Ciara Miller is reclaiming her space and letting her hair do all the talking.
The "Queen of 'Summer House'," as she was properly dubbed by Snoop Dogg at this year'sVideo Music Awards,
is no stranger to madness that comes with reality TV fame and fandom. A tumultuous season of "Summer House" morphed into a blessing in disguise, catapulting Miller into a whole new space where the 30-year-old remains booked and busy.This summer, Miller went from Fiji, where she served as the co-host of "Love Island: After Sun," to the Hamptons, where summer was indeed fun, to Los Angeles where she is now competing in her third week of "Dancing with the Stars" alongside pro partner Brandon Armstrong.
And while she's still finding her groove of things on "DWTS," one
thing's for sure: her glam is always on point. She might not be the "shimmer-on-the-lid" kind of girl when it comes to her makeup, but she is a sucker for a show-stopping hairstyle.
"I'm really in this era of taking up space in all forms and hair is such an important way to take up space," Miller tells USA TODAY. And as the new face of the Nexxus “Claim Your Space" campaign, the star is all about leaning into your locks as an extension of yourself and wearing your confidence like a crown. "Being able to see a Black girl in this campaign taking up space in this day and age is so important and vital. I was more than honored to be a part of it."
Below, Miller discusses her "DWTS" experience: how she's balancing stage fright with her competitive nature, her future beauty looks (both on and off the stage) and what it means to take back the power in conversations surrounding Black women and hair.
Question: What has been your favorite thing about "Dancing with the Stars" glam?
Ciara Miller: I love getting to experiment with new hairstyles. I'm not really a shimmer-on-the-lid type of girl, but for "Dancing with the Stars," you can be. So it's been fun. I get to experiment in a way that I wouldn't necessarily do all the time.
Walk me through the process of conceptualizing your beauty looks for the week and how you think about your hair with the planned choreography?
I've been lucky enough to have Nexxus on set and their products are also reliable. TheAir Shape Texture Spray is obviously one of my favorite products. I know that it can carry me from the beginning of the day when we're starting the first of rehearsals all the way into the show. Honestly, Brandon will be like, "I want your hair out of your face. I don't even want it in the picture." He'll give me little pointers; he's like, "This is what I need from you." And I'm like, "Okay, great. I can figure out a style based on that." Never thought I'd be taking glam instructions from a man!
What has been the most surprising thing about learning these dances? How are you doing with the physical toll?
It's kind of crazy. As soon as you remember one dance, it's time to forget it and learn another. We have six days to get it down and then by that seventh day, we're doing it on stage in front of a million people. It's honestly insane, but it is really fun just going through the process of everything. I get a little stage fright ... I can't lie. But I think I'm starting to get into the groove of things. I'm working through the stage fright and the anxiety and learning to have tunnel vision and manage your emotions in that moment. The physical side is also rough but the mental game is another thing to kind of tackle; I can't wait to see who I am on the other side of this.
You’ve had a lot of great hair moments this year. I loved the red hair moment at the "Summer House" reunion. What was your favorite look so far?
I feel like this is the year of color for me in terms of my hair, and trying new things. So I definitely want to play around with an auburn rusty orange-type of color. I feel like a lot of people want to see me as a blonde. Maybe even a pixie cut of some sort.
You could pull a Zendaya...
And, you know what? I'll be glad to follow along.
Hair, especially for Black women, holds so much for our identity. What have you learned about embracing your hair since living in the spotlight? How can other Black women learn to do the same?
It's hard, especially being in white spaces, and I feel like when you are growing up, kids just want to fit in. You don't want to be different. You take for granted the differences because we're just trying to assimilate to just fit in. For me, as I've gotten older and more comfortable in my skin, I feel like I've had the confidence to experiment and play around, but it was something that didn't always come natural to me. I wanted to be in extensions and weaves at all times … Even just the conversation of my hair coming up to my white counterparts, it's like, "Is this your real hair?" I find that genuinely annoying, but honestly, part of it is taking the power back in it and recognizing my God-given locks are my crown. Growing up, I just didn't appreciate my hair, so I want girls to learn to appreciate and love their curls and coils from early on. No matter what our hair looks like, it is professional, it's acceptable, it's not something to be mandated or politicized. Our hair isn't our entire being, but we are so much more beautiful because of it.
The next "DWTS" episode on Sept. 29 is Yacht Rock Week. Would you consider yourself a fan of the genre? What are you looking forward to about this week?
Honestly, I didn't even know yacht rock was a genre and what specifically it was. But when I was looking up playlists on Spotify, I was like, "I know all of these songs!" That's what my parents were listening to and what I grew up listening to. So by proxy, I'm a fan. But I am so excited for this week. I think the glam is going to be incredible. I have all of these plans to try and get Brandon to co-sign something like putting hair extensions on him. He's in charge of the dance; I am in charge of the look.
Apart from yourself, who are you voting for to stick around for the season?
I mean, obviously Guillermo [Rodriguez]. He's so amazing and I would love to see him in the finale.
Have you been able to mingle with any of the other stars?
Tatyana [Ali] is the sweetest, kindest person ever. It's been really fun getting to know everyone in this competition, even Tyler Cameron, Connor Woods ... Even though we're bypassing each other a lot of the time, we do sometimes have a couple minutes in between practice or … can do show-and-tells during practice. It's such a nice family and a nice partnership all around.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Ciara Miller's ‘Dancing with the Stars’ looks are more than just glam
