Secret Talents of the Stars: How to Ride a Unicycle with Danny Bonaduce

On Tuesday, April 8 at 10pm., CBS is rolling out their latest weekly reality/variety series called Secret Talents of the Stars where 16 celebrities and personalities compete in a tournament structured format to determine who has the best hidden talent. When the weekly competition is over, viewers choose who stays and moves on and who is sent packing. The new series features a number of surprising names from the celebrity universe. It's a diverse field to say the least. Of all the talent shows currently on the air, Secret Talents might just be the most entertaining competition yet... it just depends on what entertainment you look for.

Expect to find 80s drumming hottie Sheila E juggling with The Flying Karamazov Brothers; boxing champ Roy Jones, Jr. will rap on stage; Ben Stein dancing The Jitterbug, Marla Maples displaying her gymnastic talents with The Anti-Gravity Troupe and their aerial bungee mechanics; wrestler Ric Flair and his salsa dancing skills; former Heavyweight champ Joe Frazier singing rhythm & blues; model Bridget Marquardt as a trapeze artist with Cirque du Soleil; pop star Mya as a tap-dancer and several more.

One of the stars on the upcoming show is former Partridge Family actor turned radio DJ, Danny Bonaduce who will be showing off his hidden skills at riding a unicycle. A unicycle? WTF? Well, as we found out, Danny's had to put in A LOT of time to brush up on his abilities. He didn't know he'd be competing on stage and maneuvering a unicycle with members of The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

It's not every day that you get to talk to Danny Bonaduce about riding a unicycle, so we jumped at the chance to find out he's kept it a secret, who he thinks his biggest competition will be, if he prefers riding a unicycle to having sex, and how he originally wanted to jump a tank full of sharks. To say the least, it was as entertaining to talk to Danny as it will be when we tune in to see him ride a unicycle. Danny Bonaduce on a unicycle, what’s wrong with that?

THE DEADBOLT: So how long has unicycling been a secret in your life?

BONADUCE: Well, it’s never been a secret in my life. But the fact that I do it in woman’s underwear is a secret in my life. [laughs] It’s very funny because CBS asked me to write a blog about this and I think I’m going to start with the words, "CBS Has Lost Their Mind." They said, "Do you have any hidden talents?" I said, "Yeah, I can ride a unicycle." And they said, "Oh, that’s perfect." I gave then all sorts of other things I can do, but unicycle was it. They loved it. But apparently when you tell a guy that doesn’t ride a unicycle that you can ride a unicycle, he asks a guy at Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey about riding unicycles - they just assume you can ride backwards and up-hill sideways and jump rope.

THE DEADBOLT: You can't go sideways uphill?

BONADUCE: I can go to the store or I can go to my neighbor’s house and borrow a cup of whatever I would borrow from a neighbor. But I can do none of these things that they [assumed], "Hey, why don’t you ride backwards here?" And I’m like, "Why don’t you levitate?" So I am practicing, literally day and night. The funny thing is, I work for CBS Radio. I’m on the air in 22 minutes. Then they send me out to do a live broadcast until midnight and that’s almost every night of the week. I do my show, I do an appearance in a bar or whatever, so in between CBS Radio and CBS Radio appearances I’m practicing unicycles for CBS Television.

THE DEADBOLT: So you're not feeling a little burned or overworked?

BONADUCE: You don’t bite the hand that feeds you, so I’m not mad at anybody. God love 'em. I was out of work long enough, it’s not like I’m tired. Fourteen years of unemployment will rest a guy. It’s just the, "This will be a cool part to ride backwards," or "This will be nice if I could hop up a flight of stairs." I’m thinking, "Are you guys crazy? I can ride in a straight line." Actually, that’s not true. I can ride around the block. I could even go off the curb. I can ride around in circles in my driveway. I can do that, but I never did any tricks. They just, I guess, assume that anybody who learned to ride a unicycle could be a clown in Barnum and Bailey's, and they’re like the best unicyclists in the world.

THE DEADBOLT: What’s the practice regimen like?

BONADUCE: Literally, I am practicing day and night. Every second that I’m not either on the radio or appearing somewhere for the radio or doing press for one of the television shows I’ve got going. I’m literally on a unicycle with a guy named James who’s probably one of the best unicyclists in the world. He talks casually to me, "Well, if you can do this, then you can do this easily." Then he starts riding with one foot while talking to me about how easy it is. And then he goes, "And then you can do this," and he starts bouncing up-stairs while talking to me. And it’s like I want to punch him in the face. It’s like, "Why can’t you understand I can’t do any of these things?"

THE DEADBOLT: Do you have it in the trunk of the car right now?

BONADUCE: I absolutely do. The top floor of the CBS building is a parking lot and it’s gigantic, so I practice up there. I have my unicycle with me all of the time.

THE DEADBOLT: So what’s better, riding a unicycle or having sex?

BONADUCE: Riding a unicycle isn’t even fun... It’s so uncomfortable. I mean, you know how you sit on a bicycle where there’s that pole and then the seat, but you lean forward to hold the handlebars? Imagine if you sat straight up exactly on top of the pole the whole time.

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