The former 'The O.C.' star describes 'Dancing with the Stars' as an uncollaborative 'popularity contest,' saying she 'was so glad to get kicked off' early.
- Dec 21, 2016
AceShowbiz - Mischa Barton didn't have the best time of her life on "Dancing with the Stars". In fact, the actress, who participated in the recent season 22 of the dancing competition series, calls the experience "awful" and says she was "confused" by how everything's done on the show.
"I had no idea it would be so bad," the former "The O.C." star tells The Ringer. The 30-year-old says she had declined a spot on the show for years, until she was told that she could have more creative control. But that didn't happen, according to Barton.
"I got told off by my dancer," she recalls. "I was supposed to control the costumes -- I was told that I could do the design aspect of it, that's kind of the reason why I agreed to do it." She continues, "That didn't happen."
"It wasn't a collaborative like a choreographer on a film set ... I was so confused by it. It was like 'The Hunger Games'," she adds. "It was all a popularity contest. It was awful. I was so glad to get kicked off." Barton and her dance partner Artem Chigvintsev were the second couple eliminated in the season.
Leaving "DWTS" behind her, Barton is now hosting Esquire Network's "Joyride", on which she and other hosts hit the streets in new and vintage cars each week. She recently also relocated from Beverly Hills to West Hollywood.
"I keep thinking of this thing I heard, that if you don't reinvent yourself every seven years, you're doing yourself a disservice. I think that's interesting," she says of the need of constant changes. "I think it's really hard to do--I think it's extremely scary for women especially, every seven years, but I'm kind of at that crossroads again. It's about time for me again to reinvent myself and do something different."
