Taylor Hanson got emotional while explaining why he wanted to be paired up with Britt Stewart on Dancing With the Stars season 35.
“I am such a Britt fan,” Hanson, 43, gushed on the Thursday, October 1, episode of the “Dancing With the Stars Official Podcast” following their recent elimination. “We’ve become good friends in this short amount of time. You’re really trying to drop your walls down. You’re like, ‘OK, let’s go, let’s do this.’”
The singer added that Stewart, 37, “is incredible,” so the “biggest disappointment” is that they couldn’t accomplish their goal of winning the season.
“I wanted to take it to the mirrorball for this girl. [I’m] just grateful for the journey,” he said.
Hanson also shared how Stewart stood out to him amongst all the “talented” pros on the dancing competition show.
“I saw Britt — I’m getting emotional now. She has done a lot of what I have done in a lot of ways with dance for most of her life,” he said while fighting back tears. “She’s thrown her heart at it … and that’s the thing most people avoid.”
The musician explained that he sees a lot of qualities in Stewart that align with people he looks up to.
“I think, like, all my heroes, that’s what they’ve done,” he said. “My heroes are not all musicians. My heroes are architects and painters and people that had crazy ideas.”
Hanson added that he wasn’t the only one who saw something special in Stewart.
“My whole family did. [They’re] like, ‘That’s your girl.’ And I am so grateful that happened because she’s incredible,” he gushed.
After his family gave Stewart their endorsement, he made an official request to the DWTS team.
“I specifically asked the show. I said, ‘If you’re gonna pair me with anyone, I would like to be paired with Britt because she represents the spirit of why this show is great and why it is 35 seasons in,’” he recalled. “I’m really glad the culture is loving on Dancing With the Stars right now because there is something really elegant and really elevated. … It’s just positive and I think that’s a really good thing. We could use some more of it.”
While sitting next to Hanson, Stewart expressed her gratitude for the way he saw who she is through her “quiet” demeanor.
“I think it’s such a compliment what you said and I think it’s really rare for people to really see you, you know? It means so much that Taylor could see me through a distance. When we got paired, he walked through the room in our first meet[ing] and I was like, ‘He’s for sure my partner.’ I just knew instantly,” she reflected. “Thank you for seeing me, ‘cause I think sometimes I can be quiet or a little bit more reserved, and I do what I do for so much more than just me and for just dance. I do it for so many things.”
Stewart also expressed her “disappointment” about her and Hanson’s DWTS journey ending sooner than they hoped. (The pair were sent home on Tuesday, September 29, after their Yacht Rock Night performance.)
“We shared the same goal, that we wanted to go all the way. We had that goal together, but I know there is a lot more that can come from this partnership and friendship that we have formed. It is truly formed off of authenticity. And so because of that, it won’t stop here in the ballroom,” she said. “Of course I’m disappointed and I share the same disappointment as Taylor that I’m bummed I just won’t get to see you every day.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.