Being Kendra_ Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back - Kendra Wilkinson [69]
Wendy Williams, on the other hand, was a little hard to talk to. She’s funny and seems outgoing, but whenever I tried to talk to her and be friendly, she wasn’t really having it. Everybody else tried too, but she didn’t really want to be involved in any mingling or any talking. I guess she was busy. She did her own thing, but the rest of us knew we were on a show together, so why not try to get to know one another better?
I’ve been on Wendy’s show before, so it’s not like we didn’t know each other. But my life is an easy target. A talk show host’s job is to drum up interest and make a conversation exciting. The last time I was on her show, she was kind of offensive to me. The sex tape had just come out and she was the only one out of all the media who said any negative thing to me about it. Most people, especially if they were having me as a guest on their show, were supportive. But not Wendy. She made a comment about Hank and said, “He needs to get a divorce before the new football season starts.” I was like, “Wow, okay.” I didn’t really know how to respond. That sat with me forever; I can’t look past that. To have someone say to your face that your husband should divorce you because of something horrible someone did to you a long time ago—even to suggest that—is totally out of line. Even with that I was still trying to be cordial on DWTS. Behind the scenes I would be like, “Hey, Wendy, how are you doing?” I would offer her a drink backstage or just try to make small talk. Especially on the results show, when all we do is stand around for a few hours. I tried so hard to break the ice. I wasn’t trying to get anything out of it; I’m the person who wants to make everyone else happy.
Brooke Burke and I gravitated toward each other the most. She was down-to-earth and gave the best advice. She was like the mom or therapist, and she’d pat people on the back and ask if they were okay. Having her and Tom Bergeron around was great because they knew the show and the deal backward and forward. Of course, Brooke won herself a few years ago! Tom was awesome and is probably the most fun part of the show. Ten years down the road, when I look back at DWTS, hanging out with him will stand out as one of the best experiences to come out of it. It’s such a stressful show and he is so relaxed and so funny, he made me feel like it was okay to be myself. Everyone takes that competition so seriously, but Tom was always there to crack a joke.
This was a big-production show. It was twenty times bigger than my show, with dozens of cameras and hundreds of production staffers. There was no slacking on this show and there were no mistakes. On my show, you make a mistake and they just film it again. But DWTS was very highly produced, and I didn’t want to mess up in front of the DWTS people. It was very stressful because they were constantly giving us feedback and comparing us to one another—who had the best dancing, who gave the best interview, who had the most interesting backstory this week. I was used to being in control of what’s used, but this was different. I had no say in the story line. So I was constantly wondering, “How will they play me? How will they use me?” Overall, I was happy with how they portrayed me, even though they made me the whiny person—and yes, I complained a lot, but they also showed me crying in spots when I wasn’t actually crying. But hey, there was a lot to cry about!
Chelsea Kane and I really “blonded” on DWTS. (© Michael Desmond/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)
Luckily, there were very sweet people on the show, like Chelsea Kane from the Disney Channel. I consider her my little sister now. She was so cute and she has so much heart and soul. She’s an