dance that we missed the step? How can anybody know that?” he asked.
“If we in a basketball game and I ain’t never seen a team play, how am I gonna know they are running a Thumb Down 25?” he said, comparing the unique dance routine to a unique play on the basketball court.
Howard defended his dance steps, saying it was a “part where our step looked like this” for the routine.
Despite what he might have felt was a harsh critique, Howard continues to survive his latest competition show. The former NBA star survived the Week 6 Halloween Night elimination as The Bachelorette’s Jenn Tran went home.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.