Danielle Fishel Says She Was the ‘Cast Cheerleader’ on Season 34 of ‘DWTS’: ‘I’m a Maternal Person’

Danielle Fishel was the “cheerleader” for all of herDancing With the Stars costars.

“My favorite journey was Alix Earle‘s. Watching her confidence grow from week one to the end was incredible — it honestly makes me emotional. When we first met at Good Morning America, she barely made eye contact with me. I wasn’t sure if she just didn’t like me. But by the end of the show, she had completely blossomed into this confident person. I’m so proud of her,” the actress, 44, who is sharing how she’s refreshing her home and routines this spring cleaning season with the help of Lysol Lavender & Cotton Blossom, exclusively tells Morning Honey.

The Boy Meets World alum, who competed on Season 34 of the ABC series, had no clue she would come out of the show with such important friendships.

“Mostly because I’m competitive. I thought, ‘There can only be one winner.’ But once I got there, I realized I wanted everyone to succeed. Andy Richter and I used to joke, ‘Do they really have to eliminate people? Can’t we all just stay?'” she quips.

Fishel likes to think she was some sort of mentor to the cast. “I think I’m just a very maternal person. But maybe a better word is that I was the cast cheerleader,” she says. “I always wanted to be a cheerleader in high school, but I was working on Boy Meets World. So this felt like my chance to finally be one in my 40s.”

Though the mom-of-two, who is married to Jensen Karp, turned down the opportunity to appear on the competition series for quite some time, she’s thrilled she finally accepted the offer.

“It was amazing — honestly the most fun work experience I’ve ever had. A big part of that is that, for me, it was temporary. The dancers who go year after year for the full four months — it can be physically grueling,” she shares. “I wasn’t dancing quite as much as they were, so for me it was incredible just to watch them every night and see them shine. You really realize how much celebrities are kind of ‘dead weight’ — because the dancers come alive on stage when they don’t have a celebrity attached to them.”

“I called Deena Katz after the season and told her, ‘You were right.’ She had encouraged me to do the show, and I said no — but she was right,” she says of the show’s longtime casting director and co-executive producer. “I’m so grateful I had Season 34 as my experience. I made lifelong friendships — I’m still in touch with Robert [Irwin], Dylan [Efron], and Witney [Carson]. I even stayed an extra day after the tour ended just to see Whitney [Leavitt] perform in Chicago.”

She adds, “It really showed me you can have fun while working. Now my goal is to find that same joy in every job.”

The podcast host’s partnership with Lysol makes perfect sense, especially after joining the cast on the Dancing With the Stars Live Tour.

“It was the first time I had ever been on tour, and also the first time I was living on a tour bus and sharing very small spaces with nine other people. So cleanliness — 99.9 percent disinfection rates and all of that — became very important to me. Being able to leave behind a Lysol Lavender & Cotton Blossom scent in a shared bathroom on a bus was key,” she says. “Then coming home, I had left my house to my husband, my two boys, a boy dog, and a boy cat — so it was really time for spring cleaning when I got back. Now those same products have made their way into my home, and we’re kicking off spring cleaning.”

“Disinfectant wipes are a permanent staple in my house. I have them at home, in my car, and in a baggie in my purse for when I travel — on planes, when I’m getting gas. The number of times they come in handy is through the roof,” she continues. “I definitely came home excited to have more space. But when you’re on tour and performing every night, staying healthy is key. The dancers are on tour for four months, and once one person gets sick, it spreads quickly. So the best way to avoid that was constantly disinfecting shared spaces. That’s where Lysol’s 99.9 percent disinfecting power really mattered — because you’re not going to get much better than that.”

Fishel is not quite hanging up her dancing shoes yet, either.

“I’m going back on tour with Dancing with the Stars in April — I’ll be in Texas, Denver and Kansas City. Then in July and August, I’ll be at the Dancing With the Stars convention in Palm Springs,” she notes. “I also have podcasts coming up and other projects. The show really brought back my love for on-camera work, so I’m open to acting or hosting opportunities again.”

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