Tatyana Ali is improving week after week on Dancing With the Stars, but to her sons, she’s still just mom.
When asked whether her sons, Edward Aszard “Aszi,” 10, and Alejandro, 7, are “impressed” by how much she’s progressed on season 35 of the ABC competition series, Ali, 47, exclusively told Us, “No, no, no, no. Listen, no, no, no, no. They’re not. No, forget that. They’re not. I’m their mother. They’re not impressed by me.”
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum noted on Monday, November 2, that her kids are still watching and they are “learning” about the world of dance.
“My son asked me, he said, ‘Mommy, what kind of dance are you doing this week?’” Ali recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, I’m doing a contemporary.’ And I said, ‘You know [my partner] Jan, Mr. Ravnik? You know, he’s a champion at contemporary dance.’”
Ali said that her oldest son was knowledgeable about the genre of dance she was describing, responding, “Oh yeah, contemporary. Isn’t that the one that’s kind of like choose your own adventure?”
Jan Ravnik chimed in telling Us, “It’s true. You can do whatever you want to do.”
Although Ali teased that her boys will always see her as their mom, she was happy to report that they are tuning in and rooting for her to take home the mirrorball trophy.
“They tell me they’re proud of me when we do our nighttime prayers,” she shared. “They’re always like, ‘Let Mommy last another week. Like, let her do a good job. Let her remember her steps.’”
The actress revealed, “It’s just a really cool experience to be able to show my kids perseverance in real time.”
Ali, who shares her two children with husband Vaughn Rasberry, admitted that while they are aware of who Ravnik, 31, is, they don’t know him that well.
“He’s been on FaceTime a couple, like maybe one or two times,” she explained, adding that her kids are in school and don’t live in Los Angeles so they don’t frequent her practices.
Ali and Ravnik have found themselves at the bottom part of the leader board for multiple weeks, but during Tuesday’s Disney Night they received their first nine of the season. Their total score was a 33 out of 40.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba even told Ali that her storytelling made her very emotional after the pair performed a contemporary dance to “Easy As Life” from Aida with guest artist Heather Headley performing live.
“I mean, that’s the whole point of performing, whether it’s acting, dancing, singing, whatever. You want to actually touch people,” Ali told Us. “So that actually did mean a lot.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
