Ariana Madix turns to Taylor Swift when she wants to feel like “The Man.”
“One day I’ll take a nap or go on a vacation,” Madix, 38, told Extra in an interview published on Wednesday, November 15. “[But] there’s actually something that Taylor Swift says that I really relate to. She says, ‘I get tired but I never get tired of it.’ And that’s exactly how I feel.”
Madix has certainly been busy these days. After wrapping season 11 of Vanderpump Rules, she started competing on season 32 of Dancing With the Stars alongside pro Pasha Pashkov and is gearing up to open her sandwich shop, Something About Her, with costar Katie Maloney.
While season 11 of Pump Rules isn’t set to premiere until January, DWTS kicked off in September, with Madix making waves for her technically meticulous performances. The reality star told Extra that it’s her attention to detail that helps her in receiving such high scores from the judges.
“There are certain things like the Pasodoble that I learned from Pasha this week that does have a very specific technique and body position and if I were to come out here and just do it, and maybe do it well, but without that specific technique, the judges would be like, ‘Nah,’” she explained. “They’d be taken out of it. At home I’d be like, ‘That was great, I don’t get it!’ But I know they’re watching for that stuff.”
After knocking it out of the park with a near-perfect score after her performance to Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night” on the Tuesday, November 14, episode of the ABC series, Madix is preparing for Taylor Swift Night — which she teased will have a performance filled with homages to the pop star.
“I think there’s going to be some Easter eggs, in classic Taylor style,” Madix told People in a Wednesday interview, noting that she and Pashkov, 34, will be dancing to the singer’s hit “Cruel Summer” off Swift’s 2019 album, Lover.
“In general, as a dancer, when you listen to Taylor Swift’s music, a lot of the songs are perfect for beautiful rumbas, foxtrots and Viennese waltzes,” Pashkov added. “We’re just really looking forward to doing a beautiful rumba to one of her songs.”
Pashkov also hinted that the twosome will be showing their love for Swift in another way: “We’re also paying tribute to one of her outfits with our costumes,” he teased.
During Monday’s DWTS episode, Swift made a surprise video appearance to wish the dancers luck on their show on Tuesday, November 21.
“I can’t wait to see Dancing with the Stars’ celebration of my Eras next week,” the Grammy winner gushed. “I wish I could be there with you guys but I’m on tour in Brazil, but I will be there in spirit and I’ll be watching.”
Swift is currently on the international leg of her Eras Tour, which kicked off in Argentina earlier this month. The “Anti Hero” singer played three nights at Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, where boyfriend Travis Kelce came to watch her perform during his bye week from the Kansas City Chiefs. Swift’s next stop is Brazil, and she will continue to Asia, Europe and Australia before wrapping up the tour in Canada and the U.S. in October 2024.
