Eric Roberts fulfills his “DWTS” dream after 19 years

Better late than never!

In his Dancing with the stars Making his debut in the season 33 premiere, Eric Roberts revealed that he was first asked to join the show 19 years ago, but a scheduling conflict arose and he had to decline. “I'm finally here,” the Oscar nominee said in his opening speech. “I've been making movies for 45 years, but I was asked to Dancing with the stars 19 years ago. A day of filming for a movie clashed and it devastated me because I'm such a huge fan of the show and I'm ready to make up for lost time.”

He later added: “I've waited 19 years for this moment and I'm not going to screw it up… hopefully.”

The actor, who according to presenter Alfonso Ribeiro has appeared in over 700 films and television shows, danced the cha-cha-cha with professional dancer Britt Stewart to the choreography “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger.

Roberts seemed to enjoy his debut, even if the judges were not quite so kind. Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough all gave the star a 5, for a total of 15 out of 30. Hough commented that the performance was “a bit like putting together IKEA furniture, some of the pieces fit together really well and it's a bit like a puzzle.”

Inaba sweetly noted that she was a huge fan of Roberts and thanked him for appearing on the show before getting a little more candid with him. “I just want to warn you, my score might not be that great, but what I want to say is that you are a star and it showed the whole time,” she said.

Roberts is a man of few words and summed up his debut in his post-performance interview by saying it was simply “terrifying.”

The season premiere also included a standout opening number to “Set My Heart On Fire (I'm Alive x And The Beat Goes On)” by Majestic, the Jammin Kid & Céline Dion, choreographed by Jamal Sims.

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In addition to Roberts, the celebrities in the 33rd season of the dance show include Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, Tori Spelling, Jenn Tran, Anna Delvey, Reginald VelJohnson and others. In their first performances, the dances of the celebrity and professional duos ranged from tango to cha-cha, salsa, foxtrot and jive.