Maria Menounos and Derek Hough were first out of the gate during last week’s Dancing With the Stars season premiere, but going first isn’t always an advantage at the judges’ table. Their Cha Cha Cha scored a respectable 21 points, keeping them pretty far from the top of the leader board.
On Monday, they’ll try to up their rank with a Quickstep, which The Hollywood Reporter caught a preview of during the duo’s rehearsals.
PHOTOS: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 14 Official Cast Portraits
“We love our song for this week,” Hough tells THR of the fast-paced dance. “The band is going to kill it, we’re going to be in character, we’re going to be running around.”
They’ve also had some time to get used to the routine. Since there was no elimination in the first week of Season 14, all competitors have been aware of their second dance for some time. And that’s an advantage that goes away next week.
“I’m frightened,” Menounos admits of the five-day rehearsal period moving forward. “I keep asking him how that works, and he doesn’t really seem that worried.”
The Extra co-host does already have her hands full. And when asked about how she was balancing this new commitment with her full-time job and side projects, she confessed to almost falling asleep on air last Tuesday.
VIDEO: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 14 Cast Announcement Interviews
“If you look closely, my eyes were not open,” she says of last Tuesday’s episode. “And that’s the first time in 12 years of being on television that I can say I looked exhausted. I felt like a person beat me with a bat and hit me with a bus.”
Menounos and Hough take on their second dance together during Monday’s performance show, alongside the rest of the season’s 12 couples, before the first cut is made during Tuesday’s results.
For more from their rehearsal video, including talk of puppy breaks and an aggressive rendition of “The Macarena,” watch the complete interview above.
Email: Michael.OConnell@THR.com; Twitter: @MikeyLikesTV
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