Patti LaBelle Dancing With The Stars

For its 19th season (seriously?!), the mega hit Dancing With The Stars scored 2-time Grammy winner and R&B icon Patti LaBelle to participate as a contestant! At 70-years-old, LaBelle is not afraid to compete with the younger generation and we know she loves to kick off her stilettos to get down! She’s definitely going to get turnt up and show us some salsa or ballet-inspired moves! Anything is possible on that show!

Watch the video above to see the entire new crew of dancers get introduced (including NFL player Michael Sam) live on Good Morning America! The new season airs tonight on ABC! Don’t forget to vote! We gotta keep Patti Patti in there!

UP NEXT: Jussie Smollett Drops ‘Empire’ Finale Hints…

TV ROUNDUP: Patti LaBelle On ‘Dancing With The Stars'; Taraji P. Henson Says ‘Cookie’ Stole Her Friends & More  was originally published on ionehellobeautiful.staging.go.ione.nyc

Who else is just waiting ’til Wednesday for that Empire finale to drop! As one-third of the Lyon brothers, Jussie Smollett (who plays Jamal, but you already knew that) stopped by The Steve Harvey Show for an interview, informing us what to expect!

After playing his single from the show “Good Enough,” Jussie shared how excited he was to recently duet with Patti LaBelle (yes Patti’s making an appearance on “Empire” too!) and that there’s going to be an emotional showdown between Jamal and his father Lucious.

We would give you the extra juicy deets, but we’ll just have you listen to the audio instead below!

UP NEXT: Taraji Says Cookie Stole All Her Friends

TV ROUNDUP: Patti LaBelle On ‘Dancing With The Stars'; Taraji P. Henson Says ‘Cookie’ Stole Her Friends & More  was originally published on ionehellobeautiful.staging.go.ione.nyc

Taraji P. Henson hosted Live With Kelly and Michael today, filling in for Kelly. Henson was up and early to give the audience the tea on her character “Cookie,” who she jokingly said “she needs a break from!” Henson claims the dynamic character she plays every week has stolen all of her friends!

She also told Michael that her TV show name was her nickname in college (she went to Howard University, where she got a BA in Theatre), so its very fitting that she’s finally got to play her alter ego.

Later on, Taraji got to interview fellow actor Jerry O’Connell, who gave her former Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress a shout-out!

Watch another clip of her hosting gig in which she challenges Michael to show the kids how to do push-ups. (She couldn’t get him to take his shirt off though.)

UP NEXT: Shonda Rhimes Kinda Hates The “D-Word”

TV ROUNDUP: Patti LaBelle On ‘Dancing With The Stars'; Taraji P. Henson Says ‘Cookie’ Stole Her Friends & More  was originally published on ionehellobeautiful.staging.go.ione.nyc

Shonda Rhimes is viewed as a ground-breaker in television, since she’s created the hits Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and produces How to Get Away with Murder. But for all the credit she gets in having diverse casts ranging in racial identities to including the LGBT community, she actually dispels the “d” word.

In ShondaLand, she sees her characters and casts as “normalizing.” While speaking at the Humans Rights Campaign Gala in L.A., she spoke on the praise:

“I really hate the word ‘diversity,’ it suggests something…other. As if it is something…special. Or rare. As if there is something unusual about telling stories involving women and people of color and LGBTQ characters on TV.”

“I have a different word: NORMALIZING. I’m normalizing TV. Women, people of color, LGBTQ people equal WAY more than 50% of the population. Which means it ain’t out of the ordinary. I am making the world of television look NORMAL.

“The goal is that everyone should get to turn on the TV and see someone who looks like them and loves like them. And just as important, everyone should turn on the TV and see someone who doesn’t look like them and love like them. Because, perhaps then, they will learn from them.”

We love her!

TV ROUNDUP: Patti LaBelle On ‘Dancing With The Stars'; Taraji P. Henson Says ‘Cookie’ Stole Her Friends & More  was originally published on ionehellobeautiful.staging.go.ione.nyc