Kel Mitchell is getting some major support from his former Nickelodeon co-star Kenan Thompson as he competes alongside pro partner Witney Carson for the Dancing With the Stars Mirrorball Trophy. As the team prepares for Disney night, where they’ll be dancing a jazz number, Mitchell told Us Weekly he gets weekly texts from his longtime friend cheering him on.
“Kenan’s shooting Saturday Night Live in New York, but he texts me after I’m done every time. He’s like, ‘Hey, you did so good,’” Mitchell told the outlet. “That’s my boy. That’s family.”
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Mitchell and Thompson first worked together during Nickelodeon’s All That, where he starred from 1994 to 1999. In 1996, the duo teamed up for their own show, Kenan & Kel, which aired until 2000. The pair also starred in the cult favorite movie Good Burger in 1997.
Cheering Mitchell on during last week’s show was the cast of the new All That reboot, which meant a lot to Mitchell, as he and Thompson are executive producing the revival.
“That was really, really cool [to have them there],” he told Us Weekly. “Team Nickelodeon in the building!”
As for former castmate Amanda Bynes possibly making a cameo appearance on the new All That? “Yes, yes. That’s going to happen. I mean, I hope it happens. You know what I mean?” Mitchell previously told the outlet. “I want everybody to come through. You know what I mean? I think she would do a great job.”
It’s been an emotional season of Dancing With the Stars for Mitchell, whose father underwent brain surgery while he was preparing for his Sept. 24 dance with Carson.
“This has been a really hard week for me because my dad had brain surgery,” he said during last month’s show.”It was an aneurysm, so they had to clip it off.”
While “everything went well,” Mitchell got emotional while discussing his “super, super close” relationship with his father. “We’re like literally best friends, so seeing him this way, that was hard,” he said.
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Photo credit: ABC/Justin Stephens
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