“Dancing with the Stars” kicks off its 22nd season tonight on ABC and former “The O.C.” actress Mischa Barton will be one of the 12 celebrities competing for the Mirrorball Trophy. The actress and her pro partner Artem Chigvintsev have been hard at work the past couple of weeks gearing up for the big night, but according to the 30-year-old, rehearsals have not been going smoothly.
In a new blog post, Barton revealed that while she was excited when she was initially cast in the ABC reality dance competition, she was still very unsure about a lot of things and admitted that, so far, the experience has been a “rough ride.” Barton said she had taken a few ballet classes when she was growing up, but was very overwhelmed the first time she went into rehearsals with Chigvintsev.
“Like any new working relationship, you never know if your personalities are going to clash or what the teacher-student relationship is to work,” Barton wrote. “And I won’t lie, in the beginning, things went very slowly and I’ve had a bit of a rough ride.... Artem would show me a sequence and expect me to pick it up, but all I could do was start laughing because it was so overwhelming.”
Barton first rose to fame in 2003 on the Fox teen drama “The O.C.,” which co-starred Ben McKenzie, Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson. Many actresses and actors who go on “Dancing with the Stars” pay homage to their former shows and films, so will Barton be dancing to the famous “O.C.” theme song “California” by Phantom Plant?
“Maybe, we’ll see,” Barton said, adding that she was “really into the music selection” and that she has been “really hands on with that.”
As for the costume that she will wear on the premiere episode, the actress revealed she “designed” it along with a “DWTS” costume designer. "It’s really beautiful,” she said of the dress. “I based it on some real pretty dresses.”
Barton also teased that for the first live show, she and her partner were dancing a “sexy, fierce tango.” “The dance is tricky, but I have had a lot of fun helping put it all together,” she said.
“Dancing with the Stars” premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
