We recently hung out with Kenton Duty, who plays Gunther on Shake It Up! Kenton Duty was super nice and couldn't wait to dish to us about the upcoming Shake It Up special, funny moments from set, and even how he deals with bullies! Check out our exclusive interview with Kenton Duty and his video shout out to TWIST readers below! And don't forget to tune into the season finale special of Shake It Up, airing on August 1st on the Disney Channel!
TWIST: Can you tell us a little bit about what's coming up on the rest of this season of Shake It Up?
KD: Well, the big season finale special is called 'Made in Japan', so that sort of gives it away - something amazing happens and we all get to go to Japan. A funny thing happens with Deuce, though, where he actually isn't IN Japan! That's all I'll say about that. But for Gunther and Tinka, something AWFUL happens to us, and we end up losing something very dear to us at the airport. We end up going through this trial, and we end up finding a new love while we're in Japan. Something else happens to us with legal authorities, but CeCe and Rocky really come through for us at the end.
TWIST: How do you relate to your character Gunther?
KD: We're both confident people! We both enjoy making people happy and laugh.
TWIST: What is your favorite behind-the-scenes memory from set?
KD: There's this one scene where Tinka and Gunther have to wear the opposite of what they normally wear. That was fun 'cause we walked on set and everybody's like, 'You know, you guys actually pull this off quite nicely. We were thinking this would look weird, but this looks really good!' So we were like, 'All right! Cool!' In that scene, I had to wear eyeliner - 'guyliner'! So, for a few days after that I actually had eyeliner on, and everybody was like, 'Oh, gosh!'
TWIST: That's really funny. So, you've spoken out a lot against bullying. Do you have a personal experience with bullying and do you have any advice that you could share about how to deal with bullies?
KD: I was teased a little bit being the short kid in school. Don't really give into it. Stick with your friends, 'cause your friends are your friends for a reason. Bullies aren't your friends, even if they're like, 'Oh, no, this is my bud, we're just messing around!' When they say that they're just saying that to fool themselves 'cause they feel a sense of power when they're doing it, but they probably don't feel good about it in the end. If you're being bullied, you've got to tell your parents, because your parents are there for you and they will always be there for you. They're the ones that you need to go to with most of your problems, unless you can figure it out yourself - and with bullying, you can't figure it out yourself because it normally leads to violence, and that's never the answer. So, always go to your parents.
TWIST: That's good advice. So, what do you look for in a girl?
KD: She has to have a sense of humor. I need a girl that can laugh and joke around, but she also has to be the kind of girl that I would be okay with taking home to my family. She can't take herself too seriously. Like I said, she has to be able to just joke and goof around, and hang out in sweats and jeans and stuff like that.
TWIST: That's cool. How would you describe your ideal date?
KD: Something that's goofy and fun, and completely low-key.
TWIST: Can you tell us about any upcoming projects that you're doing?
KD: My music! That, and Shake It Up! We're hoping to get my music out sometime this year. We don't know when, but I'm really excited for the fans to see it because they're really enjoying what Adam Irigoyen and I have done for Disney. So, I can't wait to see what they're going to think about my personal stuff!
TWIST: Great! Thank you so much for speaking with us!
KD: Thank you!
XOXO,
TWIST