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“We want to welcome David A. Dawson, whose movie Star Academy premieres tonight and can be seen nationwide tomorrow. David brings his charm and wit and that dreamy face to the big screen. He is also a gifted athlete. Please welcome to Our View, David A. Dawson!”

They began a montage of me dancing, interspersed with me playing football done to a song called Hall of Fame by The Script. I was offstage and listened to the lyrics as they played it.

As they brought the music down, I smiled and waved at the crowd. I was seated between Aliyah Jones and Kat Mariner. Aliyah touched my hand when I sat down so I would focus on her.

“You are a wild man,” Aliyah began.

“What are you talking about?” I shot back.

“You’re just wild.”

“I was back there watching you, and you’ve been extra quiet today,” I said.

Of course, that was a lie. Aliyah had an opinion about everything, and when I said it, she cracked up and put her hand on my wrist.

“I think you bring out the beast in women,” Aliyah said.

“Oh, my gawd!” Ashley Munson exclaimed.

“I want to be really naughty with you,” Aliyah said.

I didn’t really know what to say. Aliyah had to be in her sixties. The ladies on set and in the crowd were shocked and started to whoop it up. I looked around, and inside I said, ‘screw it, two can play this game.’

“Can you see under this table?” I asked and then pointed to a woman in the front row. “Can you see?”

Aliyah shook her head at the woman so she would say ‘no.’ I pumped my fist and said, “yes!” The crowd thought it was funny.

“Anyway,” Aliyah said to get the interview back on track, “I have a very important question for you. We were all talking earlier about if you found the love of your life, would you give up your career? I said, ‘Hell, no!’”

“So, you’re asking me if the love of my life asked me to give up my career, would I? That’s my plan!”

All I can say is their crowd was rowdy.

“I’m in the market for a sugar-mama,” I added, which caused Aliyah to about fall out of her chair as I gave her a meaningful look.

“You’re obviously a super-honest guy,” Kat Mariner said. “You have social media accounts that you use a lot. Was there ever a time you tweeted something out you wish you could pull back?”

“I sent one out where I said aliens had gotten my friend Adrienne pregnant. I even Photoshopped a picture.”

This part had been prearranged, and they showed the picture.

“Are you hot?” Aliyah asked.

I gave her a funny look because I started to wonder if she had been drinking.

“Why?” I asked.

“Would you take off your jacket?” she asked.

I didn’t know what to do, so I just ignored her.

“Well, ah, someone will be joining David at his premiere tonight,” Jill Ewing said to get us off the awkward conversation. “David, would you pick someone out who will get to go to your premiere tonight?”

I started to scan the audience, and they went wild, like when Oprah had her giveaway shows. You’d think I was handing them the keys to a new car. I spotted a woman in her late twenties jumping up and down, so I pointed to her.

“Congratulations,” Jill said. “You and a guest are going to attend tonight’s premiere of Star Academy, starring David A. Dawson, at the TCL Chinese Theatre.”

They cued the music as they cut to a commercial.

“Thanks for being a good sport,” Aliyah said once we were done.

“Thanks for having me,” I said and then beat a hasty retreat.

Caryn was as shocked as I was at Aliyah’s behavior. I made a mental note never to come back.

◊◊◊

Our next stop was Cameron. Cameron McDaniel was the host of the late-night talk show on TBS. I was surprised when Frank didn’t send me any talking points for this segment, so I called him about it. He told me that Cameron wanted me to just have a natural reaction to what he asked. I had a bad feeling about this.

I came out and sat down next to Cameron at his desk.

“You have such great chemistry with Craig Wild in this movie. When you see the poster, you see these two guys, and your costars Bree Steno and Elizabeth Jenks, and you think, I want to see that,” Cameron said.

“First of all, that was what I thought when I saw the poster, even though I was on the poster. I was like, I want to see this. I like these guys, especially the guy with all the tattoos,” I said.

“Yeah, I can see that. The poster just looks like it’ll be fun.”

“You know, Craig’s an amazing guy. He’s like in the top thirty of the most amazing guys I’ve had the opportunity to costar with,” I said.

“But this is your first movie,” Cameron said.

“Oh, yeah. Exactly!” I said. “Craig’s a great guy. He’s down-to-earth. Every day he showed up to work, ready to go. Craig was a great mentor to me. He was cheap as heck, though.”

“Seriously?” Cameron asked.

“Oh, my, yes! Of all the times we’ve gone out, I don’t believe Craig has spent a penny. I think he has alligator arms when it comes to picking up a check,” I said, demonstrating the move.