Alexa and Carlos PenaVega are sharing how they navigated their joint time on Dancing with the Stars.
During an interview with Cheryl Burke on the Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast on Nov. 4, Alexa spoke about the challenges of being on season 21 of the dance competition show in 2015. While her situation was unique with both her and her husband going on the show at the same time, Alexa, 36, admitted it was still difficult to watch one another being close to their partners.
“It was early in our marriage, and we literally said [to each other that] we don’t know how spouses do this show without doing it the way we did,” she said. “So we fully understood the dynamics of the show.”
“Like, if Carlos was doing this and I was watching this girl dance with him all close and the rehearsals or whatever, it would be so hard,” she added. “And for Carlos, at that season of his life, he was such a jealous man that even though he understood the dynamic, it was still hard for him. And you know how it is: It is incredibly flirty.”
Knowing that these feelings might come up, Alexa said she and the Big Time Rush star, 35, proactively “set big boundaries” for how they interacted with their partners, Mark Ballas and Witney Carson. This ended up being “super hard” to maintain, but the Spy Kids alum said she and Carlos made sure to stick to what they agreed on.
“You know how it’s like super flirty backstage and whatever,” she explained. “So, I love Mark. We got along great. But, like, if it was ever flirty, I’d just be, like, ‘I don’t do that.’ I was a little mean, but it was only to set good boundaries. And then we figured it out, and we ended up having a really great partnership.”
“But I know it was really kind of rocky for everybody because when we went on the show, we literally said, ‘Look, we’re a married couple. You guys are our partners, and we are so excited to team up with you, but that doesn’t mean we ditch our marriage and this becomes our No. 1. Our marriage is still first,’” she continued.
Alexa praised Carson and Ballas for respecting their boundaries but claimed “the producers” took up more of an issue with it.
“[They were] trying to make it like, ‘Alexa only cares about her husband. She doesn’t care about the competition at all,’” she revealed, going on to say that looking back, her overall experience on the show was a good one.
“The show is just so fun to watch, and it feels good,” she said. “Like, who doesn’t love a good feel-good story where they’re not great at dancing, but look at how far they’ve come. Like, that’s awesome. I love the premise of it. It’s just the behind-the-scenes can be tough, but it was as difficult as it was fun because there were really, really high highs.”
Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and can be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.