Anderson's Avenging Response to Kate's Availability Question

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'Dancing With the Stars': Kate Gosselin gets grilled by Anderson Cooper

By Christine Law
April 23, 2010 -- 3:27 PM ET

You've got to hand it to Anderson Cooper for getting straight to the point.

The "Live! with Regis and Kelly" guest host grilled Kate Gosselin Friday (April 23) on everything from that awkward tension in rehearsals to whom she "hated" most on the show to what's going on with that messy custody battle. Oh, and he also touched on the recent "Kate as the next Bachelorette" rumor that Jimmy Kimmel started Tuesday night when she was a guest.

For the most part, Gosselin handled Cooper's no-nonsense questions with grace. She explained that the heated practice session where her partner Tony Dovolani threatened to quit was due to the fact that it was a Wednesday.

"Wednesdays were always the most stressful because you had just danced, everybody's exhausted," says Gosselin. So basically she blamed the tension on having to start a new dance from scratch on day when she's already drained.

Alright, we'll accept that answer.

Next: "So who'd you hate most on the show?"

Yes, that's exactly how Coooper phrased it ... delivered with a straight face.

"I loved everybody. We all got along great, contrary to (doh -- Kelly Ripa cuts her off here) ... I'm in touch with a lot of the dancers, and I love everybody."

Blah, blah, blah. Nothing unexpected about that response. It's pretty much the canned answer across the board when anyone from the "DWTS" cast is asked a question about all the rumored behind-the-scenes tension. Just once we'd like to see someone fess up and be honest. But today was not that day.

Then cut-to-the-chase Cooper goes for the tabloid-topping Kate and Jon custody drama.

"It must be tough to be on this program and at the same time dealing with all these custody issues," states Cooper (not in the form of a question).

"I tried to warn Tony when he got me, 'Let me just tell you about my life,'" responds Gosselin with a smile. She continues, "It finally got to the point where a couple weeks ago, we had finished rehearsal and he called me after to tell me something and I was standing at my kitchen sink and all he called me to say was, 'Seriously? Is this really what your life is like?' And I said, 'I tried to warn you.'"

Gosselin also goes on to readdress her oftentimes stormy rehearsals with Dovolani: "I feel like a lot of the times what you saw coming across in our little package, as they called it, was just a result of the stress that I go through."

Of course now we're all wondering, what's next for Kate? Cooper, still on a roll, asks her about Jimmy Kimmel's thoughts on her being the next Bachelorette (Her response to Kimmel: "I'm married to my kids and my career.")

Before Gosselin gets a chance to answer, both Cooper and Ripa pipe in about "Regis and Kelly's" track record for matchmaking and suggest a "Win a Date with Kate" idea. She didn't say no, but she didn't exactly say yes.

So we'll have to keep on "Kate Watch" to see where the famous mom of eight lands next. We're guessing we won't have to wait too long....

Tune in to "Regis and Kelly" each Thursday (this week was an exception) to see that week's eliminated "DWTS" contestant.



Peter's Note: Don't miss, at the end of Tony and Kate's dance, when Tony tells Anderson, "You're next." Can you imagine the double breakthrough if next year Dancing With The Stars presents the first male-male couple? Tony teaching Anderson how to dance! Double WOW!!!