When news of Nick Carter's stint on "Dancing with the Stars" surfaced in August, Backstreet Boys fans everywhere squealed with delight, just like they used to in the good ol' days of boy band glory. But soon after watching the first few episodes of the new season, it appeared that the fun-loving youngster of one of the world's biggest pop groups had lost his charm. Or did he?
Although he's been topping the leaderboard week after week, Carter's dance partner, Sharna Burgess, thinks viewers have yet to see the relatable side of the 35-year-old singer. And that's totally not his fault. "The hardest part about 'Dancing with the Stars' is, unfortunately, you guys only get to see maybe 60 to 90 seconds of the week that led up to each dance. And that actually sets your opinion of the partnership," Burgess told The Huffington Post. "Maybe there was an altercation, but 75 percent of the week was a great, fun, positive week. We have no control over what side of our stories air. As we saw last week, sometimes it doesn't work in everybody's favor."
Last Monday was switch-up week, where Carter was partnered with a different pro dancer, Witney Carson, while Burgess spent the week training another celebrity, Andy Grammer. The thing is, Carter didn't seem to bond with Carson as well as he, and fans, hoped. He tried to take on the leadership role instead of trusting his new pro.
On the most recent episode, Carter was reunited with Burgess and admitted in his pre-performance segment that he shouldn't have tried to overstep his boundaries in rehearsals with Carson, explaining, "I was insecure without Sharna ... It was a reality check for me and I'm just going to have to do better next time."
For Burgess, she doesn't want people to pay too much attention to the crafted on-air packages, but try and get to know the Nick Carter she sees every day in rehearsals.
"Nick has been painted as a very serious guy so far, but we haven’t really seen the fun side of him. There’s a side that loves to joke around or poke fun at himself and I think we need to see that," she said. "He’s had his entire life on blast since he was 17 and I guess there’s not much that people think they don’t know about him, but I want to show that side of him that has grown so much from the mistakes he’s made."
This week, Carter definitely showed that fun side as he performed a samba to "Saturday Night Fever" with Burgess. The pair earned a 39 out of 40, continuing their quest to stay atop the leaderboard.
But although Carter has garnered high scores so far this season, he's facing some tough competition in Bindi Irwin and Carlos and Alexa PenaVega, the married couple facing off against each other.
"My favorite to watch and the ones that I enjoy the most are Derek [Hough] and Bindi. I think she’s won everybody’s hearts," Burgess said. "I think Alexa could be a frontrunner and I also think that Alek [Skarlatos] is really lovable, so, at this point, it’s anybody’s game."
Still, don't think Burgess doesn't have her eye on the prize.
"If I could make it all about me, I would love to win a Mirror Ball, but that’s not the way to get there, you know? If Nick has an amazing time and everyone gets to know something special about him at the same time as doing great dancing, then that’s what will get us there," she told HuffPost. "I really think Nick has the potential to make the finale and he does have the potential to win that Mirror Ball with me, so I really, really want to take it all the way."
"Dancing with the Stars" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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