Amanda Kloots Reveals How She’ll Honor Late Husband Nick Cordero on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

The Talk co-host Amanda Kloots is joining Dancing With the Stars, and she plans to pay tribute to her late husband Nick Cordero throughout the season. Cordero died in July 2020 after battling COVID-19 for over 90 days. The Tony-nominated actor was 41 and is also survived by their son Elvis.

“It’s gonna be hard. I know it’ll be emotional but I honestly -it’s gonna sound weird to say- I’m looking forward to it,” Kloots, 39, told Entertainment Tonight on Friday after ABC announced the DWTS Season 30 celebrity cast. “I do think that there will be some very therapeutic and cathartic moments on this show.”

Kloots, a fitness instructor, hopes to dance to Cordero’s song “Live Your Life,” which she asked friends and fans to play during his health battle. “I want that moment. I know he’ll be with me on the dance floor every single time,” she said. “I know it’ll be tough, but in a weird way, I kind of really look forward to that moment where I get to dance to his music.”

Cordero, who married Kloots in 2017, would be rooting for Kloots throughout her DWTS journey, she believes. “He’d be like, ‘Yeah baby!’ He’d be so happy,” Kloots said. “He knows how much I love this show. I’ve watched this show since season one… I know he would be so excited for me.”

Although DWTS is an ABC show, Season 30 will have two connections to CBS’ The Talk. Aside from Kloots competing, Carrie Ann Inaba will be serving as a judge once again. Inaba left The Talk before the new season began, following a lengthy leave of absence to focus on her health. Inaba gave Kloots some advice already, suggesting she finds her “primal energy.”

“I’ve never partnered because I’m so tall,” Kloots, who has danced in the past, told ET. “So to allow somebody else to lead, to follow, and to hold my ground still, that’s gonna be a challenge for me. It already has been, but [Inaba] is right.” Kloots also insisted she does not have an advantage over any of the other competitors just because she is a dancer. Dancing on DWTS is like learning a “new language,” she said.

The other celebrities competing on Season 30 are singers Jimmie Allen, and Melanie C; actors Brian Austin Green, Martin Kove, and Melora Hardin; reality stars Christine Chiu, Matt James, and Kenya Moore; social media personalities Olivia Jade and JoJo Siwa; Olympian Suni Lee; WWE wrestler Mike “The Miz” Mizanin; Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby; and NBA player Iman Shumpert. Inaba, Len Goodman, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli are back as judges with Tyra Banks as host. The season premieres on ABC Monday, Sept. 20.