Brandy: I Don't Have an Unfair Edge on 'DWTS'

But the performer says having a "hot" Maksim Chmerkovskiy as partner helps

Photo: Bob D'Amico/ABC

Sure, a musical background might help, but being an entertainer doesn’t guarantee an easy run on Dancing with the Stars, according to Brandy.

“I’m freaking out. Dance has never been one of my strongest points,” the R&B singer, 31, tells PEOPLE.

Performers, she says, don’t always have the best moves. “[If] you don’t have the dance talent, you have like five people behind you making you look good,” she says. “So don’t believe the hype. This is all new for me.”

To get her through the competition, she’s relying on partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy – not back-up dancers – a “touch coach” who helps keep her on track.

“He’s hot so that helps!” she says, adding that it was fate they were paired up together.

“What’s so crazy is that Maks was born on the same day as my brother [Ray J] . . . and I’m born on the same day as his mother. So I kind of feel like we were meant to be partners and I’m meant to do this show.”