Rachel W.

* 23-years-old from South Carolina. She loved to dance growing up, so she never imagined one day she’d be first runner up to Miss America. She felt a lot of pressure going into Miss America because you receive a lot of feedback, and the criticism can affect who you even are, and you may go into it not even feeling like yourself. The biggest thing she learned is that you can only do so much, and the rest is in God’s hands. Miss America has to be the total package, and she thinks DCC is very similar. They expect more than just a pretty face. The main reason she wants to be a DCC is because she loves to dance. She’s not ready to give that passion up, and hopes she can continue dancing in Dallas.

## **Confessionals**

Total: 12

Season 13: 12 (T16th most)

Season 14: 0

### **Season 13**

**(13.3)**

* [Kitty says they’ve saved the best for last] We won’t go there. Like I said, everyone brings a lot to the table, and we’re all unique in our own ways. And I love this dance, and I’m gonna just do it to the best of my ability.
* Biography
* [Names being called] There’s just a ton at stake, because dancing is what I love to do and I gave my very best in my solo, so we’ll see if my best was enough, or it wasn’t.
* [Invited to training camp] No, you can’t really feel anything in that moment. You’re just kind of numb to it all, but definitely excited.

**(13.5)**

* This whole camp, all the dances they’re throwing at us; it’s difficult, but it’s difficult for a reason. You’ve got to be ready to go once the season starts and blend right in with those veterans.
* [Before office] So, I’ve been called into Kelli’s office. I’m not really sure what it’ll be. I’ve never been into the office before, but cuts are always possible. That’s kinda part of the game here. That’s definitely a possibility.
* [After office] I feel really motivated right now. When someone gives me a correction, I’m going to make sure that I address it, I’m aware of it, and I fix it. I want to be on this team, so for me, that’s an active way that I can improve, and I love that.

**(13.8)**

* [Senior center] So, I lost my grandparents. They’re both with the Lord now, not too long ago. So, today just brought me back down to Earth, and reminded me why I wanted to do this in the first place.

**(13.9)**

* Absolutely, there’s pressure; we all feel it. And they’re looking for every little centimeter of your boot in the yard line, and it all matters.

**(13.11)**

* [Cameos] You know, you got the fan on you, and there’s music playing, and you’re just kind of moving and grooving, and doing your thing.

**(13.13)**

* [Makes team] I’ve come so far, and this journey has been so beautiful. And so, this is just a phenomenal outcome.
* [Retrospective with flashbacks] Training camp, to be honest with you, hit me like a tidal wave. And it was very intense. It was brutal, at times. Going into every night not knowing what’s going to happen. You don’t know if you’re going to be learning a new dance. You don’t know if there’ll be a guest choreographer. You don’t even know what song is gonna play. And so there’s all these variables and there are so many unknowns and so with that comes a lot of fear and anxiety. But I think that just makes this moment even more worth it.

## **Commentary**

### **Season 13**

**(13.1)**

* [Preliminaries judging] Rachel was one of my favorites today. First runner up in Miss America. Yes, exclamation mark. – K/ I loved her. I thought she was fabulous. – Charlotte

**(13.3)**

* [In response to Rachel saying she’s not the best] “Oh, I’m not special!” I mean, she went into a puppy dog mode, which was a real turn-off for me. – Kitty Carter
* So, I think you underestimated yourself, because you just delivered and that’s what it needs to be. You’re adorable. – Kitty Carter
* [Finals judging] I thought she had beautiful technique. – K/ Her dance, it didn’t have that much power. – Jay Johnson/ I gave her a check minus on power and check minus on kicks. She was almost there.

**(13.5)**

* You seemed just a little hesitant. – K
* Sometimes your movements are a little tight. Make them a lot bigger. You have such a large arena. You want everyone to see everything. – Nicole Hamilton
* Rachel is trying to let us have it with this one. – K/ She’s got a little more hip-hop in her step. – J

**(13.7)**

* Who’s that feeling it? – K/ Rachel. – J
* I love Rachel. I think she’s – I mean, she’s obviously so beautiful. – Travis Wall

**(13.8)**

* I think Jalyn and Rachel were closest to game-ready. – K/ We just want to shake you out and mess you up a little bit, and I think you were a little messier that time. But messy in a good way; it was more fun. – J

**(13.9)**

* "You need more power when you speak." – Melissa Rycroft
* "Rachel, first of all, can I just say stunning? Her face is probably one of the most beautiful faces I’ve seen. When I went to go speak with her, though, and engage with her… [*whispers*] this was what I got back and I couldn’t understand what she was saying. And she dances like that too. I do think she needs to work a little harder to get past just that beautiful face that we see." – Melissa
* "My critique for you, which I’ll be honest in watching you, is this. [*Motioning to face*] In that you’re so soft-spoken." – Melissa
* "Right off the bat, need to be bigger." – Melissa
* [Field entrance] "Rachel’s so stiff on this…" - Judy
* "Rachel! We’re going to loosen you up somehow. Shake it out. You need to be sexier, but it looks robotic right now." – Judy
* "She’s been perfect and can’t let loose." – Judy/"I’m entering on the football field. Go Cowboys. Go Cowboys.” – Kelli [*robotically*]/“You told me to do my arm down and up, and down and up, and that’s all I’m going to do.” – Judy
* "Now Rachel’s looking better with her hips." – Judy/"She still looks odd when she walks." – Kitty Carter/"Oops, she passed up her line again." – Judy
* "Rachel, you missed on the 35, that’s a trainwreck. Ashlee, good for you for not letting it throw you off, because that could really freak out the girl next to you. It’s a snowball effect. Cannot happen." – Kelli

**(13.10)**

* Rachel’s off-beat. – K/ Oh, yeah. – J

**(13.11)**

* [Cameos] Rachel looks flawless. She kind of really does have that Barbie doll look. – K

**(13.12)**

* Is Rachel dragging her feet on the entrance? – J

### **Season 14**

**(14.7)**

* Wow. – K
* She hits these photo moments. She’s beautiful to look at. She has beautiful lines. You could just let your shutters go crazy and just publish every picture of her doing the signature routine. – K [*Brief montage of photos shown*]
* [Show group judging] Any yeses? – K/ Yeah./ She’s awesome./ Yes./ She was really good today. She was on fire. – J/ She really owned the stage. – Cheryl Burke

**(14.11)**

* Watch Rachel take her next set of yard lines. Bam, look at her – K

**(14.12)**

* [About her being an “organizer”] I feel like Rachel is very internal./ Quiet./ She’s very go-with-the-flow, too. – Erin/ I don’t think she ever gets upset. – Rachel A/ All the entertainers won’t let Rachel answer for herself! – K

## **Office Visits**

### **Season 13**

**(13.5)**

* [Mid episode, second of two] Kelli asks how she’s doing, and Rachel expresses her surprise at how much this is. She wasn’t expecting 90 second routines. Kelli asks if she feels like she’s getting the routines, and Rachel does, but is glad they have tomorrow and Monday to go over everything, assuming she’s still here. Kelli says they also need her posture up; sometimes she lets her shoulders droop. Finally, while her technique is beautiful, she really needs to focus on power. She’s going to need KaShara’s level of power. [*Rachel leaves*] Judy calls her very sweet, and says it’ll be a hard training camp to figure out who to cut.

## **Other**

### **Season 13**

**(13.1)**

* She’s shown performing after Melissa Rycroft mentions being able to put a uniform immediately on the best dancers at preliminaries

**(13.3)**

* At the pre-finals session, Kitty Carter refers to Rachel by saying they’ve saved the best for last. Rachel replies that she doesn’t think she’s last and certainly doesn’t think she’s going to be the best, annoying Kitty
* She’s shown dancing on screen when Jennifer Kathryne talks about there being some great rookies gunning for the veterans’ positions at finals
* Shown performing her solo at finals after being introduced by Kelli
* Final one shown being invited to training camp

**(13.9)**

* When Melissa Rycroft asks the rookies for their weaknesses, Rachel says power (and Melissa Rycroft also makes note of how soft-spoken she is). Rachel adds that sometimes when she’s dancing, she feels like all the dances kind of feel the same, which Melissa seems confused by.

**(13.10)**

* At media training, part of her radio interview with Mickey is shown

**(13.11)**

* On the board, it can be seen that she’s received stickers from 5 of 6 evaluators (everybody but Melissa Rycroft)

### **Season 14**

**(14.3)**

* Highlighted (by name) performing her solo at finals

**(14.4)**

* She’s revealed to be in the top 17 based on how the TCC’s were ranked at finals (receiving a perfect score)

**(14.5)**

* She is revealed to be an “organizer” based on her personality test results

**(14.7)**

* While the announcement is not shown, it can be seen that she makes show group

**(14.10)**

* While not shown, she’s placed in the fourth row of the triangle

**(14.12)**

* The show highlights that she was an “organizer” on the CORE test

Season 14 Stickers
 Total

## **Misc.**

* 2020 Swim Calendar cover girl
* 2021 Swim Calendar cover girl
* Named Veteran of the Year for the 2021 season