Derek saved his most of his gushing for Baz Luhrmann, the legendary director of Moulin Rouge!.
“One of his first films was [1992’s] Strictly Ballroom,” Derek told E! News. “It was about ballroom dancing. It was probably the only movie in the universe about ballroom dancing and that’s where he got his start from. And of course, Moulin Rouge!, which we’re also going to be doing for the special.”
However, in the presence of so many legends, it was a certain social media influencer who came to mind when Derek and Julianne were asked who surprised them the most.
“For me personally, I think Charli D’Amelio,” Derek said. “She’s this huge TikTok star and she’s taking the world by storm with social media. People know her for TikTok dances, but this is different, right? This is, like, it’s like Dirty Dancing. I was teaching her how to salsa, to ballroom dance, essentially. And we only had a very little amount of time together. But she was so dedicated.”
Julianne echoed the praise for the 17-year-old influencer, who took on the role of Baby from Dirty Dancing.
“When we actually had her on set, it was like, ‘Oh, she’s still a kid.’ You know, we’re these old folks over here!” Julianne joked to E! News. “You could see this growth. She really was Baby, where she was kind of learning, kind of shy and a little nervous. And then all the sudden just…Bam, it came alive.”