Elaine Hendrix | Iconic Meredith Blake, DWTS Comeback, and the Accident That Changed Everything!
Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe
PodcastOne
4.4 • 21.3K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
#904. This week on Off the Vine, Kaitlyn sits down with actress Elaine Hendrix — you may know her as Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap — for a conversation that goes way beyond the movie you think you know her from!
Elaine opens up about returning to dance decades later on Dancing with the Stars, why she was convinced she was going home every single week, and how a cracked rib nearly took her out of the competition. She shares what viewers didn’t see: the nonstop rehearsals, emotional whiplash, intense competitiveness, and why the timing finally felt right to say yes after turning the show down before.
We rewind to the moment that changed everything — being hit by a car just as her dance career was taking off — and how living with chronic pain reshaped her relationship with her body and work. Elaine also reflects on landing The Parent Trap at 26 (as the 433rd actress to audition), why Meredith Blake has become a millennial icon, and how fans’ relationship with that character has completely flipped.
Honest, funny, and full of perspective, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss!
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EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
- 4:04 — The rib injury on Dancing with the Stars that forced Elaine to miss an episode — and how pushing too hard in rehearsals literally cracked ribs
- 12:28 — Being hit by a car at 21 just after moving to LA — the moment that abruptly ended her dream of a dance career
- 14:32 — The Parent Trap audition process — and how she became Meredith Blake!
- 37:32 — The reality show that would absolutely destroy Elaine — and why she wouldn’t last five minutes.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The weight is over. Dive into Audubles' most anticipated collection, the best of 2025, featuring top audiobooks, podcasts, and originals across all genres. Our editors have carefully curated this year's must-listens, from brilliant hidden gems to the busiest new releases. |
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| 0:38.8 | Discover why there's more to imagine when you listen at audible.com slash best of the year. |
| 0:42.9 | This episode of Off the Vine is brought to you by Aero Lo. |
| 0:53.0 | If you've got an international trip coming up, download the Aero app or visit A-I-R-A-L-O.com and use code Vine for 15% off your first E-Sim. |
| 0:58.0 | BetterHelp Off the Vine listeners, you're going to get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash vine. |
| 1:04.0 | Quince, go to quince.com slash vine for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. |
| 1:06.8 | Now available in my homeland, Canada, too. You're listening to Off the Vine with Caitlin Bristow. |
| 1:15.6 | Hey, Vino's real quick, if you are listening right now, which obviously you are or you wouldn't be hearing this, can you hit the subscribe or follow button on whatever platform you're on? |
| 1:24.1 | Please, that one simple thing helps more than you even realize it allows me to keep |
| 1:28.6 | growing on this podcast and making these episodes the best they can possibly be obviously for you. |
| 1:34.6 | That's the only favorite I'm going to ever ask, okay? It truly means the world to me. Thank you. |
| 1:38.6 | Now let's get into it. Hey, everybody, welcome to Off the Vine podcast. I am Caitlin Bristow. |
| 1:42.8 | And today's guest is someone that you definitely know, one from Dancing with the Stars recent season, but maybe you didn't even realize how much she shaped the late 90s for our culture. |
| 1:51.7 | Elaine Hendricks is an actress and dancer whose career spans decades from the parent trap to television, activism, most recently Dancing with the stars. And her journey to acting wasn't |
| 2:02.5 | planned. She got in a horrible car accident, which pivoted her whole life. She kind of rebuilt her |
| 2:07.9 | path from the ground up and had a pretty iconic career throughout her 20s into now her 50s. |
| 2:13.0 | So today we talk about the pivot, the parent trap, becoming an iconic moment, returning to |
| 2:17.3 | dancing decades later on Dancing with the Stars, |
| 2:19.2 | and what reinvention actually looks like when things don't go according to plan? |
... |
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