Michael Courtney/CBS ©2022 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.When Amanda Kloots leads an exercise class in Mistletoe, Montana, the setting for her first lead in a movie, it’s clear she knows what she’s doing.
The former Rockette and ensemble player in four Broadway musicals shows off her skills in Fit for Christmas, the first of CBS’ three original holiday movies this month, this one premiering Sunday, Dec. 4, at 8:30pm ET/8pm PT. Kloots’ character, Audrey, returns home to Mistletoe, where the small town knows how to do Christmas.
Naturally, there’s a failed romance and a budding one. The idea for this movie came about during that awful summer of 2020 when COVID was ravaging the country. Kloots’ husband, Nick Cordero, was among those who died.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Kloots recalls. “The Hallmark Channel was playing Christmas movies to make people happy in July during COVID. And so I started watching … and this idea came to me.”
After she posted on Instagram about watching the channel, Kloots was invited onto a podcast, then introduced to Anna White, who has written other Christmas movies. Kloots pitched the idea to CBS, where she’s a cohost of The Talk. Between taking care of her son, Elvis, now 3, and juggling jobs, Kloots answers our “5 Questions.”
1. Tell us about a time when you were starstruck.
I was at a Grammy event. My best friend and I were there, and we got pulled from the back, back, back, back table all the way to the front table. And as soon as I started coming up to the table, I was like, “Oh my gosh, oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no!” And I get sat down and at the table was Beyoncé and Jay-Z. I am dead and dying inside! I was literally like, “I cannot believe this is happening. I hope she doesn’t kick me out of her table.” I was freaking out.
2. Besides acting, what other jobs have you had?
I was a hostess at restaurants. I was an airbrush artist at a tanning salon. I also did pre-partying for bar mitzvahs, anniversaries or corporate events.
3. What are the various companies you started?
My fitness company is the first company I started from scratch, all on my own, and I’m so proud of that. That was a really hard time in my life again, and I decided to just take a chance and start my own business and created my fitness company, which is Amanda Kloots Fitness. The second company I started with my little sister during the pandemic, and it’s an apparel company called Hooray For.
4. What shows did you love growing up?
Growing Pains, Saved by the Bell, Family Ties, Full House.
5. You’re the host of a mythical dinner party. Who’s at your table?
I have been watching a lot of old movies and dancing clips. Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly and that old Hollywood crew. I want it to be in their time. I want to go back in time and meet them at a restaurant here in Hollywood and pretend that we were all friends.
