Season 18 of Dancing With the Stars has commenced, and Week 2 kicked off last night with high energy and ended in a double elimination. But the shining moment of last night's episode came from Candace Cameron Bure, famously known as DJ Tanner in the 90s family sitcom Full House. Candace, also the sister of actor-turned-evangelist Kirk Cameron, is also a wife, a mother of three and an outspoken believer in Jesus Christ.
A frontrunner who received a score of 9 last week from judge Carrie Ann Inaba for her contemporary dance, Candace was assigned a rumba style dance last night alongside professional ballroom partner Mark Ballas. In rehearsal, it was clear that Candace was struggling over the sexual nature of the dance and how to best represent herself as a married Christian woman and mother, who also seeks to be a role model for women. Last week she stated upfront to her partner that her outfits and performances would be modest.
Clearly a fan favorite, Candace has never taken a dance class. She was praised as a good dancer with emotional depth but was critiqued last night on the movement of her arms and, according to Carrie Ann, the lack of clear rumba styling in the dance. While awaiting scores from the judges, co-host Erin Andrews asked Candace, "You talked a lot in your package about balancing your religious beliefs with a dance that's sexy, with a show that's sexy... How do you do it?"
"You know, I feel like a sexual woman -- I've been married for 18 years," Candace responded confidently, as cheers erupted from the audience. "I am a sexual woman. But, you know, I want to reserve certain things for my husband. So we did, I think, the best that we could with the rumba that I still felt comfortable doing." Touché!
While not the only conservative Christian to grace the show -- Bristol Palin was also paired with Mark Ballas in Season 15 -- it is refreshing to see more women of faith entering the mainstream and defying the stereotypes, women who are beautiful, talented and sensual yet classy, dignified and unashamed in representing their faith, femininity and traditional values.
