Behind the Scenes of Dancing with the Stars with Joey Fatone

I called Joey Fatone as the winner of Dancing with the Stars waaaay back when this season started. I got a little worried last week when I couldn't help but agree that he looked pretty feminine during his performance (couldn't Kym see it?). But, I think he will be back this week with a vengence. In fact, I'm sure of it!

TV Guide sat down with Joey to get the dish on what the show is like. Here are a few excerpts.

TV Guide: It looks like you've lost some weight. How are you doing it?
Joey Fatone: I'm on NutriSystem. I started about two weeks prior to the first rehearsals. I lost about six pounds those first two weeks. And then when I started dancing with Kym [Johnson, his professional partner], the weight really started coming off. I was 235 pounds when I started. Now I'm 216. It's pretty cool to see my stomach get smaller.

TV Guide: What's the difference between the physical demands of touring with 'N Sync and DWTS?
Fatone: When I was with 'N Sync, it was demanding to be rehearsing constantly. But this? You're doing it every day, and it's a different dance every week. That's what's really crazy about the whole thing. You're learning these routines and steps that my body is definitely not used to at all. It's intense.

TV Guide: What are you thinking in the 10 seconds before you hit the dance floor?
Fatone: Don't screw up, don't screw up, don't screw up.

TV Guide: You've been married since 2004. Does your wife, Kelly, have any problems with you dancing with a gorgeous blonde?
Fatone: No, because she's pretty secure with herself and she trusts me. Also, she's seen a lot of gorgeous blondes screaming for 'N Sync, so dancing with Kym is not a big deal.

TV Guide: What has Kelly said about your dancing?
Fatone: She danced when she was younger — ballet and ballroom — so she understands it. She'll tell me, "You did OK." And then she'll critique me a little bit: "Don't slick your hair back again, it's not attractive. Not attractive at all."

TV Guide: How about your 6-year-old daughter, Brianna?
Fatone: She said, "You did good." She had a little project for school and she wrote about Daddy doing Dancing with the Stars. It was really cute.

TV Guide: Have you heard from your old bandmates?
Fatone: Yeah, all four of them. I was at Justin [Timberlake]'s concert in Tampa a couple of weeks before I started the show, and he was like, "Joey Fatone's in the audience. You'd better win and everybody better vote for him." When he was doing the show in Pittsburgh, he held the show so he could watch me dance the first night, which was kind of cool.

TV Guide: Are you surprised by all the spray-tanning among the ballroom pros?
Fatone: Yeah, they're telling me that I've gotta get a tan, and I'm like, "What is your problem?" I mean, I've never seen so many men — metrosexuals, I guess, because they're very well groomed — all wearing very tight and open shirts. And I'm like, "Oh my god!" I can't see myself doing that.

TV Guide: Mario Lopez wouldn't wear rhinestones, right?
Fatone: He wouldn't wear rhinestones, and I wouldn't wear a sleeveless shirt.

TV Guide: Why not?
Fatone: Because I don't have muscles like he does.

TV Guide: Is it harder to dance at 30 than it was at 20?
Fatone: Oh, yeah. Right now my feet are killing me.

Photo from ABC.