'DWTS' Louis van Amstel Dishes On Dancing, Fitness, Fatherhood & Who Will Win Mirrorball Trophy

This year has brought a lot of changes to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom. With the show now being on Disney+, it has added so much more excitement and flair to a program that already has it in droves. And adding to the fun is that some of our favorite pro dancers like Louis van Amstel have returned to entertain us in only the ways that he can.

And thanks to his return, The Blast had a chance to speak to Amstel EXCLUSIVELY about not only his grand return, but also the joys of being a father and his thoughts on who will win the show this year and so much more.

Louis van Amstel had a chance to dance with the iconic Cheryl Ladd this year on the show and though they were eliminated, he still gets to dance with the other pros throughout the rest of the season. And coming back after a seven year hiatus, now that more eyeballs are on him, he has a lot to share on what he is doing on and off the dance floor.

For one, he has his own dance fitness program called LaBlast. And what that actually is he explained to us EXCLUSIVELY saying, It's LABlast Dance Fitness, which I started in 2010 after you know being on the show for nine seasons. I realized then and there that it's so much fun for the audience to watch, but I wanted to give them an opportunity, "Wait a minute, you now can learn all these dances yourself!" And since it is a fitness program, after twelve years of developing it, it really gives you all the benefits of fitness and all the benefits of the fact that you're dancing throughout the entire workout. And because of the pandemic, we started our on demand program. You can do it on your computer. As a matter of fact, I'm joining my own team because I am not in the studio. So I'm taking class and really, it's so much fun. You can do it at home, you can do it in the park. As long as you have with wireless internet, you can join on demand and even Cheryl Ladd, she is joining the on demand program now. She fell in love."

But when it comes to his future with DWTS, he has some ideas on all of that as well as he told us, "I'm not making the decision to bring myself back, but I made sure that the powers that be know that I've missed it. I've loved being back in whatever capacity, whether this is as a pro dancer or potentially if Len decides to retire, and I'm ready to step in, but only if he is ready to retire or maybe there's a new role. I really love helping the other pros. 70% of them, I was already their coach before Dancing with the Stars started like Witney, she was 10 years. Lindsay, Brandon, I mean since I live in Utah, they're all in Utah. So many of them I already coached. So to kind of be a role, this would be a new role that I could be the one helping every couple to be their best, to be the liaison between the couple's, and the production company and the creative team. I just love to be part of the show one way or another."

And as much as that is all important, he also recognizes other important things in his life and that is family.

First off, many know that Louis van Amstel is an accomplished dancer and choreographer and that is very near and dear to his heart, but that isn't his entire life as he is also a very loving father of two. Amstel and his partner Josh Lancaster, who have been married since 2017 decided that they wanted to start a family very soon after marriage. And when the couple worked on that process, they decided to go through foster care with help from Raise the Future.

When we asked Amstel the importance of adopting his two sons, Jonathan and Daniel and adoption in general, he emphatically spoke to us about it all saying, "Yes, my husband and I, first we wanted to get married which is now legal and then it became legal that same-sex couples could actually adopt, which was something we wanted from the moment we met. So, three years ago we dove into the research and we realized adopting older children within the United States is actually easier than people think. Many people go to another country and spend thousands of dollars and we decided, "No, we live in the United States, let's look within the United States." And both our boys, at the age of 10, we adopted them from the foster care system from Colorado and Nevada. And it's funny because the process, I kid you not was nine months. I know it's funny because when a woman you know she's pregnant for about nine months and we started the process and until adoption it was nine months."

And through that process, we also saw the bliss on Amstel's face when he talked about his sons. It was so intoxicating as he shared with us what he has learned about himself ever since taking on the role of fatherhood as he gushed, "Being a parent, makes you much more aware of the other person. You're much more caring. I see it even on Dancing with the Stars. Going into the pro rehearsals I feel like the dad, wanting to make sure everyone is okay. "How can I help you?" Before the seven year absence and prior to being on the show, it was like, "OK, we are competitors, we are doing this together but we're still on our own turf." And now it's just different and having kids, adopted... People ask me this question all the time, does it feel different than by having biological children? Now I don't have biological children but in the discussion with biological parents, the moment you decide you're going to adopt this child, Papa Bear comes out. It's really a mental decision, the moment you decide, this is my child, it is the same as having a biological child. It's a wonderful feeling, almost even better. Because, you know, when you adopt a child out of the foster care system, these children did not choose to be put on this planet. They didn't have a choice. Let's talk about the children. When you take them out of the foster care system, you're doing double duty. It's good for you. But what you're doing for this child, is just so wonderful. When we saw our sons, Daniel and Jonathan, we fell in love."

Now clearly Amstel couldn't speak any higher about the adoption process that him and his husband went through and he wants the word to get out for others to partake in this live changing journey themselves as he finds it to be so important. They have seen the benefits through their family through adoption but when we asked if he would like to have a third, he added with a giggle, "No, our family is full."

And since he has won in the family department of things, we need to find out who is going to win when it comes to the professional side of his life.

As the weeks get closer and closer to the finale, we will get to see Amstel dance, and though it is unfortunate that Amstel will not be winning the show this year, he does have an idea of who will win. And it seems to be a bit of a tight race in his mind.

His thoughts were that a couple of the couples have a great chance to hold the Mirrorball Trophy as he told us, "Well, if you look at the dance quality, as close to the character of the dances, Charli is the one to beat, Charli and Mark. But, if you look at the heart and soul and really quality movements, Wayne and Witney. But then, but then Gabby keeps getting better. And I must say, I know I'm not picking one winner, but Shangela and Gleb, the entertainment value that they bring, the uniqueness that they bring. They have to rehearse during the week as two men, but then they compete as male female. I think what they're doing is stunning, I thank Disney+ and ABC for this opportunity, especially as an openly gay man to have a couple like that. I think it's wonderful. So whoever wins it has been such a phenomenal season this year, but the race isn't over, that is clear."

We may have to agree and we think a lot of people have those similar feelings, but as the weeks go on until the finale, we will all have to find out together on who will actually win.

You can watch new episodes every Monday and select Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Disney+.