What’s next for Billy after winning Danse avec les stars?
When Billy Crawford was announced as the grand champion of the reality TV show Danse avec les stars (France’s version of Dancing with the Stars) last month, I hoped for an opportunity to interview him asap about his awesome, unprecedented achievement. Billy is a friend and the main host of Tropang LOL, the noontime show produced by Brightlight Productions, the company I also work for.
Last week, he graciously agreed to guest on Ano Sa Palagay Niyo, (a.k.a. ASPN) the TV-radio show I co-anchor with Ali Sotto that airs weekdays from 8 to 10 a.m. on NET25. The following chronicle of Billy’s triumphant Danse journey comes from that moving interview.
In 2019, Billy got a call from TF1 (the company that produces Danse), where he was asked if he would like to join the show. He was interested, but then the pandemic happened in 2020 and the talks stopped. Fast forward to 2022, when he got another call from TF1 and was asked if he would like to try out for the show’s 12th season. Billy then flew to Paris and stayed there for five days of training sessions and auditions for the program.
When he got back to Manila a few days later, he got another call. This one, though, was a negotiation for his entry to the reality dancing show. Billy hesitated because he had never joined a competition in his life — whether it was dancing or singing — and it had been almost 20 years since he left Paris. In his younger years, Billy lived in France and had a thriving career there. In fact, in one of her vlogs, Dr. Vicky Belo said that she was so surprised to learn how huge a star Billy is in Paris. People still recognize him there and ask for his photo and autograph! Unknown to many, Billy speaks French fluently and even lived in France for a couple of years until he decided to return to Manila in 2007.
As for the invitation to join Danse, Billy had a long talk with wife Coleen Garcia about whether or not to accept the offer. He was getting cold feet and nervous at the thought of competing with dancers who were much younger than he was. At 40 years of age, he thought he was out of shape because he had not exercised in 20 years, though he went on diets and decided some years ago to quit smoking and stop drinking alcohol. Needless to say, saying yes to TF1 also meant that he and Coleen would have to put their careers in Manila on hold while they were in Paris.
But Coleen convinced Billy to grab the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The only request he made of the producers was that he be allowed to bring his wife and their adorable baby boy Amari with him to France. For Billy, the thought of being away from his family for three months was unbearable. And when TF1 agreed to the request, he took this as a sign from God to take the chance.
Admittedly, it was a “new” Billy who arrived in France in August 2022, one who was more mature but still full of self-doubt about his ability to handle his first-ever dancing competition.
In Paris, Billy was assigned Fauve Hautot as his dancing partner/instructor for the next 12 weeks. The first week, he says, was a breeze. He and Fauve got a standing ovation and four buzzes from the judges after they danced to Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar. Billy thought it was going to be easy, and for a week he was relaxed. But by the second episode, the competition turned serious and daunting. The show aired live every Friday, and afterwards the contestants and producers would then have a post-mortem and discuss what the theme would be the following week, what challenges to expect, what costumes the contestants would wear, etc.
Every day, he and Fauve would practice at least eight hours. He would go home at around 1 a.m., fall asleep at 3 a.m., then wake up at 8 a.m. to get ready for another round of eight to 12 hours of dance practice. For 10 weeks, he had no day off, and by the fifth episode, was ready to quit. He lost 20 pounds and was incurring an assortment of injuries, including a torn ligament near his crotch, back pains and bruises on his feet from dancing barefoot! If not for Coleen’s loving words of encouragement, he would have taken the first flight out of Paris back to Manila.
But then, all his suffering and hard work paid off when he and Fauve were announced as the grand champions of Danse avec les stars on Nov. 12.
Which in turn leads to the inevitable question, “What’s next, Billy?” There have been many international offers since the big win, but Billy needs time to get organized, explore his options, and pray for discernment and guidance. If he could have his way, though, he’d spend half his time abroad and the other half here in the Philippines.
Towards the end of our chat, the all-around performer shared that the happiest memory of his Danse experience was surely the time spent with his family in Paris. Seeing his son Amari grow in front of his eyes and hearing the boy make the vocabulary leap from “mama” to “mommy” was a precious and priceless gift from God that Billy will cherish forever.
“Yung experience na ‘to, hindi ko makakalimutan because I just really found out how God works through us,” he reflects. “Sa panahon ngayon, sobrang kailangan natin ng faith. Kailangan natin ng kakapitan. At sa tingin ko, ang Panginoon lang ang kailangan nating kapitan. We need more love. We need God in our lives.”
- Latest
- Trending
