When Hilary Duff first unveiled her lackluster dance moves on national television while performing “With Love” in 2007, she was often ridiculed, memed, and even celebrated for being a “lazy queen.” Later, when TikTok got hold of the footage, the whole thing started all over again. “Yes girl, give us nothing,” the fans said, reminiscent of their response to Dua Lipa’s “pencil sharpener” move at a 2018 concert.
But for Hilary Duff, her complete lack of energy on the Today Show stage wasn’t because she was lazy, uninterested, or didn’t know the moves. It was because she was 19 years old and felt like her life was out of her own control.
Speaking with Glamour in a February 17, 2026, interview, Duff revisited her mindset during that performance. For her, she was merely an embarrassed teenager feigning confidence in front of strangers.
“That has not been a fun thing to follow me around,” she told the outlet. “[I] didn’t want to be there, doing this dance that I probably didn’t want to be doing, and didn’t feel good at the time,” she continued. “I know people don’t look at it like that, and it’s this funny thing, but that’s how I used to look at it.”
Almost 20 Years Later, Hilary Duff is Reclaiming Her Embarrassed Teenage “With Love” Dance Moves
Hilary Duff’s new album, Luck…or Something, drops on February 20, and she’s been touring again for the first time since 2008. Her “Small Rooms, Big Nerves” Tour seemed like a way to dip her toe back into live performing, playing small venues and theaters for a handful of dates.
As of February 2026, however, she announced her first world tour in 18 years. The “Lucky Me” Tour kicks off on June 22 and concludes in February 2027. This is a big step for Duff, who has been busy with motherhood, life, and other creative projects since her last album in 2015.
“I just felt really ready to share,” she said, addressing the decision to return to music. “One, I wanted to stretch creatively, and two, I wanted to make something that I could connect with people again on the level of who I am now. I felt like people have definitely gone through some of the similar large strokes that I have in the past 10 to 15 years.”
Her recent shows have included more mature hits from the Breathe In. Breathe Out. era, but she didn’t shy away from her early 2000s masterpieces either. The setlists included “So Yesterday”, “Metamorphosis”, and of course “With Love”. She even ended the shows with “What Dreams Are Made Of” from The Lizzie McGuire Movie.
There, she brought out the iconic “With Love” dance moves. But this time, she was in control. Having that newfound control and maturity is a defining theme of her intimate, personal new album. Partially because she wrote it exclusively with her husband, musician Matthew Koma. But also because she has a new perspective.
“I Was a Totally Normal Teenager”
Back when Hilary Duff and her peers were gaining attention, the brutal nature of 2000s tabloid culture tore celebrities down for the smallest thing. Often, it was appearance-based. But their every move was constantly scrutinized. While the landscape has changed somewhat, it hasn’t totally gone away. Now we just witness the same scrutiny on social media instead of the grocery store checkout lane.
Notably, tabloids loved to create false binaries and fake feuds between pop stars, especially young women. Duff was often sorted into the “good girl” category due to her lasting squeaky-clean image. Some of her contemporaries, like Lindsay Lohan, weren’t so lucky. Duff admitted to Glamour that the whole thing was just confusing.
“I’ll say that I didn’t ever feel ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ and it was funny that I was flagged as the good girl because of what people saw me doing on TV or that I wasn’t overtly sexual,” she said. “I was a totally normal teenager doing normal teenager things.”
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for HD
The post Hilary Duff ‘Didn’t Feel Good’ About Her Infamous ‘With Love’ Dance, but Years Later, She’s Reclaimed the Moves appeared first on VICE.
