My Night With Louis Van Amstel

OK, if you’re not a dancer or a “Dancing With The Stars” fan, you probably don’t even know why it’s cool that I hung out with Louis Van Amstel tonight.

He’s one of the pros on “DWTS” and has famously partnered Kelly Osbourne, Margaret Cho and Lisa Rinna. Even my grandmother has a crush on Louis. He’s charming, charismatic and always fun to watch.

Also, he can shake his hips with the best of ’em.

As you all know by now, I enjoy taking classes with hot men. So when I heard that Louis would be in town teaching a class at Crunch, I signed up.

“La Blast” is a class Louis created that essentially fuses basic ballroom dances — such as the jive, cha cha and salsa — and brings them together for a high-energy, sweaty, hour-long class.

So, cardio ballroom basically.

Because I’m a freak who gets to classes ridiculously early to sign up, I had time tonight to take an abs class first. It was boring.

Then I snacked on some peanut butter filled pretzels. That was not boring. It was awesome.

Finally, I met up with Jess and it was time to take the class. Having a familiar face there definitely made the class more enjoyable!

There were about 45 people in the studio, all clearly more excited to get a glimpse of the star and less interested in the actual workout.

The workout itself was just OK. The best part, obviously, was staring at Louis the whole time. He’s absolutely adorable and brings a fun energy to the room. He’s not afraid to swear and encourages frequent shimmying.

My kind of guy!

I liked learning the basic moves from each ballroom dance style. My favorite was the jive, which we did to three different songs. First we went slow. Then he played “Womanizer” by my girl B.Spears, and we went a little faster. Finally, he put on a country tune I didn’t know and we kicked it up another notch.

Lots of fast kicking happening, and that’s when I really felt my heart rate get up.

There was also a section we did that included weights. It felt a bit random. We basically did some side-stepping while simultaneously doing shoulder presses, bicep curls, tricep kick-backs and lat raises.

Overall, I’m glad I tried the class because it was fun and I always enjoy dancing since I don’t really do it anymore. However I probably wouldn’t return to the class with another teacher (Louis won’t be teaching regularly once the class is at Crunch starting in March).

Louis was kind enough to chat for a bit and pose for photos after class. I told him Honey (my grandmother) is a big fan and he insisted I bring her out to L.A. for a taping of “DWTS.” On it, Louis. On it.

Now it’s time for a shower and bed. Tonight was the latest I’ve been at the gym in a long time! Tomorrow it’s back to the office.

YOUR TURN: Have you tried a new fitness class lately? Tell me about it (especially if it’s one you’d recommend).