Meghan McCain Rejected ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Three Times Because ‘I Want to Run for Office at Some Point’ and ‘Don’t Want to Publicly Humiliate Myself’
Meghan McCain said on the latest episode of her “Citizen McCain” podcast that she has turned down three offers to compete on “Dancing With the Stars” over the years (via Entertainment Weekly). She’s also rejected other competition series, mainly because she knows signing on for a reality show risks public humiliation, and she still harbors dreams of running for political office. According to McCain: “You can’t do both. You just can’t.”
“I’ve been asked to do ‘Dancing With the Stars’ three times, and I said no each time, because I just don’t want to publicly humiliate myself,” she said. “I’m a terrible dancer and I don’t do reality TV. The amount of reality TV I’ve been asked to do would blow your mind. I’m always like, what about my personality says I’d be good on these kind of platforms? I’m pretty shy in person. I’d be awful.”
More from Variety
McCain noted she “wouldn’t have to work for a year” if she accepted an offer to do a reality competition show, at least based off the salary her friend Clay Aiken earned from doing “The Masked Singer.”
“I’m not going to say how much [it pays] because I don’t have his permission, but he did ‘The Masked Singer,’ and … everybody should want to get on ‘The Masked Singer,'” she said. “‘The Masked Singer’ is a paycheck.”
“I do not do reality TV, because there’s still a tiny little window in my life that I want to run for office at some point, and you can’t do both. You just can’t. It’s just not serious,” she added. “Come to me if I’m starving in the street and I’ve had some financial issues, but, I’m fine.”
“Dancing With the Stars” recently announced its cast for its upcoming 33rd season, which will feature Anna Delvey, “The Bachelor” alum Joey Graziadei, NFL athlete Danny Amendola, NBA veteran Dwight Howard, reality star Phaedra Parks, actors Eric Roberts and Tori Spelling and more.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.