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Anne Heche Talks Dancing with the Stars, Another World’s Vicky/Marley, Ellen DeGeneres, Standing Up to Discrimination

By Michael Fairman

Published

6 years ago

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Photo: ABC

America is getting reacquainted with Daytime Emmy winner, primetime Emmy and Tony nominee, actress Anne Heche  This talented dynamo has taken to the ballroom dance floor on the new season of Dancing with the Stars with her pro dance partner Keo Motsepe.  Daytime soap fans are thrilled to see her again after her unforgettable performances at twins Vicky and Marley on the beloved Another World early in her professional career.

While everyone had a heart-stopping moment on Monday’s episode of Dancing with the Stars, when Heche and Motsepe found themselves in the bottom two- they were saved by the judges and will dance into next week!

Michael Fairman caught up with Heche prior to Monday’s show from her home in Los Angeles for a new interview feature on The Michael Fairman Channel on  You Tube.  Their conversation covered many points throughout Anne’s career, from her difficult upbringing detailed in her memoir, “Call Me Crazy”, to how she landed on Another World and life on a soap opera, to making the decision to leave, to having her career in film and TV reach a critical impasse when she was in a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, to life now with her two children and of course, being a celebrity dancer on live TV on this very different season of DWTS.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the chat with Heche below.

Photo: ABC

Speaking on performing on the Covid-19 season of Dancing with the Stars, Anne expressed:”You can’t define a moment that’s getting on to that ballroom floor, and all of a sudden you know you are on live television.  Dancing with the Stars is usually done in front of a live audience and it’s not this year.  So you only have the other dancers as your audience, but stepping out knowing the responsibility that I was taking on for Keo, that I was taking on for myself, and then that click – and you get four clicks – and then you go.  You don’t know if you’re going to be able to do it.  I will go as far as I can go as an artist.  But when judge Derek Hough said ‘You made me smile’, that was my intention.  That’s why I am doing this more than anything.  Yes, I want to learn, but I am here to entertain in a world where there is little entertainment (right now), where it’s live, it’s now, and it’s happening in this moment.  We can’t feel each other, but you can look at my face and know that whatever dedication I have to do this, I will do to the best of my ability.  I have been given the opportunity to perform for an audience who is at home to give one thing – that is the joy with the entertainment that I bring.”

Photo: NBC

Soap opera fans will always recall Anne’s sensational portrayal of twins Vicky and Marley on Another World from 1987-1991.  To this day, it remains one of the all-time greatest in the genre, and at that time, daytime fans knew that Heche would eventually go on to an even greater mainstream career in motion pictures and television and Broadway.  Anne’s road to Bay City and Another World happened the day after she graduated high school (she was discovered there) and landed in New York and at Another World producer and director John Whitesell’s office, where she learned now only was she playing one part, but two!

As Anne recalls it, Whitesell said to her, “What you don’t know is that I auditioned you for two characters because you’re going to play twins.  And by the way … that Bahama Mama T-shirt you wore, and obviously you thought you should repeat it, because you’re wearing it in your screen-test, and you’re wearing it now, get it off! Vicky is the sexy one, so go figure it out!  Your first day you’re going to be in a hot tub and you’re talking to your dad, because you just lost a million dollars.  I’m like, ‘What?’.  Whitesell continued, ‘Yeah, it’s a bubble bath … and don’t make me regret this decision, because I am the only person who wanted to hire you.”  After that moment, Anne took on the dual roles still not knowing much of anything about daytime and she became a fan favorite.  Throughout the interview, Anne recalls her time working with Kale Brown (Ex-Michael Hudson) (Ex-Anna Stuart (Ex- Donna Love), and Tom Eplin (Ex-Jake McKinnon).

Heche had made the decision to exit Another World and was going to quit acting with the intent on going to the Parsons School of Design, when her agent called for her to go out for a role in a film that starred Jessica Lange in which he landed the role.  Noting that the production team at Another World moved all of her scenes to the end of the day so they could tape Vicky and Marley’s departure (so she could go be in the movie), Anne next found herself in a Motel 6 on location in Nebraska when the Daytime Emmys were being handed out in 1991, and she was nominated for her Outstanding Younger Actress.

As Heche recalls, “I’m watching the Emmys and I win and I’m eating a cheeseburger on a bed by myself in a Motel 6 in Nebraska and they say ‘she can’t be here … she is a new movie with Jessica Lange.’  I won an Emmy on a bug-infested bed in a Motel 6 in Nebraska and at that moment said, with a cheeseburger in my mouth, ‘Does this mean I’m supposed to be an actress?” (Laughs)

Photo: JP

Anne’s relationship with Ellen DeGeneres was a highly-publicized from 1997-2000 for their public appearances together which later backfired on Heche’s career.  However, through Heche, the needle moved forward to pave the way for same-sex couples to be able to express their love publicly.  As she reflects on that time in her life, she expressed: “I was told not to go to the premiere of Volcano if I took Ellen, and I looked at the suits standing in front of me, and even Ellen said, ‘You listen to them, Anne.  You can’t go with me.’  This is four days after I met Ellen.  I said, ‘If I had met George Clooney and four days later I was taking him to a premiere we would not be having this conversation.” This is the moment I realized what discrimination feels like. because, even Ellen is sitting here telling me not to go to the premiere.’  I said to Ellen, ‘You just came out Tuesday night on Ellen (referring to DeGeneres then comedy series) and you are sitting here right now and you are telling me to not bring you to my premiere as my date?!’  So, even Ellen did not agree with me. Then it happened again in front of President Clinton. I put my arm around her.  She said, “You’re not allowed, you can’t do that.’  I said, ‘I will not be discriminated against.”

Watch the entire video interview with Anne below.

Then let us know, are you rooting Anne on during her run on DWTS?  What are your favorite Vicky/Marley moments portrayed by Anne on Another World? What do you think about the comments she shared on Ellen DeGeneres and what happened throughout her life and career? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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Who is the Another World character/actor pictured with Anne? (not the magazine cover but the publicity shot) He looks familiar, but I can’t place him.

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That’s Russell Todd who played Jamie Frame.

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Russell Todd who played Jamie

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I think he was the second Jamie. Laurence Lau played Jamie 86-90.

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He was actually the fifth “adult” Jamie, if I am remembering correctly. The first three were Tim Holcomb, Richard Bekins, and Stephen Yates (an interesting choice, given that Yates had played a different character on the show in the mid-70s); Lau was the fourth, and Todd was the fifth and final.

Reply

Yes that is Russell Todd, who took over the role of Jamie Frame from Laurence Lau, who was Anne’s first leading man along with Tom Eplin’s Jake McKinnon.

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Anne was fantastic on AW. I still remember and love it. I was heartbroken when she left. I didn’t think they would be able to find someone to fill her shoes, but they did. Still, Anne was my favorite. I think she’s doing a good job on DWTS. She seems so happy.

I also enjoyed Anne in the TV show set in Alaska.

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Anne will always be my favorite soap star. Vicky/Marley was just sensational tv.

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Love this, love Anne. Great interview Michael

Reply

The year was 1987. I was a closeted gay teenager living in the Midwest attending a pretty large high school. The 80s weren’t an easy time for everyone. And that particular year was one of the worst of my childhood besides ’83 losing my Dad. Call me crazy but often soaps were an escape for me, as they are for millions of people, especially during the 80s. Many gay or straight men watched soaps, or at least during summer breaks, etc. Everyone knew who “Bo and Hope” were on DAYS, which my siblings and I grew up on due to our Mom watching since it premiered. Then my best friend, another male teenager who was and still is straight with a wife and four kids, told me I should watch Another World too, which followed my DAYS on NBC. I tuned in early ’87 during the riveting serial killer storyline called the “Sin Stalker” which basically wrapped up in time for Anne Heche’s debut on the show. She was cast in the pivotal roles of twins Victoria and Marley, where she appeared first as Vicky who became the more dominant character than when the Emmy-winning Ellen Wheeler originated the parts. She was Marley first, when the show later added twin sister Vicky who’d been given up at birth. My best friend and I began writing are own fictional soaps throughout high school which we graduated together. And as Anne had the courage to leave the show to pursue other interests in 1991, I mustered the courage to leave my home and enroll in a Fort Lauderdale, FL college in October of ’91. As a matter of fact, some friends and I gathered in my dorm apartment to watch Anne win ‘Best Leading Actress’ on the Soap Opera Digest awards, which aired after she had already left the show, like the Emmy she had also just won for ‘Outstanding Younger Leading Actess’. As for my favorite scenes of her on Another World, that’s easy. It was during the ‘Who Shot Jake’ storyline and Anne had to portray one twin-Vicky-pretending to be the other twin-Marley on the witness stand! To protect her sister who was falling apart, Vicky posed as Marley, fooling everyone in court, even their lawyer Cass. However, when it’s mentioned that Jake indeed raped Marley instead of just attempting to which is what Vicky believed, it was all she could do not to break down herself. As soon as a recess was ordered, Vicky made her way to the ladies’ room to have a moment to herself to process this news. And in total ‘Vicky fashion’ she freaks out, trashes the restroom, tearing a picture off the wall! That was the moment I knew Anne Heche would be a star!

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Dancing with the Stars

DANCING WITH THE STARS: A Shocking Elimination on Grammy Night Leaves Ballroom Silenced

Published

18 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

By

In what could only be the stunner of this season of Dancing with the Stars, the Tuesday night, November 1o episode saw one of the heavy favorites Jenna Dewan and pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy eliminated right before next week’s all-important semi-finals for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Week 9 was Grammy night, where the contestants performed routines related to the Grammy Awards with songs that have either won or been nominated for the music industry’s highest prize.

After each couple performed their usual routine, they had to dance a second time vs, another couple doing the same dance style. Only Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson earned immunity from having to participate in it.

Dancing with the Stars

Photo: ABC

THE RESULTS

When all was said and done during the results portion of the show; the following couples were deemed safe and will dance another day: Shum Jr. and Johnson, Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov, Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas, and Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold.

That left former Y&R actress Tatyana Ali (ex-Roxanne) and Jan Ravnik and Dewan and Chmerkovskiy in the bottom two. It was then revealed that Jenna and Val would be going home. The ballroom fell silent and Dewan said her “thank you’s “in the most gracious way about her dance journey.

Dewan is a dancer, having worked professionally with the likes of Janet Jackson (who also popped up in a special message to her former back-up dancer in the episode) while currently being an actress, and appearing as a series regular on The Rookie. Chmerkovskiy has been controversial figure all season especially after being suspended one week after comments made towards judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

BREAKING THEIR SILENCE

This begs the question: did America want the couple gone, because they had an unfair advantage with Dewan’s dance prowess, or did the show want the couple booted off too?

Later, Jenna and Val broke their silence on the elimination to Extra. Chmerkovskiy shared “It’s’ definitely a sad result. I thought we had a great season.” Dewan admitted, “I know this was a particularly tough week for a lot of the online noise … but I know that we went out there and had the best time of our life.”

Val is married to pro dancer, Jenna Johnson, who remained in the top slot on the leaderboard during the competition with Harry Shum Jr. However, she also had a bad week breaking her nose in rehearsal!

Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and next day on Hulu.

So were you happy, or sad to see Jenna and Val voted off of Dancing with the Stars? Of the remaining couples who do you hope make it from the semi-finals to the finals and hoists the Mirrorball Trophy? Weigh-in via the comment section.

 

 

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Dancing with the Stars

DANCING WITH THE STARS: Guillermo Goes Home

Published

4 weeks ago

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October 14, 2026

By

Guillermo

The Tuesday, October 13 episode of Dancing With the Stars brought with it the end of the line for a fan favorite, who for five weeks was able to hang in the competition for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy, due to the at-home voting, and not for his exceptional dance prowess.

With 11 pairs remaining, the couples hit the ballroom dance floor to songs by previous Super Bowl Halftime Show performers for “Super Bowl Night” with special guest judge ESPN’s Joe Buck.

The sports commentator joined Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli at the judges table to offer up his thoughts on the dance routines and athleticism set before him throughout the night.

Guillermo Dancing with the Stars

Photo: ABC

THE RESULTS

When it time for the results following the final commercial break, DWTS hosts, Alfonso and Julianne, named Julia and Ezra, Maura and Mark, Jackson and Emma, Harry and Jenna, and Amber and Pasha safe. They were followed by: Ezra and Daniella, Jenna and Val, Tatyana and Jan, and Connor and Rylee.

That left the last two pairs on the stage, although not necessarily the bottom two in the voting between Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess and Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson. As the tension mounted, especially because Cameron had delivered his best dance of the season thus far, it was revealed that Guillermo and Witney were eliminated.

Speaking to the cameras following his elimination, the ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ sidekick, shared, “I want to say thank you to all the audience, thank you to everyone and Dancing with the Stars. I had a lot of fun, it was great. Witney, I love you for teaching me how to dance, thank you so much.”

Ezra and Daniella

Photo: ABC

LAST DANCE

Witney Carson. who has been pregnant while in the competition, said to Guillermo, “Thank you so much for making the season just so fun, so enjoyable.” She added, “He has taken care of me so much throughout this entire season, it’s felt like an empowering season.”

In their final routine, Guillermo and Witney Carson had performed a salsa to Bad Bunny’s “Tití Me Preguntó.” As the episode concluded, all of the celebrity contestants and pro dancers swarmed Guillermo and hoisted him in the air, celebrating his efforts throughout the competition.

As for who were the standouts on “Super Bowl Night” Paralympian Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach performed a salsa to “Hot in Herre” by Nelly to the top the leaderboard. along with The Rookie star Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy who peformed a paso doble to “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. Each couple scored a 36/40 receiving straight 9’s from the judges, the highest scores thus far on season 35.

Now below, check out the top two routines of the night and Guillermo and Witney’s last dance.

Then let us know, are you glad that Guillermo was finally sent home, or were you hoping that somehow he would keep surviving in the competition week after week? Of the remaining couples, who did you think delivered the best routine on Super Bowl Night and who are you rooting for now to take home the Mirrorball Trophy? Let us know in the comment section.

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Dancing with the Stars

DANCING WITH THE STARS: Britt Stewart Visibly Upset After Shocking Elimination with Taylor Hanson

Published

1 month ago

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September 30, 2026

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Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart

The September 29 episode of Dancing With the Stars showcased the continued strengths of some couples, but showed the cracks in others, as the 13 remaining duos hit the ballroom dance floor to yacht rock songs in week 3 of the competition.

At the end of the night, the couple with the lowest combined judges’s scores and viewer votes was sent home, and this proved to be a sticking point issue with the voting.

During the results portion at the end of the show, the first five couples who were named safe were: Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy, Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess, Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas, Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong, and Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa.

They were followed by: Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik, Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson, and Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold.

Taylor Hanson, Britt Stewart

Photo: ABC

AN UNEXPECTED TWIST

The remaining three couples awaiting their fate were: Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson, Jackson Olson and Emma Slater, and Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart. The couple sent home was Taylor and Britt.

Taylor and Britt performed a foxtrot to the the Doobie Brothers, “What a Fool Believes” during the night of competition and scored an 18 out of 30 from the judged. While it wasn’t the stand out routine on Yacht Rock night, it certainly wasn’t the worst.

With many expecting Guillermo and Witney to be sent home, when Britt and Taylor’s name was called, Stewart was visibly emotional and upset. After the shocking elimination, several of her pro partners spoke out and rallied around her and Hanson.

DANCING WITH THE STARS PROS SPEAK UP

Pro dancer, Sharna Burgess is hoping that next season, Stewart will make it to the finals. ]It should be noted that Britt is the first Black woman to be in the Dancing with the Stars pro company having joined in season 29 back in 2020, and she has never made it to the finale. Her highest placement was when she came in fifth in season 31 with her now husband, CODA star Daniel Durant.

“Knowing Britt and loving Britt, I just want to see her do a freestyle. I just want to see Britt, next season, get what our fans call a ringer, and we see her get to the end so we can have a Britt freestyle, expressed Burgess to EW.com.

Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong spoke out as being the couple who has spent the most time with Britt and Taylor during competition weeks. “I think Britt is an elite dancer, and an elite pro,” Armstrong continues, explaining that he and Miller were “gutted” when they heard the news. “It’s horrible,” said Armstrong. Miller shared she has chills” over it, and is “processing this elimination.”

Perhaps, Dancing with the Stars pro Jan Ravnik said it best, exclaiming everything is “going to be f—ed from now on” with them gone and more eliminations weekly. “I did love this partnership. I think they were incredible. I love Britt so much. I think she is one of the best dancers that I ever worked with.”

Now below, check out the dance routines from last night of Guillermo and Witney, Jackson and Emma and Taylor and Britt, and let us know if you think the right couple was sent packing via the comment section below.

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