Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy on their ‘Dancing with the Stars’ partnership: ‘She’s a natural performer’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

For some celebrities, the experience of “Dancing with the Stars” comes as a surprise once they’re actually on the show, but for teenage actress Xochitl Gomez, the show is “exactly what I expected. I think it’s mainly because I did a lot of research, and I read Val’s book. And within that, there’s a lot of information, and he goes into pretty extensive detail about the show … and it’s been great.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Gomez and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy above.

Gomez has emerged as one of the most consistently high-scoring dancers on the show, topping the judges’ leaderboard five times over the course of the show’s first seven weeks. She has been praised for her technique and especially for her ability to inhabit the character and personality of each dance style. And for Chmerkovskiy, “the greatest thing is she holds herself accountable on her own. I don’t have to really even flex the preaching muscle. She’s a self-motivated young woman.”

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Her ability to excel on the dance floor is a testament to her hard work and Chmerkovskiy’s skill as a teacher because “I have dyslexia,” Gomez explains, “and so, dealing with someone who has dyslexia, sometimes people don’t know how to work around that. And he can tell the way that I like to learn, and it’s not necessarily him over-explaining things, just literally showing me, like visually showing me.”

Chmerkovskiy is certainly a good teacher if his two Mirror Ball Trophies are any indication, and he credits that to his love for what he does. “I think I’m a great teacher. I love to teach,” he says. “That’s the reason why I’m great. Not because I’m the best, but because I just love it.” At the same time, though, “I’m only as good as my student. My student this season makes me look like a brilliant teacher because she is, like I said, very talented, picks things up very fast. She’s a natural performer.”

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