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DWTS: Interviews From Disney Week!

James peta

Credit: Photo by: Adam Taylor/Getty Images

Having 6 million Twitter followers didn’t help Cody Simpson fly to the finals on Dancing With the Stars! In fact, the teen singer was eliminated during this week’s episode, but not before a fun night of Disney-themed dances.

Star was at the live show, and got the scoop from several celebs and their pro partners about the competition thus far.

James Maslow and Peta Murgatroyd scored a perfect 40 for their Contemporary number this week. The high scores just capped off a fulfilling week for the Big Time Rush star, who invited special needs child, Hanna, to California to watch the show and take a trip to Disneyland.

Hanna, how are you liking the interviews so far?

Hanna: I love it!

James: She’s gotten used to it. Cameras follow her everywhere.

Tell me about your trip to Disneyland.

James: It was a perfect week. She was a Big Time Rush fan, but also a Disney fan. So, Peta and I got together and we got her tickets and we went on a bunch of rides and got Mickey Mouse ears.

What was everyone’s favorite ride?

Hanna: Space mountain!

James: Space mountain is probably my favorite ride, too.

Peta: Mine is Tower of Terror, but we got a little bit scared.

James: That was a bit much, I think. That’s actually a really scary ride.

How did it feel to get perfect scores this week?

James:  We were shocked. It has been a really nerve-racking week. We were nervous, because our dance was really ambitious and we wanted to step it up. So we threw in another lift that’s only been done once on the show and by Tony. Tony showed us and was like, “Hey, go ahead and try it.” That’s what we did. We were nervous, but so happy how it came out and so grateful for the scores.

Were you excited to get Frozen?

James: Once again, no pressure, right?

Peta: I put the request for the song in weeks ago.

James: Like, week 1!

How exciting has this whole experience been for you Hanna?

James: She’s been really composed, though. The only time I got her to crack up and giggle is when we started singing and dancing together, right?

Hanna: Yeah

Hanna, how did your friends react to seeing you on TV?

Hanna: Excited!

James: You got a ton of calls.

Peta: A lot of Facebook stuff.

James: She’s actually even more popular than she already was before.

Hanna: You made me cry when you were on TV!

How does it feel to know you have had such a huge impact on someone?

James: This was a really unique opportunity for me. We get mail every day saying, “You make me smile. You’ve changed my life in a way.” But it’s such a different experience to sit down with somebody and make their dreams come true. Prom would have been cool, but I think this weekend was even cooler. I tried to make it as awesome as possible. How often do you really get that opportunity? To me, it was really a blessing to have her and her family come out. There’s no charity involved in this. It made me feel good.

Drew Carey and Cheryl Burke fell toward the bottom of the leader board last week, but managed to avoid elimination.

How did you guys feel about Cody and Witney being eliminated?

Cheryl: We’re sad to see them go. It’s hard being a new pro on the floor. You know, I’ve been with the show 18 seasons. I think she’s remarkable. She’s never really taught before. She’s young, she’s 20 and that’s when I started, and I’m about to turn 30. I just went up to her tonight and told her, “Babe, it’s not your fault. I know it feels like it’s your fault, but it’s not. Look, you got my partner the best scores he’s had; you made Cody have his best dance tonight. It’s not your fault at all.”

Drew: I think people vote for the pro they’ve seen for a long time and they kind of get attached to the pro they’ve seen over and over again. She’s brand new, so it’s hard.

What did you think of Donnie [Osmond] as a judge?

Drew: Oh my gosh, I love Donnie Osmond! I know it’s not the coolest thing to say, but I love the Osmonds. By the way, if you haven’t heard “Crazy Horses” by The Osmonds, you gotta listen to it. It’s one of the best tunes that nobody knows about.

Cheryl, what are your thoughts on Conrad Green’s departure?

Cheryl: Conrad has been a mentor to me for the past 10 years. I was very emotional when I heard he had decided to leave and go onto something that’s bigger and better. I get it; he wants something fresh and a new challenge. I teared up today just looking at him. He’s one of the people that have influenced me the most in the past 10 years.

Last, we caught up with Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who have scored consistently well throughout the season.

This week everyone had an interesting pairing of dance and song. Tell us about that.

Meryl: This week was crazy because Charlie [White] and I were traveling so much. Maks was amazing! Maks created a new spin on the story. I continue to be more and more impressed with what’s inside his head.

Meryl, you said Maks is nurturing and thoughtful. Tell us more about that.

Meryl: He’s nurturing to everyone in his life. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to see him with a lot of his really close friends and he’s just a caregiver by nature. Thinking back on the show, when you see him say things to the judges, people may not perceive that as taking care of his partner, but that’s what it’s all about — standing up for the person he feels he’s in charge of.

Maks: She was the one giving me the pep talk today. It sucks when you dance second to last and you see everybody before you. The judge’s comments and scores don’t matter. I’ve tried this before and I’ve failed, but I have never done this before in this way. I’m enjoying this season a lot more. You look back, and I’ve done 13 of them, that just went by like this (snap). I seem to remember more things from this season than I ever have before. We have the Tango next week. If you had asked me any other season if I like Tango, I would tell you I like Argentine Tango because this hold is boring. But I’m looking forward to it. We’re just chillin’, having fun. Everybody is so concerned with, are you going to win? Are you going all the way? I’m not thinking about that stuff. I’m thinking about tango and want to enjoy that.

Do you think you bring out the best in each other?

Maks: I don’t think I bring out any better than she already is

Meryl: No, No. You definitely do.

When will we see him on the ice?

Meryl: You’ll see it soon!

Maks: They tried this week and as it turns out, they don’t make a pari of skates in my size.

Meryl: We’ll find you some skates.

Maks: Well, first of all, I can skate. I just can’t do what I do here, so I will definitely look awkward.

Meryl: Don’t worry. We’ll document it.