The ballroom turned into a battlefield on Monday night!
Dancing With the Stars welcomed back former professional dancer Julianne Hough for the April 7 episode and though she used to be the one receiving criticism, the pixie-haired beauty definitely did not hold back, especially when she comments on Maksim Chmerkovskiy's jive with Danica McKellar, his new partner for the week. Julianne told Maks It looked like he "phoned in" the dance, going even further to say he was "dialing it in," to which he responded, "That was definitely not the case, but thank you." Yikes. (Still, she did give the routine a solid 8.)
After the performance show, E! News chatted with Julianne and Maks about their heated faceoff, with the Safe Haven actress assuring us she wasn't trying to be "malicious."
While Julianne noted that "Danica is an incredible dancer," she explained that her jive with Maks just didn't "compare" to his previous jive performance with his original partner, Olympian Meryl Davis, which was "amazing."
"I felt like this was lolly-gagging," she said of the routine. "I was like, 'That's not fair for Danica. I wanted to see more of her dancing, I mean, that was where I came from. It was not to be malicious at all."
But did Maks think Julianne was being malicious? And how did he really feel about her comments? "I think it's a matter of opinion and people give theirs and it is what it is," he said. "If I'm going to dish out my entire life, I have to be able to take it. So I took it. It's all good."
But which bro is the better partner? Meryl couldn't choose, saying, "They're different, but equally as amazing."
Danica also praised both Maks and Val, but admitted, "I think that Val and I are organically a better match because we're both very analytical."
Val, however, is quick to note the differences between him and his brother, saying, "The difference between us is how we communicate our emotions. I tend to have a little bit more of a filter on my emotions than my brother does, but what's the same is our passion toward the person we're responsible for."