Charity Lawson is counting on Artem Chigvintsev to help her become the next “Bachelorette” with a mirrorball trophy.
The reality star exclusively spoke to Page Six in the “Dancing With the Stars” ballroom Tuesday night, where she reacted to being paired up with fellow “Bachelorette” alum Kaitlyn Bristowe’s former dance partner.
“He’s strict in a great way, and that’s what I need,” Lawson said, praising Chigvintsev’s work ethic.
“If I was paired with anyone else I really don’t think I would be as successful. Because he sees my potential and he pushes me, and that’s what you need in order to grow.”
Bristowe – who won Season 29 of the dance competition series with Chigvintsev – previously joked with Lawson about how strict the pro dancers can be during an episode of her “Off The Vine” podcast that dropped last month.
At the time, Bristowe predicted that producers would likely pair Lawson up with Chigvintsev or Alan Bersten, who won Season 28 with former “Bachelorette” star Hannah Brown.
“Buckle up,” Bristowe warned, calling Chigvintsev “so hardcore” in rehearsals. “He’s Russian and that’s how he was trained growing up. He’ll believe in you, and he’ll push you to your limits, which we love.”
Of committing to the show in general, Bristowe explained that it’s a “really hard thing to do” because you don’t get a day off.
“Just [remember] to have fun,” she told Lawson. “It’s a lot, but it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”
With Bristowe and Brown both winning their respective seasons of “DWTS,” fans from Bachelor Nation have been wondering whether Lawson has felt an “added pressure” to take home the trophy, renamed the “Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy” in honor of the late head judge.
“It’s not! Like, I mean, the pressure is coming from everyone else,” Lawson explained. “You see Kaitlyn and Hannah win, and it’s like, ‘OK, Bachelorette’s have it in them!’ But it’s like, ‘I know I have it in myself.’”
“It’s just for me, I have to look at this single day, like, I can’t look too far ahead,” she continued. “My only goal is to keep improving every day.”
Tuesday’s show marked Chigvintsev’s highly anticipated return to the ballroom after coming down with COVID-19. Former troupe member Ezra Sosa temporarily stepped in to partner with Lawson during the show’s “Latin Night.”
“I’m feeling great, I really do,” Chigvintsev said of his recovery. “It was tough, being at home and just watching it on TV … so it’s nice to be back and finally actually perform live.”
Lawson added, “The moment he came back we hit the ground running. So just for that to be acknowledged by the judges, and our hard work that we put in day in and day out, it feels good.”
The two performed a foxtrot to “My Girl” by The Temptations on Tuesday, receiving a combined score of 32/40 from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli and guest judge Michael Strahan. Lawson said she hopes to dance to that song with her dad when she marries fiancé Dotun Olubeko.
“So when my dad came into rehearsal [this past week], we tried to get him to do a few steps,” she said, revealing that Chigvintsev is “taking the lead” on the father-daughter dance choreography.
“We got that down but we can’t do too much more than that,” she joked. “So we gotta work [on it].”
This upcoming Tuesday, Chigvintsev and Lawson will dance a waltz to “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid” during “Disney100 Night.”
“It will give big princess energy,” Lawson teased. “Just know that!”
“Dancing With the Stars,” co-hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, with episodes airing the following day on Hulu.