Samantha Harris on her return to DWtS
Samantha Harris returned to her job as co-host of Dancing With the Stars last night, three weeks after giving birth to her first child, daughter Josselyn Sydney, and she couldn’t have been more excited.
The 33-year-old gave birth to little Josselyn on September 23rd, the day before the new season of DWtS was set to begin. Former contestant Drew Lachey happily filled in for the new mom, testing his chops as he’s hosting his own dance show this winter. When Samantha contacted Drew to let him know that she was coming back, he replied,
Oh, I thought you’d come back after two weeks.
Samantha loves being a mom and calls it “the most magical thing in the world," but she always planned to come back from maternity leave as soon as she possibly could.
I had hoped to come back in three or four weeks but I tried to put it all in the back of my head and wait until I was physically ready.
Making things easier for Sam is her husband Michael.
He is fully, 100 percent, in the gamewith me. We are partners sharing babyduties — well, except for the breastfeeding part. Although he always says, if hecould nurse, he would! I appreciate the offer. I didn’t change a diaper for thefirst five or six days that Josselyn was alive so it’s wonderful.
Samantha was looking forward to being back with DWTS and doesn’t think that it will be a problem.
I’m always one of those people who likes to go, go, go, so I think I’ll be fine. I’m feeling pretty good. But come Wednesday, I’m sure I’ll need to recuperate. It’s fantastic to be back. I truly love theenergy and excitement that this ballroom offers. As hard as it was to leave Josselyn tonight, Iknow that I’m going to be even more excited to be home with her becausedistance makes the heart grow fonder and even [after] an hour or two here orthere, I’m just clamoring to get home to be with her.
Samantha, a fitness fan who blogged about how sad she was to stop her routine on doctor’s orders, said,
My doctor said it was OK [to work out]. So I slowly went back to a yoga class one day, a sculptingclass one day and a cardio-sculpting class another day. But I’m takingit easy. I’m not trying to drop the weight fast in any capacity.
On a fashion note, the silver satin empire dress that Samantha wore last night was actually the outfit that she was scheduled to wear at the season premiere. If she had worn the outfit at the premiere, she was going to have to wear flats with the dress, but last night she was able to wear heels with it — the extra fabric that would have been around her stomach made the dress longer. For her part, Samantha was just appreciative that the DWtS hair and makeup team was there for her.
For a woman who’s been at home in a ponytail with not a stitch ofmakeup on for the last three weeks, it felt [like], okay, I’m back!
Coming into the season in its fourth week, Samantha is getting to know the contestants a little late. However, she and Spice Girl Melanie Brown, mom to 6-month-old Angel Iris, quickly hit it off by exchanging boob and bed stories.
We just didthe whole baby talk thing [about] breastfeeding and sleeping times.
Thanks to CBB readers Mary Beth and Sarah.
- Posted on Oct 16, 07 at 11:04AM
- Permalink
- 11 Comments
October 16th, 2007 at 11:18 am
She looked really great last night. I have to say though – I liked Drew hosting better.
October 16th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I thought Samanatha did a great job in her return last night–she looked great and I was glad to see her back…I liked Drew as co-host but i was happy to see Samantha come back…can’t wait to see more pictures of Josselyn in the future =)
October 16th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Totally agree. She looked wonderful – kept thinking “what is the rush”, she JUST had that baby 4 weeks ago!
Bummer, I like Drew so much better too!
October 16th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
She’s a good host (even though I liked Drew better) and did SO great last night considering she has new mama baby brain. I was impressed.
I thought that dress was SO ugly. I was shocked; I always see her in dresses that I think are fabulous.
October 16th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
drew was so much more relaxed and confident. i miss him. congrats to samantha though- she’s beautiful & i love her daughter’s name.
October 16th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
i too missed Drew, it just wasnt the same show without him. I liked her dress last night, i thought she looked great for being only a few weeks postpartum.
October 16th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I missed drew. Didn’t like the dress she wore at all, it wasn’t flattering IMO.
October 16th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
It’s only been 3 weeks since she’s had the baby – not 4.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
am i the only one that is bothered that she’s returning so quickly after having given birth to her child? i remember wanting to be with my child, nursing and cuddling! i know she probably doesn’t work 60 hours, but a 3-week maternity leave seems way too short. i think it’s sad to think she’s more into her career than a 3-week old preemie!
October 17th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I just can’t believe anyone in their right mind would voluntarily go back to work 3 short weeks after having a baby. Specially having more money and a more flexible job than most.
I love my job too – but I love my children more. 3 weeks is just waaaay too soon… even 3 months were too soon for me.
Anyways, I think the dress looked ugly (what’s with the black sash in the middle???), but she looked stunning… I wish I had a make up artist to make me look that good 3 weeks postpartum…
October 18th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
i’m a mom of 3 under the age of 5….i don’t understand how or why somebody would want to go back to work after 3 weeks if you have the choice. “As hard as it was to leave Josselyn tonight, I know that I’m going to be even more excited to be home with her because distance makes the heart grow fonder and even [after] an hour or two here or there, I’m just clamoring to get home to be with her.” and then she’s going to yoga, scultping and cardio class on top of that? sounds like it’s only an hour or two here or there w/ the baby. give me a break. sounds like she selfish to me….