Baton Rouge native and supermodel Brooks Nader made a sexy splash on the premiere of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old Sports Illustrated cover girl and her professional dance partner Gleb Savchenko, 40, tackled a tango.
For night one, the 13 celebrity contestants chose accompanying songs that exemplified their personal mantras. Nader opted for "Pieces of Me" by fellow "Louisiana girl like me" Britney Spears.
"I am newly single so the lyrics are super liberating," Nader said in clips from rehearsals.
The star-studded cast of 'Dancing with the Stars' gathers on stage with co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, foreground.
Nader told Savchenko that she performed on her high school dance team — at Episcopal High in Baton Rouge — but put it aside when she started modeling.
"He's so hot. This is a healthy little flirtatious vibe that will not distract us too much," Nader said of her Russian-American partner, who's also a choreographer and model.
Nader and Savchenko will compete on the dance floor this season against:
- Super Bowl Champion Danny Amendola with partner Witney Carson
- Notorious ankle bracelet fashionista Anna Delvey with partner Ezra Sosa
- From “The Bachelor,” Joey Graziadei with partner Jenna Johnson
- NBA Champion Dwight Howard with partner Daniella Karagach
- TV star Chandler Kinney with partner Brandon Armstrong
- Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher with partner Alan Bersten
- Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik with partner Rylee Arnold
- Reality royalty Phaedra Parks with partner Val Chmerkovskiy
- Movie star Eric Roberts with partner Britt Stewart
- TV icon Tori Spelling with partner Pasha Pashkov
- From “The Bachelorette,” Jenn Tran with partner Sasha Farber
- Sitcom and movie actor Reginald VelJohnson with partner Emma Slater
For their tango, Nader wore a shimmery champagne ensemble with a bra-type bodice and see-through slit skirt which flowed as she danced.
Many in the audience, including some of her family, gave Nader a standing ovation.
Look for Baton Rouge's Brooks Nader on the new season of ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars.'
"Because you have so much potential, you have to work on your strength and your core," recommended judge Bruno Tonioli, critiquing in particular her occasional wobbling and starting on the wrong foot.
"I loved that tango. You did very, very well. Work on what I said. That's it," Tonioli added.
"I mean, that was hot!," judge Carrie Ann Inaba said. "Work on the points of contact in the hold, because that way you won't step on him. That's what I saw that was most troubling for you was not knowing where your feet go. Keep the hotness alive, people!"
Judge Derek Hough agreed that Nader and Savchenko performed a good first dance.
"You have buckets of potential, you really do," Hough said, "Get a little more grounded in the floor, a little bit more like into the space, where you feel more balanced. Well done."
The couple's combined score was 18, in the average range for the evening.
"Dancing with the Stars" returns at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ABC. In addition to airing live on ABC and Disney+, the show is also available for viewing the following day on Hulu.