Vanessa Lachey Opens up About Rehearsing With ‘DWTS’ pro Maks Chmerkovskiy

Vanessa Lachey is opening up about her experience dancing with her pro partner Maks Chmerkovskiy on DWTS.

After news broke that there might be tension between the dancing pair, Lachey spoke with Us Weekly on Tuesday about working with Chmerkovskiy.

“I just know that when I’m on set he’s my coach and I’m the student, so I listen a lot more and I don’t speak up as much because this is a field I don’t know,” Lachey told the publication. “He’s trained me and taught me so many amazing wonderful new things just like any trainer would or teacher would.”

The mother of three added, “But at home I think I’m a lot more outspoken!”

Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported that the partners were struggling to get along during rehearsals for the ABC competition series. “There is a lot of fighting going on behind the scenes,” a source told Us Weekly. “Their personalities are very similar so they disagree about everything. They refuse to give into one another.”

The news came after Chmerkovkiy skipped Monday night’s show due to a “personal issue.” However, he tweeted the next day that he was excited to get back on the dance floor with Lachey.

Lachey revealed that competing with her husband Nick Lachey on DWTS has strengthened their relationship.

“Our relationship is still the same if not stronger,” she said. “We’ve been together for 11 years now, so through this we’re supporting each other and it’s fun to come home to somebody who understands what you’re going through.”

“It’s been an amazing experience,” the TV personality continued. “At the end of it all I hope we can have a killer dance routine to embarrass our kids at every single school function!”

One factor that may be adding to the pressure is the physical and emotional toll the DWTS experience takes on the competitors.

“It’s definitely harder than we expected because not only is there a physical element to it, but there’s an emotional element to it,” Lachey explained. “You definitely are giving a lot of yourself. I realize that this is the most vulnerable I’ve ever been both physically and emotionally. But it’s an amazing experience for me to learn more about myself as a woman a mother, a wife and a friend.”