we are talking to her live from canada
it's monique who plays maya
on the next step
how are you hello i'm great how are you
guys
we are very very tolerable what have you
been up to
unbelievable um nothing much we're
still kind of locked inside here but
life is getting back to normal
got the little shot in my arm so good
hopefully soon
keeping it safe i'm still waiting for
mine anyway a minute we're talking about
a very special episode of the next step
today which is elevating black dancers
tell us a little bit more about it
yeah yes absolutely so
elevating black dancers is basically
just an inside look
of the poc cast on the next step talking
about their experiences
day-to-day life and then dance as black
people it's really awesome you guys
definitely got
super important they'll be on at seven
o'clock and just so you know poc means
people of color
the more you know now many we've got
some questions for you as well from our
very excited viewers
quizzes yes he does call them questions
we want to hear the first one which is
from blue guinea pig who asked monique
how hard is it to learn lines and
remember the dances oh yeah
yeah pretty hard um on a scale of one to
ten i'm gonna go for like
a six but i do have the mind of a
goldfish so
that's probably why for some reason the
dancing is a little bit harder for me
but mind of a goldfish that is why the
background is blue
and that is well swolled that's not how
you use it
try again all right from rd
dancing dreamer who wants to know who is
your celebrity hero and
why okay
um it's gonna be oh like a small tie
between beyonce and zendaya but i'm
leaning towards zendaya because
i am obsessed with her she is such a
good actress and she's gorgeous you're
right
right to be like can what can't she do
at the moment
you know i feel like she was made she's
too perfect
for me from you were made
from imagination uh tns lover four
was to know what age were you when you
started acting
and do you prefer dancing or acting it's
a tricky one
okay so i actually only started acting a
little bit before the next step
um when i finished high school and
i'm going to say i actually prefer
acting more um
i'm working on some new exciting
projects coming up uh yes i would have
to say
there's more money in it it's true
monique we've got another question for
you
this one comes in from blue peter dragon
and they're asking have you had any
embarrassing moments on the show
not this one not this no no not hey
not this one but where do i start um
yeah actually um the last episode of
this season of the next step which
you can go watch on my player which you
should definitely do um at the end
sorry to give spoilers when a troop is
facing off with b troop that final dance
that we do
we filmed that like so many times it was
crazy and i was going to pass away i was
dry heaving
on the floor literally so tired and all
of them were there watching
yeah pretty embarrassing quick question
is that footage available to view
i'm just trying to find it is that can
we'll talk to your producers don't worry
that's fine we'll we'll we'll go to the
others for that one would you be kind
enough to give hakuna
some moves to do me first though we're
taking hashtag libos
thank god yeah okay it would be my
pleasure
okay hacker for you yeah yeah boys it's
boot camp
okay we're gonna do the egyptian right
so one hand here
yeah and then we're going to put behind
your back yeah and
move your head like this like a pigeon
that's actually pretty good i like that
that's very good okay okay
okay
[Applause]
now this is gonna be pretty hard okay
but i think you can do it we're gonna do
a fan kick
and a pirouette so for the hand kick
pick your best leg if you have one
yeah okay that will work and paint your
leg like a rainbow
higher oh
right so
loving the energy kay tell us about
dilemmas what can we expect from this
episode
so dilemmas is going to be a deeper look
into
some of the drama and you'll get to see
your
favorite character's perspectives on
some of the dilemmas that happened in
season 7
exciting yes and we've also had a lot of
questions from
you guys so let's get into them first
one is from
summer i love the next step i watch it
all day but what age did you
start dancing and why do you love it
i started dancing when i was three years
old and the reason that i kept on
dancing was just because it was the one
thing in life that i loved
so much i couldn't see myself doing
anything else that's great it's a good
answer yes
from florence who wants to know are you
like your character in real life
um me and claire are very different
she's a lot meaner than i am
but we're both very determined and
obviously love dancing
yeah cleo scares me a bit but i feel
safe with you
that's always good thank you thank you
i'm so glad
we have one more question this is from
cludelover123
what do you think will happen with cleo
and jude clued
in the future
[Music]
ooh i'd like to think that cleo and dude
will finally officially go on their
first date as a couple
um and maybe who knows if there's like a
prom we'll go to prom together
get a little promposal in i think that
would be really fun if you could have
any superpower
what would it be and why
ooh i think i would want the power to
shape
shift so i could um you know do some
damage on each
other i'm just kidding guys i'm just
kidding
clear okay cleo might want it clear my
wife listen
all the dance captains oh it's rochelle
oh what locks her up
rochelle done easy definitely thank you
we have another one from
freddy who says what is the most
embarrassing moment you've had on the
next step
[Music]
oh the most embarrassing moment i had
was during a scene
where i was supposed to be whispering
but instead of whispering i stage
whispered
so instead of going i went
and then um i got embarrassed because
there was a mic it was really loud and
everyone hears me
oh don't be embarrassed but then hey
alicia that's still embarrassing that
she just said
i think she hurts contemporaries yeah
very very funny
danny you're going to be asking reese
some questions now aren't you what wine
oh yes i am
[Music]
it doesn't have to go this way it
doesn't have to be this way
please please i think it does i'll get
you a picture of yourself is that why is
that why you're doing this i'll get one
that's not gonna be known you should
send me one anyway yes and where anyway
so danny is gonna be asking free tns
related
questions and if he gets them wrong he
gets a splat
in the face are we ready danny get those
questions ready lights
music yes are you ready
okay danny what is your first question
okay on the next step one of cleo's best
friends is ethan
but which cast member is my best friend
a molly b maddie
or c miles um
molly
[Music]
oh yes danny that was a great one what
is your second
question
my second question is one of cleo's best
duets on the show
was with jude to the song brave but
what's the bravest thing that i have
ever done
a went swimming with dolphins b
got in a cage with the biggest python in
asia or c
serenaded my crush in front of the
entire class
this isn't even a storyline this is your
life
see stone in the crush why would you do
that
see oh splash
what was the right answer for your best
friend danny and that second question
so maddie is actually my closest
although i do love miles and molly very
good
and b i got in a cage with the biggest
python in asia
[Applause]
ah okay danny what's your third and
final question
let's try and get three in a row okay
this one should be this
should be easy all right in season seven
cleo loves to wear the color green
but what is my least favorite colors to
wear
a red and beige b orange and yellow or c
brown and pink brandon picks a weird
combo
obviously brown and pink
black
danny what is the cool
you know what i'm hungry for hacks a
chat with someone from the next step
well bye jingo my hdmi is plugged in
because i've only got miles dobson on
the line
hello guys
he's here and it's such
oh i tell you what this is a clear line
from canada isn't it very good we like
that a lot
uh oh it's great you look crystal
uh we're going to be asking you some
questions very soon but first would you
like to see a little clip of yourself
yes i'd love to here's the captions yes
we've had a lot of drama around dance
mania and such and age group hasn't had
an official dance captain in quite some
time
and i think it's time we changed that
rochelle you've worked so hard and done
so much and you've proven yourself
time and again to be a perfect leader
for this team nick
are you saying rochelle you
are a troops official dance captain
[Applause]
that that was very good miles do you
know what the best thing about that clip
was
what's that it was your tie obviously
great tie game yeah you're a bit
slutterly seriously
obviously i mean yeah i'm giving you a
pass
for the open shirt today okay because
we've got some questions
from you guys at home uh i know that
you've got some great answers up your
sleeve so
let's hit it shall we this one comes in
from rabbit labrador rainbows
who says what's your favorite move the
tns dancers do and can you do it miles
oh uh i'd say probably the front aerial
and
absolutely no i can barely touch my toes
i'm very inflexible
he's honest i like it i mean i am very
implacable i can't even touch bench
this next one comes in from tns fan girl
who says miles do you now live in canada
i do i live in toronto canada i've been
here for about seven years
well that's a long holiday yes but where
did you go to uni yeah
i went to uni in bolton near wigan it's
near wigan
it'll tell you what you can get uh we
got one more question for you miles uh
this one comes from parkly fairy who
says what did you like about dan's mania
and why
uh i liked being able to sit in the
audience and clap for all the great
dancing because i just got to sit there
and drink coffee the whole time it was
fantastic
we are joined by a tns cast member you
excited i can't control myself it's
bryan olay who plays rochelle
on the next stage it's brian hello brian
hello so brett could you tell us a
little bit about dance mania from row so
what is it
so dance mania front row is basically
frederico and the fans deciding who
deserves to be in the front row
and he deserves to be in the back row
and us characters have to prove as to
why we do deserve to be there
we have to impress you guys and so it's
very fun for us to all see
who does get to decide who's in the
front row yes they take a cam wait yeah
i
can imagine rochelle is probably not
happy with being in the back
row just livid we've had loads of viewer
questions that we cocker yes we've been
asked
lots lots of you guys have been asking
bria loads of questions so we're going
to read a few out now okay your first
one brian this is from
ams avi are you anything like rochelle
in real life
same height
100 percent we're the same height i have
definitely agreed to that
i say we definitely have personality
similarities and differences i feel like
as briar i'm a little bit more bubbly
high energy
michelle can be a little bit stiff at
times um and he's very focused on dance
dance
her whole life and it's not very
sociable so we definitely have our
similarities here yes
i forgot that rochelle's right here
actually here she is oh she is quite
stiff you're right
in the same place we have another
question for you brian this
is faram photographer dancer what has it
been like basically basically growing up
on a show
and what is your favorite moment on the
show oh yeah
incredible growing up on the next step
it's so crazy to think that since the
age of 13
i've been on the show and basically
grown through the show which you guys
have seen me grow as well
so it's been incredible i've grown to
have such an incredible family through
the next step
we're all super close and i don't even
think i could decide on one favorite
moment
definitely my first episode of the scene
with emily when i'm at the ballet bar
with her and kind of telling her what to
do
as a 13 year old girl was definitely a
favorite moment and favorite memory but
also season seven was incredible to film
so
i have too many favorite moments to
decide yeah i like it but let's be quick
last question do you get to drink the
juice in the next deep
drink the juice and the teas at the next
beep when we're doing a scene
we have to remember if we drink then we
have we have to do that for the exact
same scene as many times we have to film
so we have to be careful about how much
we breathe lots of toilet breaks
and yes have you got a fantastic dance
move you're gonna show us
she's ready okay cue the music are we
ready to in your own time brian take it
away
[Music]
okay i'm going to join in
yes i nearly got that then that was good
bottom brian
i mean i did it perfectly but he didn't
cut to me sorry hacker
we can all imagine it i'm going to be
teaching you guys that routine next week
on alicia's dance club so if you want to
see how it's done
but by me it won't be as good as brian
but i'll try my best then tune
in for that but beforehand we're going
to ask brian a few more questions from
the viewers you'll enjoy this yes from
the viewers indeed
so your first question brian is from
artydancingdreamer
if you could be any other character on
the next step who would it
game for be just because they are so
different from rochelle they're so
funny and rashad can be very sick so i
think it would balance them out very
well
james and eldon ha james and aldon you
love them don't you
they're vintage like trevor vintage yet
we have another question
from happydancer13 how did you feel how
you
when you found out you were gonna be on
the next step oh yeah
[Music]
i remember
and i was at a dance competition in
florida in the united states when i
found out and i was like running
into the ocean in the water like on the
sand in the beach like i was just going
crazy i was so excited
i can imagine how chaotic and energized
is there any more quest good that i've
been to florida any more questions
oh yes we have got another question okay
this is from evie simply
why do you love dancing the money
that's a good question i love dancing
one because of the challenge and i
personally admire love a good challenge
you can never be perfect there's always
room for improvement and so i love being
inspired by other dances and motivated
by teachers and just always having that
constant challenge
aside from that i love being able to
express my feelings and i just love
music so putting them all together it
just
you know makes me love dance even more
yeah and the cash
you sometimes get cash from dancing
[Music]
okay final question brian do you like
orange juice it's from unicorn orange
juice
i lost everything she drinks it nearly
every day oh yeah you're gonna get your
vitamin
d down yeah yeah it's vitamin c isn't it
who cares
i mean thank you so much for joining us
brian and thank you everyone thank you
surprise question it's been with it
well if you've missed any of the next
step that you can head to the iplayer
it's all up there for your viewing
delectation and if it doesn't get better
than that then it actually does here
live today because we've got the one and
only alex who plays piper is she
hey segway thanks hacker
thank you so much for having me yeah now
we're gonna segue into this chat alex by
asking you a couple of questions about
the next step
uh first and foremost it's been a weird
year to film tv hasn't it what was it
like making it over zoom
yes you know it was so fun to be piper
again and to see what piper's been
up to uh and it was just so unique too
because we're all filming through zoom
and so learning how to work that way and
also being my own lighting person
and hairy makeup person there were a lot
of learning curves but it was a blast
absolutely well i tell you what you've
got the lighting spot on today and
you've even included your own towel rail
which we love here
um now i'm going to come to some
did you get lots yeah i think that looks
great for socks
uh now we do have some viewer questions
so let's find out what they want to know
shall we nice segway
thank you wizzy 2011 says
are you similar to piper in any way
other than look same height
[Music]
yeah i get that a lot that was very
similar and we are like in every way
except
she has a cool big brother i don't have
a big brother she has better hair and
makeup and wardrobe than me but other
than that
we're exactly the same and you've got a
better towel rail
um i'm gonna squeeze in one more
question alex um how long does it take
you to learn your lines for a scene
oh you know what it kind of varies
because with the next step we're able to
improv
sometimes because we know our character
so well as i said i'm basically piper
so i guess it depends maybe like maybe
like 15-20 minutes depending on the
scene