Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Guillermo Rodriguez was working three jobs, one of which was a parking lot security guard when he got caught sleeping in Jimmy Kimmel Live! announcer Dicky Barrett’s car.

That surprisingly led to a job on the ABC late-night show as Kimmel’s sidekick, a job that he retains today. But after over 23 years working for Kimmel, Rodriguez has waltzed into a new level of fame with his performances on Dancing with the Stars.

Rodriguez has been a fan fave on the long-running reality competition show; despite getting the lowest score from the judges each week (although his score has improved all three weeks), he has managed to avoid elimination.

This week, he took things to a new level, leaning into the absurdity by taking his shirt off to reveal ‘Dancing 4 The People’ written on his chest after dancing the foxtrot with Whitney Carson to “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”.

Kimmel addressed Rodriguez’s newfound fame after he finally joined the team of the ABC show in Brooklyn, having had to stay back in LA for the first two shows to dance.

Kimmel called him “this little monchhichi of ours”, the “Mexican Michael Jackson” and “Juan Travolta himself”.

“This is a very big week for us – not just because we are here in Brooklyn. But we are also witnessing a butterfly emerging from its cocoon – we are witnessing the metamorphosis of what is unquestionably the most adorable person on our staff,” Kimmel said in his monologue on Wednesday night.

“Is it possible that Guillermo right now is the most popular dancer in the whole world?,” he added.

It was clear when Rodriguez signed up to Dancing with the Stars, which is overseen by Rob Mills, EVP, Unscripted & Alternative Entertainment, Walt Disney Television, who also oversees JKL!, that they thought it’d be a short tango.

He was paired with Whitney Carson, who is around five months pregnant. Viewers seemed to feel that Carson was disappointed when it emerged that Taylor Hanson and his dance partner Britt Stewart were eliminated rather than her and Rodriguez.

But she took to TikTok to put the record straight. “I do feel like I need to address some rumors going around or some opinions, speculations, whatever you want to call it. Every week, Guillermo and I have been put in the bottom three, which doesn’t necessarily mean all those couples have the lowest votes, but it does mean that you don’t get to celebrate that you’re safe. You only get to hear who’s going home,” she said. “My first initial reaction is sad for whoever’s going home, and then obviously we celebrate, and they don’t really show that bit.”

“I am truly so grateful to continue on in this competition week after week with Guillermo because he really deserves it,” she added. “He is genuinely a kind person. He genuinely wants to get better. He never gives up.”

Now, Rodriguez, who has become known for making celebrities on red carpets drink shots with him, can toast his own success with his favorite tequila. Maybe on November 24?

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