Dancing With the Stars Backstage Scoop: Kirstie and Maks Talk "Emotional" Week

Melissa Rycroft agrees this has been the hardest week in the competition

By Taryn Ryder Nov 06, 2012 5:30 AMTags
DANCING WITH THE STARS, ALL-STARS, MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY, KIRSTIE ALLEYABC/ADAM TAYLOR

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani lead the all-star pack after tonight's Dancing With the Stars, but as we learned last week, being in first place doesn't mean a thing.

So how are they feeling after scoring a 39 tonight? And are Kirstie Alley and Maks Chmerkovskiy nervous now that they are bringing up the rear?

Here is what everyone had to say backstage after a night of fusion:

"That was a marathon from hell and I couldn't be happier," Tony told us backstage about being happy they won the dance marathon. "It was awesome. It felt really great because Melissa had that energy from beginning to the end. We kept getting energy from each other."

"This was mentally the hardest week for me personally," Melissa said about the "fusion confusion" dance. "Your brain just starts to shut down. The fact you are mixing two dances that are completely different gets a little overwhelming."

"Tonight makes up for the awful week I had in practice," added Rycroft. Meanwhile, Kirstie wasn't feeling as hot.

"I was bad," she said, adding she was glad she was 8 bad not 4 bad. 

"I'm very happy, it's just been a very emotional week," Maks said who looked mentally drained backstage. "[Kirstie] did a great job even attempting a fusion. She can't do wrong by me."

"I'm in the tired club this week. This week was crazy," Kirstie said, referencing dancing as well as Hurricane Sandy (remember, Maks and Val both have connections back east). So how were Val and Kelly holding up post-drop?

"I'm never going to live that down," Kelly said about getting dropped on her face. "I'm never going to live that dow. It's the first time it ever happened!"

"Did you see how much airtime she got?" Val joked. Since his humor is intact, we'll assume these two are doing just fine!

—Reporting by Will Marfuggi