Despite its best efforts, America could not shame Sean Spicer out of joining Dancing With the Stars. So there was the former White House press secretary on the ABC reality show’s 28th season premiere on Monday night, wearing a frilly yellow shirt that evoked Big Bird and a pair of tight-fitting white pants.
It didn’t get any better after that.
Spicer’s big segment didn’t come until the end of the premiere’s second hour.
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“I was Donald Trump’s first White House press secretary,” he said by way of introduction. “There's no question my time in the White House was tumultuous.” After a montage of some of the least damning moments from his tenure, Spicer embarrassed himself further by gushing over the tweet Trump put out congratulating him on the reality gig. “It's nice to have the leader of the free world on your side when it comes to getting votes,” he added.
Spicer was paired up with season 25 champion dancer Lindsay Arnold, who described her partner as dancing at a “pre-pre-school level,” adding, “He definitely isn’t natural at it.”
“This wasn’t part of the plan,” Spicer told The New Yorker this week. “Frankly, I’m just making money, trying to enjoy life.” He will reportedly earn a minimum of $125,000 to appear on the show. Even host Tom Bergeron has expressed his displeasure with the casting.
When it came time to dance, Spicer banged some bongos and attempted a salsa to The Spice Girls’ “Spice Up Your Life,” ending with an exuberant knee slide.
“What were you doing there?” one of the judges asked when he was done. “It's like you were being attacked by a swarm of wasps.” The best he could say was that it was “strangely entertaining.”
“You were off-beat most of the dance,” another added. “But you had fun!” The team ended up getting a total score of 12 out of 30 for the night, just barely beating Lamar Odom, who ended up with 11.
