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Backstage at Dancing With the Stars: Who Called Their Performance a "Slow Train Wreck"?

Exclusive! We talk to Sean Lowe, Kellie Pickler and more right after their debut performances

By Jenna Mullins Mar 19, 2013 5:16 PMTags
Dancing With The Stars, Season 16ABC/Craig Sjodin

It was a whirlwind of tight pants, glittery outfits and rehearsal drama, but somehow the new cast of Dancing With the Stars made it through their first performance (and first judgment) of the season.  So while their adrenaline was still up and their constricting costumes had yet to cut off circulation to the brain, we chatted with the stars and their partners directly after their first spin around the dance floor.

Kellie Pickler, Lisa Vanderpump and Sean Lowe were still enjoying the high from their DWTS workout, while D.L. Hughley, who had the night's lowest scores, knew he had some work ahead of him.

"It was kind of like watching a slow train wreck. At the end of the day, I'm certainly not going to be the best dancer," the comedian tells us. "I've set the bar so low, deliberately. It was my plan. You set the bar so low, that when you do anything else, it looks like you're look like a genius."

How's that for a master plan?

The Bachelor's Sean Lowe went directly from one ABC reality show to the next, but at least he took a fiancée with him.

"Catherine said I did wonderful and she was so proud of me, and she told me that she loved me," Lowe told us. "So she's the best support system I could ask for, and it feels good to know that what I'm doing out here, she appreciates and she's behind me."

Adorable, no?

As for Lisa Vanderpump, she will be taking the judges comments about getting used to pressing her "private parts" to her partners and running with it!

"I think I'm going to take that to heart and let's go!" she laughs with a head nod to Gleb Savchenko.

Watch the rest of our exclusive interviews with the DWTS cast below!

Watch: Kellie Pickler Talks "DWTS" Adrenaline Rush
Watch: Lisa Vanderpump Dishes on "DWTS" Debut