Vivica Fox, who is the host of TV Land’s reality show “The Cougar,” is hooked on the new season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” one of the first reality shows she appeared on.

“I’m watching and rooting for Lil’ Kim and David Alan Grier and some of the other people,” Vivica said.

Vivica’s advice to the contestants is to relax.

“Baby, you can practice six hours a day, but if 1-2-3 don’t click, you skip. Really, it’s one of those kind of things that either happens or not and it can be very frustrating,” Vivica said.

Vivica advises her favorites to keep practicing and try to let it go. “Last night I was watching the show and I wanted to go, ‘Just shake it out!’ If you miss a step, it’s okay because people don’t know your routine,” she said, adding that she can see people counting in their head instead of going with the flow of the music.
“When you see the people that get so self-conscious, that’s when they suck.”

We asked Vivica how she avoided injury on season three of DWTS, she said, “Believe it or not, I hyper extended my left shoulder and it still to this day is not right. But when something’s too hard, you communicate that with your partner. And you let them know, ‘Hey, let’s break that step down because I’m about to hurt myself. Mama’s knees can’t take that.’”

While the show is fun and the stars learn a lot, Vivica said it provides a lot of exposure and provides new opportunities.

“It definitely introduced me to a whole new audience. Middle America. They may have sorta known me from my major films--Independence Day, Kill Bill, that sort of thing. But for you to be in their home every week, definitely middle America rediscovered me.” 

After DWTS, Vivica danced into a role on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which she'll be returning to this fall for the entire season. That HBO gig exposed her to a whole new audience, including the producers of "The Cougar." "The guys where huge fans of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' sometimes you never know what job is going to lead to the next job" Vivica said.

We only hope Lil' Kim spins herself into the recording booth next. And hopefully David will dip  his way into another great series, now that "Chocolate News" has been canceled.

-- Sabrina M. Parker

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