Peta Murgatroyd Breaks Silence on Maks Chmerkovskiy & Vanessa Lachey Drama: 'This Show Is Extremely Stressful'

 

Peta Murgatroyd is currently partnered with singer Nick Lachey on season 25 of Dancing with the Stars while her husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy dances with Nick’s wife Vanessa. The pro dancer is blogging about her experience on the ABC reality dance competition exclusively for PEOPLE. Follow Murgatroyd, 31, and Nick, 43, on Twitter!

Last week I had some high hopes for my routine with Nick.

I gave him a really fun, funny routine, and he really went for it. There were some mistakes, but he didn’t hold anything back, so I was hoping for at least one 8. But three 7s is good. We’re getting higher and higher scores, and that improvement means I’m doing my job right.

And working on DWTS is not an easy job. A lot was made of the fact that Maks missed last week’s show, and I have to say I think very few people know how crazy this show really gets — not only physically on your body but mentally as well.

We care about our partners and that’s what makes it so hard sometime because you care and love each other and you want them to do so well. You invest so much time-wise and you just want them to be the best and get the best results possible at the end of the day on the Monday night. But it is difficult to deal with life, stresses, rehearsals and then show time and everything that goes along with that. This show is extremely stressful, but at the end of the day when you get those scores and your partner did well — like Vanessa has been doing week after week — then it’s all worth it. It does get difficult some times, though.

And we’re heading into the most difficult show of the season: Most Memorable Year Week. This week is always intense and dramatic and emotional. Maks and Vanessa and Nick and I all have great stories to tell, so I think it’s going to be an emotional night for all of us.

RELATED VIDEO: Watch the First Minute of Footage from Most Memorable Year Week on Season 25 of DWTS

 

Nick and I will be doing a contemporary dance and celebrating the year he and Vanessa got married. We are dancing to the song that they danced to at their wedding, and I think, if I did the song justice with the choreography, that it’s going to be beautiful.

The dance is really vulnerable and emotional, and I think we haven’t seen that vulnerable, emotional side of Nick yet. I know he’s a big sap, and he cries a lot. He’s an emotional guy, and he’s not afraid to say that. He’s proud of that, and that’s awesome and great for our contemporary dance, because I need him to open up and be vulnerable. He has felt after each routine that he hasn’t done it to the best of his ability like he did in rehearsal, so I hope tonight he has a moment where he can be super proud of his dance from start to finish.

PEOPLE’s special issue, 25 Seasons of Dancing with the Stars, is available now.

But the emotions aren’t going to stop with just our dance. Vanessa is sharing her story of welcoming their third child, Phoenix, early, and that of course is going to be emotional for Nick to watch as she discusses about how she really felt as a woman through that whole experience. Watching that would be huge on any marriage, any man, any husband.

But Most Memorable Year Week isn’t just about being emotional. I think because these stories mean so much to the stars, they are more connected with the dances than ever. I really think that’s going to translate into our best performance yet.

Most Memorable Year Week of season 25 of Dancing with the Stars airs Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.