Laurie Hernandez has never been in a relationship, but the 16-year-old is hardly lacking for inspiration when she needs to find motivation some of the “sexy” routines she pulls off on “Dancing with the Stars.”
On Monday, the Olympic gymnast appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” with her dance partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, and out-charmed just about everyone. When host Ellen DeGeneres asked how she manages to get into character for some of the more sensual routines, Hernandez, who noted she’s “never had a boyfriend,” agreed it can be quite difficult.
“When we were talking about tango, I had to reference ‘The Notebook,’ or ‘Finding Nemo’ ― like, how did the father feel when Nemo was gone?” Chmerkovskiy said as the crowd laughed.
Right before she performed the tango on the show, Hernandez said she had a lightbulb moment.
“I was like, I have to channel me smelling a quesadilla right before I get up there,” she explained. “That’s the only way this is going to work.”
After dishing on her secret to success, the Olympic gold medalist revealed another secret: her celebrity crush, Dave Franco.
“If he shook my hand or high-fived me, I don’t think I’d wash it for probably, like, a week,” she told DeGeneres. “Or longer.”
Naturally, DeGeneres gifted Hernandez with a dress covered in pictures of Franco’s face before playing an adorable video message from the “Now You See Me” actor and his cat. Her reaction is priceless.
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