Missing her babies. Jessie James Decker opened up about the challenges of balancing mom life with competing on Dancing With the Stars.
“This week was really hard and I kind of had a breakdown a little bit,” the 34-year-old songwriter told Us Weekly on Monday, September 26. “It’s hard balancing both because being a mom is first priority to me. And so, I think around day four, I really was just struggling cause I’m never … away from them that long. But Alan [Bersten] helped me power through.”
The country singer’s 4-year-old son Forrest made an appearance on Monday’s episode of DTWS, showing his mom how to strike a pose like the King of Rock n’ Roll for Elvis Night. He watched Decker and Bersten, 28, perform their Foxtrot to “Trouble” from the audience. The “Should Have Known Better” singer told Us that it “meant everything” to have her son cheering her on. “He’s just proud of mommy and he’s such a big Elvis fan, so tonight meant so much to him,” she said.
Jessie James Decker ABC/Christopher Willard
The “Almost Over You” musician shares three children with NFL wide receiver Eric Decker, who she married in 2013: Vivianne, 8, Eric, 7, and Forrest. She revealed to Us that her youngest son’s obsession with the “Hound Dog” singer began when she took him to see the recent Baz Luhrmann biopic.
“That was it. We went home, downloaded all the music. He wanted the costume, he wanted the posters, the guitar. Now he’s in guitar lessons, piano lessons. Like he loves Elvis so much. It’s in his heart,” she said.
Despite the challenges of missing her family while competing on the Disney+ reality competition series, Decker and her dance partner beat their week one score by five points during their second performance of the season.
Alan Bersten and Jessie James Decker ABC/Christopher Willard
“I feel like we worked for it this week. We really did our absolute best. I mean, we tried to perfect it as much as possible because I know I have a lot of improvement to make,” the “Wanted” singer said. “Again, I’m not a dancer, so I don’t know what I’m doing right versus what I’m doing wrong. I just know that I like to perform. But having Alan really helped me.”
Bersten, for his part, agreed that Decker “really applied herself” preparing for Elvis Night and the result was “exponential growth.” The duo told Us that they have some tricks up their sleeve for next week’s James Bond theme.
“We have something really cool lined up and I’m looking forward to learning,” the singer-songwriter teased.
Dancing With the Stars airs on Disney+ on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
