Leah Remini: "Living in a Place of Fear" Prevented Me From Doing Dancing With the Stars Before

This is one change of heart Leah Remini is glad she made.

The actress and her Dancing With the Stars partner Tony Dovolani stopped by E! News to chat with Terrence Jenkins and Jason Kennedy, and along with cracking jokes and discussing their success on the show (the pair made it to the semifinals!), Remini admitted that she was always against getting on the competitive reality series, but is so glad she opted to give it a shot.

"I really was living in a place of fear, I do things that I'm comfortable with…but if you're never stretching yourself, you're never really growing. And I always said no to the show, and then I was like--you know with what I had done--I was like, I need to start doing things that I'm scared of, and this is the time to do it," she told us.

Remini is referring to her very public departure from the Church of Scientiology.

"I think its been hard, but its also been a time of growth for me and I found new strength and I found new friends and its been really great actually," the actress tells E! News. "I thought it was gonna be much harder, but people have really come to my aid and I'm just filled with love and joy."

A lot of that support also comes from her dancing partner Dovolani, who had to mention that the King of Queens star has impacted him immensely.

"I've gained so much more from her…She just brought out a different side of me. I mean, I've been on the show 16 seasons so it can easily become very stale but this season has been just a joy. I look forward to every single rehearsal. You never know what to expect with Leah, she always makes sure that I'm laughing."

Aw, so sweet! But seriously, what is going to take for these two to finally score a 10?! Leah has an idea..."Tony's gotta put out," she quipped. "Take one for the team!"

"I went to Bruno's house," Dovolani jokingly responded. "He wasn't there."