Jen Affleck just gave birth to her third baby eight weeks ago, but that’s not stopping her from giving it her all in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 26, chatted with DWTS cohost Julianne Hough following her first dance on the season 34 premiere Tuesday, September 16, admitting she’s still in the thick of postpartum after welcoming daughter Penelope in July.
“OK, let me get this straight. You had a baby eight weeks ago and you just did that? But not only did you have a baby eight weeks ago, you have three babies under 3,” Hough told Affleck after she and her pro partner, Jan Ravnik, danced to Bad Bunny’s “NUEVAYoL.”
“Yes, three under 3. Yes, I love them,” Affleck said as Hough restated how impressive it was that she was able to dance full-out with a newborn and two toddlers at home.
Jen Affleck Calls ‘DWTS’ Rehearsals ‘Humbling’ 8 Weeks After Giving Birth
“It’s a lot,” Affleck said of her experience so far on the show. “My body hurts. I’m still recovering from giving birth, but I’m having so much fun and I’m doing it for my kids so, in the future, they can do this too.”
In her intro package this week, Affleck also spoke about being a mom to Penelope, Nora, 3, and Luca, 2, whom she shares with husband Zac Affleck.
“I have three kids under 3 and my newborn is 8 weeks [old], so I don’t know if my pelvic floor is ready, but I’m ready,” she joked.
She also noted that she and Ravnik, 30, are “newbies” — as he’s a first-time pro this season — but that his experience on the Eras Tour will surely benefit her.
“If he’s good enough for Taylor [Swift], he’s good enough for me,” Affleck stated.
She will be competing against 13 other celebrities this season, including her Secret Lives of Mormon Wives costar Whitney Leavitt.
Leavitt, 32, is partnered with Mark Ballas, and the couple received a score of 15 out of 20 on Tuesday while Affleck and Ravnik received a 12. (The scores were out of 20 vs. 30 as third judge Carrie Ann Inaba was absent from the premiere episode.)
So far, Leavitt and Ballas, 39, are at the top of the leaderboard alongside Robert Irwin and Witney Carson, who also earned a 15. Andy Richter and Emma Slater and Corey Feldman and Jenna Johnson were both at the bottom with scores of 9.
Mormon Wives’ Jen Shows Off Her Postpartum Body 1 Week After Giving Birth
Earlier this month, Affleck told Us Weekly that the competition between her Mormon Wives costar and fellow mom of three Leavitt was “for sure friendly.”
“I mean, on my end … Kidding,” she joked to Us. “I mean, who knows with her? I know she’s very competitive. I mean, she competed [her whole life]. She’s an actual dancer, so I think she definitely has more of that competitive nature.”
She added, “But yeah, for me, I just am there to have fun.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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