‘Dancing with the Stars’ season 17 spotlight: Bill Nye and Tyne Stecklein
We’ll start this “Dancing with the Stars” spotlight article with a very simple message: Bill Nye may be one of our favorite people ever cast on the show. He was a childhood hero of sorts, and someone that is loved universally for what he has done to help educate children with science.
So what in the world is this guy doing on the show? We actually think that this is one of the best moves that he could make at this point in his career. Many people who watched “Bill Nye the Science Guy” are now grown up, so he may be able to leverage being back in the spotlight as a way to help parents introduce their children to what he does. All we have to hope for now is that he manages to actually stay in the competition long enough for people to know who he is.
Professional partner – Tyne Stecklein. The big problem here is that Tyne is an unknown and won’t bring in with her much of a fan following. She has appeared in some movies, and took part in a “High School Musical” tour (which we suppose gives her a connection to another contestant in Corbin Bleu).
Strengths – The biggest one for Bill is that he is making a number of people out there interested in “Dancing with the Stars” who typically are not. We are more excited about this season than any in a good two years, and he is a big reason why. He’s pretty funny, and we think to an extent he will be an “everyman” sort of person that viewers can relate to.
Weaknesses – We don’t actually expect Bill to be very good. He was at least working with a personal trainer before the show, but he’s never been a performer in this way in front of a live audience. At 57 years old, he’s the oldest man in the competition. (Valerie Harper is the oldest woman.) He’s just not going to be able to do everything that the other dancers are.
Prediction – Bill will get at least two weeks out of his time on the show thanks to the new twist, and it’s possible that he could be the first out if he bombs terribly. We do think that public interest will keep him around longer than that, though, but it is hard to imagine him getting further than four or five weeks thanks to skill and having a lesser-known partner. Granted, we’ll do cartwheels if he emerges victorious.
Be sure to share your take on Bill below, and click here if you want to read some more entries in our “Dancing with the Stars” spotlight series.
Photo: ABC