A chance to enjoy some free time in New York City suddenly led to an appearance on national television for New Iberia native Stewart Lockett.

Lockett, 27, a student at the LSU School of Medicine, took a trip to New York City to visit his brother while finishing a rotation this month. By his own account, Lockett decided to grab a ticket to “LIVE With Mark and Kelly” on a whim and was quickly noticed by the producers. 

“I just went with a general admission ticket by myself,” Lockett said. “The producers grabbed me and told me to sit in front of the room.”

After getting a seat, he overheard producers in the studio say that trivia dancers were needed from the audience. The dancers are a popular bit on the television show, but Lockett said he was experiencing everything for the first time.

“I thought they were asking for someone to do trivia,” he said with a laugh. “After they explained it to me that they needed dancers I thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to lose.”

After facing two other competitors for the dance challenge, Lockett said his competitive side took over when one of the other dancers performed a split during her dance routing.

“I can’t do a split, so naturally I decided to do the worm,” he said. “It was definitely something.”

It was good enough for Lockett to win the challenge and head backstage where he was able to meet the guests of the show that day, Anderson Cooper and Jimmy Fallon.

The producers filled Lockett in on what he would be doing afterwards. The camera would segue to him and he would put on some of his best dance moves for a national audience.

From getting a ticket to the show on a whim to suddenly getting national exposure, Lockett was understandably a bit underwhelmed.

“All I could think of was that Toy Story quote: ‘smile and wave,’” Lockett said. “I wanted to say something but all I could think was ‘smile and wave.’”

Lockett proved himself a formidable trivia dancer and managed to put on some of his wildest moves for the televised audience.

When co-host Kelly Ripa learned Lockett was from New Iberia, she also gave a shout out to the city following Lockett’s segment. Unfortunately, Lockett said he didn’t get a chance to ask if there was a connection she had to Iberia Parish.

Following his appearance, friends and family quickly started sharing the appearance. Lockett is currently still in medical school, specializing in psychiatry and hoping to finish in May, when he will begin his search for residencies.

Lockett was raised in the southport subdivision area and is a 2015 graduate of New Iberia Senior High. When he was a junior at Louisiana State University Lockett notably became LSU student body president.

As for his adventure in New York, Lockett ascribes his luck to his personal motto.

“’Don’t wait for anything’ has always been a motto of mine,” he said. “I will do anything, even if it’s by myself.”