Derek Hough and Amy Purdy Aren't Letting 'Pressure' Get to Them on 'DWTS'

"You start to see [partners] break down " Hough says

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC

With only a few weeks left of Dancing with the Stars, the stress is on for the contestants, but at least one pair isn’t letting it get to them.

“The important thing now is not to put any pressure,” Derek Hough told reporters backstage after Monday night’s show, of him and partner Amy Purdy.

“Now we’re at the top of the leader board, which is great, but those are the moments when you start to see [partners] break down because they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, oh my gosh, I can do this. I can win.’ Let’s go back to week one when we were loving this and we were just happy to be here. Now we have a week one attitude with a week nine skill set.”

The dancing duo has made it especially far, considering quite a setback with the Paralympian’s recent injury.

“I feel good,” Purdy said after the show. “You have to have those bad weeks. That’s the reality of it. The cameras are always there and it’s not easy. I feel like you kind of have to hit rock bottom sometimes to climb your way back up. I mean not quite rock bottom, but you know.”

Added Hough: “It’s great. Once I knew what [her injury was], I knew she’d bounce back, especially being an athlete and being who she is.”