‘DWTS’: Amanda Kloots Shares Son’s Sweet Reaction to Nick Cordero Dance Tribute (Exclusive)

Amanda Kloots’ semi-final performance on Dancing With the Stars proved to be one for the ages. She paid tribute to her late husband, Nick Cordero, by dancing to his song, “Live Your Life.” While chatting with PopCulture.com in advance of the finale, Kloots opened up about how her son Elvis, whom she shares with Cordero, reacted to the emotional tribute. 

Kloots’ DWTS experience is set to come to an end on Monday night. The show will crown the winner of Season 30, which features Kloots, JoJo Siwa, Iman Shumpert and Cody Rigsby as the finalists. While the Talk co-host has impressed the judges with her impressive dance routines throughout the season, her most recent performance was, perhaps, the most touching of them all. Kloots and her partner, Alan Bersten, performed a contemporary routine to “Live Your Life” to pay tribute to her late husband. She was able to watch the routine back recently with her son Elvis, who had a “beautiful” reaction to the special moment. 

“Last week after he watched ‘Live Your Life,’ he turned around, looked at me, gave me a big kiss and a big hug, like he knew,” Kloots shared. “I mean, it was the most beautiful thing. It’s just been so special also to share this with him.” She explained that Elvis didn’t totally understand his mom’s new project at first, but he has since “grown so much in the last couple months.” Now, he’s the one who asks to watch Kloots’ performances.

“When I first started his competition and I would say, ‘Do you want to watch momma dance?,’ he really wasn’t paying attention,” she reflected. “And, now, he asks to watch me. He’ll sit on my lap. He’ll want to watch it five times in a row. He points me out. He points Alan out and it’s so cute.”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house for Kloots’ recent contemporary performance. Before she performed the routine, set to “Live Your Life,” she explained that she and her family played the track as Cordero passed away. (The Broadway star died in July 2020 after experiencing complications from COVID-19.) After their performance, Kloots opened up even further about dealing with the loss, sharing, “When you’re grieving, you feel so alone, but I had such an amazing support system.” She then turned to her partner and added, “I want to thank Alan for this beautiful dance I’ll always have.”