'She Was Very Strict': Madonna Charged Her Dancers $100 a Minute If They Showed Up Late, Carrie Anna Inaba Reveals

Carrie Ann Inaba is spilling the tea on what it was like to be one of Madonna's backup dancers.

During her Monday, October 23, appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Inaba noted it was a dream come true to work with one of the most popular performers of the moment.

"There was like Michael [Jackson], Prince, and Madonna at the time. Right? I got on Madonna's tour, and I was like, 'That's all I need,'" shared the Dancing With the Stars alum, 55.

It wasn't all fun and games though, as Inaba revealed the mother-of-six, 65, "was very strict."

"She gave us this one rule, which I'm so grateful she did," the choreographer recalled. "It was, for every minute you're late, you have to pay her $100 out of your paycheck."

Inaba explained that it's because of the singer's rule that she now shows up on time — or early — everywhere she goes.

Nowadays, Inaba is a star in her own right, but she's no longer doing choreography since "as a dancer, you're kind of put out to pasture when you're 25."

On the other hand, Madonna has kept at it and is currently in the midst of her Celebrations Tour — though the start date had to be delayed due to her hospitalization over the summer.

The singer collapsed during rehearsal and was diagnosed with a "serious bacterial infection," with insiders claiming she was pushing herself too hard.

"While this sort of illness could affect anyone of any age — and she certainly did not bring this on herself — it is also a reminder that she is as human and as frail as the rest of us," one source noted.

By October, the superstar was on the road, but she confessed at her October 21 concert that she still isn't back to normal.

"Less than four months ago, I was in a hospital and I was unconscious, and people were thinking, predicting that I might not make it. It’s a f------ miracle that I’m here right now," Madonna declared of performing for thousands of people. "My mother, god bless her, she must be watching over me — she said, 'Girl, it’s not your time to go.'”

"I had this strange thought. I suddenly had sympathy for my mother, not about the dying part, but how lonely she must have felt being in a hospital, knowing that she wasn’t going to live," the Grammy winner added of her mom, who died of breast cancer in 1963. "I was given another chance, so I’m very grateful for that."

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"I must tell you I don’t feel very well right now, but I can’t complain, because I’m alive," she concluded her speech. "Thank god for my children and all of your love and support."