Ryan Lochte Previews Dancing With The Stars Week 3

Ryan Lochte has written about Dancing With The Stars Week 3 at Yahoo. He’s really looking forward to the Cha Cha. More below and at the link.

This week we’re dancing the cha-cha, so it’s a Latin dance. And I’m really looking forward to this. This is definitely something completely different than what I did in my first two dances, so I’m really excited.

The face-off theme is really challenging. You and your dance partner go up against another dance partner, so it’s like mano a mano, and the winner that has the highest scores gets immunity for the elimination the next day. So it’s really important to try and win this because you want to get that immunity so you can head on to next week. And we’re going up against one of the best couples on the show. It’s definitely going to be a big challenge for me, but I think Cheryl and I are up for it. If I score a higher score than James and Sharna on Monday night’s show, then I get immunity, and then Tuesday I’m basically there to just experience a great show.

I know the judges are harsh, but they’re honest. I’m going to listen to them because they’re not going to lie to me; they’re going tell me the truth. The things I really have to work on are what they’ve talked about, so I just have to make sure that I’m just paying attention and try to work harder for the next time.

My biggest challenge has just been learning how to dance. I’ve never danced in my entire life and being in water my whole entire life, I’ve spent 26 years trying to perfect a swimmer’s body. Now that I have it, I’ve got to completely change it — and I’m on land! It’s a completely different thing, but I’ve been enjoying this process, and having Cheryl as my partner has been just amazing.

ETA: You can read Cheryl’s new blog at People. She reflects back on Week two and what they learned. She also talks on their Cha Cha and facing off with Sharna and James. More below and at the link.

This week we’re doing the cha-cha, so it’s very different than the last two dances. So far it’s been traditional ballroom, but this next one is more of a sexy side and we’re doing Latin dancing. Two couples go against each other – we’re competing against James and Sharna – and whoever wins with the judges’ scores gets immunity from elimination. Ryan is kind of nervous about it because first of all, he’s never done a Latin dance – he definitely has to loosen up his hips and show a whole different side of what everyone has been seeing him do – and on top of that, he’s against James who has been on top of the leader board. Ryan definitely feels the challenge, but he’s willing to work hard. We are putting in six or seven hours a day in rehearsals. He really wants to prove to himself, his family, his fans, to the judges and me that he can do this. If anything, he never wants to be in jeopardy again so he’s putting in the work!