Joey Lawrence Reminisces About His Fierce “DWTS” Battle Against Emmitt Smith: "It Became a Real Fight!"

Joey Lawrence, 48, spoke at a 90s Con panel in March 2025 about how fierce things got competing against former NFL star Emmitt Smith on “Dancing With the Stars.”

The “Blossom” star took the ballroom by storm on the show’s fiery third season that featured a tight race among Lawrence, Mario Lopez, and the legendary Dallas Cowboys running back.

Joey Lawrence Reminisced on 2006 Ballroom Battle

Lawrence said during the Q&A panel, “It was a magical season cause it was like, really competitive. And it was before all the props, and bells and whistles. Like, we were still out there dancing, right? We weren’t wheeling out trees.”

The former teen heartthrob said the elaborate sets have turned the competition into “a whole different show.”

“It’s the evolution of most shows,” Andy Lawrence chimed in. “You gotta go bigger, better.”

“So we were just still dancing. Like we had still had, basically, routines. They only did it once a year, and it was like 20 something million people a week watched that season that we were on,” Lawrence continued.

“It was really competitive between Emmitt Smith, and Mario Lopez, and myself. So that became a real battle there.”

Lawrence described the season, which saw him partnered with pro Edyta Śliwińska, as “really good television.” He said the “super competitive” race between the three teams made the show work.

Lawrence and Śliwińska ultimately finished third. Lopez and his partner Karina Smirnoff were the runners up, while Smith and Cheryl Burke took home the Mirrorball Trophy.

Andy Lawrence Said A Celebrity Calmed His Nerves Watching Joey Compete

Lawrence’s younger brother Andy said watching the star compete was nerve-wracking, and shared a story about a surprise celebrity encounter in the audience.

“I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I went to one of the live shows. I was really nervous for you, I was wearing the nerves in my face,” revealed Andy. He said Bruno, also known as Sacha Baron Cohen, happened to be present in the audience and made a kindly gesture to calm him down.

“Before they were gonna eliminate you, I was shaking in my seat, because he looked at me and winked,” Andy told his brother. He went on to say the comedian threw him an expression as if to say “Your brother’s safe.”

Andy then added, “Bruno, he’s a nice guy,” doing an impression of the “Borat” star’s Austrian accent from “Bruno” while saying his name.

“He put me outta my misery, cause I was freakin’ out,” Andy finished.