She doesn’t need the money. Or the fame. Or the punishing training schedule. So why is Priscilla Presley (below), the manager of one of the largest estates in music, doing “Dancing With The Stars?”
“I’ve been a fan of the show since it started. And a few weeks ago, I get this letter from my agent, and it’s from ABC, asking if I’d like to be a participant,” says Presley, who debuts on the show when it returns on March 17.
“You have no idea what was running through my head: Yes, do it! No, don’t do it! I would love to do it. No, you can’t do it!”
At 62, Presley will be the oldest woman ever to compete on the show. Last season, much was made of the fact that contestant Jane Seymour was a mere 56. But Presley doesn’t want to clutter her head with numbers.
“I really don’t put a whole lot of stock in age,” she says. “I think that’s a totally wrong attitude in life. It stops many people from doing things. It makes me say: Yes, I will. Because if you have those kinds of stops in your life, you’ve already lost.”
So she decided to go for it, guns blazing. “My fitness level has always been good,” says Presley, crediting Pilates and yoga. “I can’t do these kicks up in the air because I’m not that limber. But I’ve been going to the gym every day.”
What she also has in her favor is a fantastic teacher, her pro partner, Louis van Amstel, a world champion who has been responsible for the choreography for the national “Dancing” tours.
Still, Presley is only human and has had her doubts. She almost backed out of the show, but her son, Navarone Garibaldi, 21, convinced her. (Presley had a long-term relationship with Italian screenwriter/director Marco Garibaldi).
“I said, ‘I’ve got second thoughts about doing this,'” she says. “And he said, ‘No, you can, mom!’ He’s my biggest fan.”