Dara Torres is so proud to be representing the U.S. in her 5th Olympics that she got her toenails painted with American flags while the team was training in Singapore recently.
“I had to bring one of my swim caps down for her to do it,” she told Billy Bush in an exclusive one-on-one interview the day before the start of the Olympic Games.
“And then, once the other kids on the team saw it, they started to come down and get it also.”
Don’t doubt it for a second: Torres is proud and excited to be here in Beijing.
“It’s just a great feeling to know that you’re here and your representing the U.S. — it’s the best country and I just feel very proud about it again,” she enthused to Billy.
One of her most exciting moments so far? — When the men’s basketball team came by to visit the swimmers Wednesday night!
“So who came,” Billy asked.
“Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, Jason Kidd,” Dara said. “All those guys. I got pictures of ‘em! They had a little bit of pity. They were like, ‘Oh hi, we’re going back to our hotel now.’”
“Did they come by helicopter? Rickshaw,” Billy asked.
“No! I don’t know. All I know is all of a sudden they’re in the village and I saw all of these lights flashing at night… and they were there!”
Dara was especially excited to meet LeBron James.
“Actually, I did get a picture with LeBron because we both shared the Time magazine cover, so I introduced myself and said, ‘Hey, we were on the Time magazine cover together!’ I still don’t think he knows who I was, but that’s OK,” she shared, laughing.
So what’s the hardest thing for Dara, being all the way over in Beijing? — Missing her two-year-old daughter, Tessa.
“Oh, yes, I do, I miss Tessa a lot — and I decided to stay one day after the swimming is over and maybe go see the Great Wall of China, but other than that, I’m on a plane home to go see her.”
“Do you talk to her a lot,” Billy asked.
“Oh, I Skype with her all the time! And I had cookies near me… and she wanted cookies, and I had to pretend like I had cookies and she’d take them, and she wanted some milk so I had to give her some milk.”
“Does she cry when you see her, or do you cry when you see her?”
“I think I cry when I see her!!!! She’s all happy to see me and then wants to go watch her TV, so [laughing]… I feel bad sometimes when Dora [the Explorer] takes precedence over Dara.”
Then it was on to Billy’s favorite topic: hair.
“You have your hair short, also, you keep the cap on… that guy Ryan Lochte, talked to him yesterday… he’s got the biggest ‘fro going, he’s got a really big ‘do… if he were not to have the cap on, how slow would he go,” Billy asked, with just a hint of jealousy in his voice.
“Yeah, he does have a little bit of a ‘fro going, but Speedo makes the best dome caps — that you put on and they’re so tight… that it doesn’t matter how much hair you have,” Dara said.
“It’s a beautiful head of hair,” Billy admired. “He’s going in the Billy Bush hair hall of fame. He’s got great hair, I’ve got great hair, let’s be honest.”
Finally, Billy needed to get a few tips on getting rid of those pesky love handles.
“What’s the number one anti-love handle approach,” Billy asked Dara.
“Lots of abs — a ton of abs,” Dara said. “Maybe if you actually go to the gym that would help… Can I feel?… Oh, yeah… Oh my gosh, no it’s not bad, he’s not bad, he’s full of it.”
For Billy’s full interview with Dara, tune in to Access Hollywood Thursday night, August 7.
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