Dancing With the Stars‘ Emma Slater is currently out with an injured ankle, but she’s keeping busy on social media. Slater, 35, shared a video of herself wearing workout gear, training for the competition with Reggie VelJohnson (clearly before disaster struck). “Our package from Soul Train Night. Dance with someone you love ❤️ @thereginaldveljohnson #noseboop #dancingmatters,” she captioned the post. “It was an absolute joy watching you dance! My sister and I grew up watching Family Matters so it was nostalgic watching you on tv again. You are such a positive light and radiate so much joy,” a fan commented. Slater has been dancing for decades—here’s how she stays fit and happy.
Slater swears by walking to stay fit when she’s not dancing. “In terms of keeping fit during on off season, I love to walk everywhere,” she told Sarah In Style. “It doesn’t even have to feel like a workout at all. Just leaving your car and walking or even cycling connects you better to nature, puts you in an elevated mood and does wonders for your body. I eat quite healthy too, not eating too much past 8pm will make a huge difference on your weight line as our bodies can’t digest massive amounts of food too well whilst sleep as we don’t expend much energy.”
Slater loves a safe tan when she’s performing. “Having a tan makes the WORLD of difference in dance!” she told Sarah In Style. “As a dancer who has performed for so many years now wearing tan, I never quite feel the same without it. You’re never dressed without a smile… Or a tan! And I don’t like to sunbathe to get color because I believe it’s just way too dangerous. We shouldn’t have to cook our bodies and risk skin cancer just to get a glow. That’s crazy to me.”
One of Slater’s beauty hacks is to set her makeup with hairspray. “When I’m on stage, I like to do my makeup a lot stronger than I would if it were an everyday look,” she told E! News. “Because of that, I like to use really pigmented and shimmery eyeshadows and dark liners that show up from further away and in stage lighting. I start my makeup with my eyes first and foundation second, so that any shadow that drops down onto my cheeks I can wipe away using a cotton pad and micellar water.”
Slater loves watching non-dancers gain confidence on the show. “I think it’s important to welcome the natural dance ability of all types of celebrities on the show,” she told Reality Tea. “It’s a very welcoming and encouraging dance environment we have, and the variety makes the show so entertaining. Some celebs just naturally have more prior dance experience than others. I personally think the competition is fun!”
Slater has a solid pro dancing background she’s proud of. “My favorite venture outside of DWTS was definitely coming to New York for the first time to be on Broadway back in 2009… I performed for 3 months at the Long Acre Theatre with a high intensity dance show called ‘Burn the Floor,’ choreographed by Jason Gilkison,” she told Sarah In Style. “I loved that show, so raw and intense. We would train for hours and hours a day too, before every show.”