PAULA ABDUL

Before Paula Abdul became a pop icon, she was an underdog kid born three months premature with lung complications and hip dysplasia, told in every way that her body wasn’t built for the stage. In this Part 1 conversation, Paula walks through the origin story that shaped her — from growing up idolizing Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse, studying jazz and tap dance, and refusing to accept rejection, to the moment she shocked everyone by taking over the Laker Girls and stepping into the center of the Showtime Lakers era.

She shares the real timeline of how resilience turned into opportunity: getting cut twice at auditions, becoming head choreographer, dancing in front of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, catching the attention of music executives courtside, and landing her first professional job choreographing The Jacksons — including her work connected to their Victory Tour. This episode is the rise of Paula Abdul before the records, before American Idol, before global fame — the dancer, the fighter, and the underdog who refused to be counted out.