Bret Michaels and Dee Snider and I know how to step on a stage and front a band, and we're not ashamed to. We're not shoe gazers.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Once, right before a show, I realized I'd forgotten shoes. I didn't want to wear my flip-flops onstage because I could trip. I ended up going barefoot, which actually worked out because it became my 'thing.'
There was no way we were going to let this band hobble around on three legs. We chose the route that every professional actor, athlete and musician should do - leave the legend intact and bow out at the top.
Not that I'm some rocker, but what I do in a show is probably far more aggressive than what Dean Martin or Bobby Darin ever did.
I grew up around backstage, and that clinched it for me.
For stage wear and gowns, Julien McDonald, who is a friend of mine. I love that he can be totally over the top for stage wear!
In the beginning, I thought it would be really glamorous, working in fashion. But it's actually quite hard. You don't even know half the stuff that goes on backstage.
As soon as it was understood that we could handle things in our own way, it was the thrill of my life to walk out on that stage with people just hemming the band in.
Performers are the neediest people in the world. Unless you've been in that goldfish bowl - nobody can judge unless they've worn those shoes.
If I were trying to avoid embarrassment, I wouldn't have stumbled my way through 'Dancing with the Stars.'
I'm a heel man. There's no doubt about that. I've always done heels for my shows, ever since the first in 2008.