Kelly Osbourne and Louis van Amstel

Kelly Osbourne:
No, not yet. My mom got Mr. Bo to replace Minnie, and she got me [Mr. Bo's brother] Sid for my birthday a few weeks ago. Because she was in New York, I took care of Mr. Bo, but I knew something was wrong. ... I took him to the vet five times. I land in New York and get a phone call from my dad saying the dog died. I had to tell my mom, and she was devastated. But I was so depressed that I just had to get my mind on something else and we had the best rehearsal ever. We turned something bad into a positive.
Louis van Amstel: We finished the quickstep all the way through and our wide shots in one night, and no one else has ever done that. People often times use dance as therapy. It works. It takes your mind off of things. You can express with your body without saying a word. It's so bittersweet because who wants to lose a dog that's that cute? You have three dances this week, which is kind of crazy.
The third dance is the knockout dance we didn't do, so all we really have to do is learn two and just polish our knockout dance and make it clean. The rumba I'm excited about, because it's very sexy and sensual, but we're going to make it spiritual. I also think that people don't realize how flexible I am. Some of the things Louis has thrown at me, I wouldn't [have] ever thought I'd do.
Van Amstel: What Kelly has that I don't think anyone else has this season is such a great flow of weight and weight distribution. That is such a secret weapon because you can flow through that. It's not about making steps; it's about moving the body. [Kelly's] legs are also killer legs. My partner, Julie, who I'm three-time world champion with, has the same legs. Other people started to say that. ... Every week is great because at one point we couldn't even get through one dance and would have to go through things. It's not even about being tired now because it's kind of a satisfying feeling when you know you can do it and you did it. It's excitement and it's a good exhaustion. What are your tactics for the dances? Are you going to take any risks in hopes of making it to the finale?
Van Amstel:
We did a move in the rumba yesterday that's a little outside the box. I'm holding her by one leg, and she's stretching out and her right hip is going, like, two feet off the floor. It's another thing I love. It's about taking the risk. If you make it this far, it's not about playing it safe. It gets you nowhere. You have to take the hit or the miss. Kelly, you and Aaron seemed pretty close on the show. You gave him a good-luck charm for his knockout dance.
I was so sad for Aaron when he left. I felt for him. Not that we have the same story, but we both had our troubles with abusing substances and growing up in the limelight. His story is more family-based than mine, and it would be disrespectful for me to talk about it, but he said something to me that broke my heart: "Just when I thought I was starting to do something cool, I realize that I wasn't." I was like, "What are you talking about, Aaron? You've changed so much. You came in and you were a f---ing lunatic and you've grown up so much." I just wish people got to see the side of him that we got to see. Do you think he got a bad rap?
Van Amstel:
The thing is — lesson learned — in the first couple weeks, he did awesome dances. His enthusiasm of "I got this in the bag! I'm going to win!" backfired. People don't like that. They like self-deprecation. They just want to see you stay humble. But he changed. He got the message. He worked really hard. He made it to the top 5. That's not bad at all.
Osbourne: Also, he was misquoted when he said he was going to win the final. He was talking about how he'd get himself worked up and he said, "I say to myself, "I'm going to win this final,'" and they cut the first part. Who else were you close to?
We have great relationships with every couple.... Tom DeLay, I wanted to hate him. I will stand by that I don't believe in his political beliefs, but he's a very nice man. He definitely charmed everyone. At first everyone was like, "I don't want to talk to him," but after one day of hanging out with him, everyone's like, "He's the nicest man ever!" He is so sweet. I just don't agree with his politics and I told him that. And he likes when you tell him. I respect him because he can receive what he puts out. You released your book, Fierce, chronicling your substance abuse in the U.K. in September, but it's not out here yet.
I have to rewrite it for America. It's an autobiographical advice book with a list of charities. I just want to make sure I have the right [American] groups that I want to support and represent. I'm not going to associate just any charity to it. [I was on Vicodin] until January of this year. I would get sober, go back, sober up, go back. I was drinking because I wanted to be numb, but I stopped. I couldn't even do [Dancing] if I was numb. I'm so grateful to be here. You have to remember how quickly this can all change. What would it mean for you to win, knowing where you were 10 months ago?
More than winning, to make it to the final, to share that with Louis and know all of our hard work would've paid off, it would be the most fantastic thing in the world for me. My confidence has grown, but what's better than my confidence is my self-esteem now. I had two left feet and was a tomboy, and I can be graceful now.
Van Amstel: Getting that trophy, that's all a façade and popularity, but the story is the journey. Looking back, it shows that if you're willing, you have a fun personality, you're willing to go the distance, it doesn't matter how much training you've had, how much you think you can't dance, but if you are willing, you can dance. I think Kelly proved that. It's so sentimental, but I keep referring to the movie Miracle. This journey is exactly like that. To make it to the finals, it's like beating the Russians and in the final, we'll become Olympic champions. In the beginning, you didn't know who's going to be cast, who's going to team up? I was going be with Melissa [Joan Hart]. Mark [Ballas] was going to be with her. We didn't know that, but we found out afterward.
Osbourne: I went to the producers two days before [rehearsals started], not knowing who I had, and said, "Look, I'm getting married. I have a fiance who lives with me, I'm going to spend a lot of time away. I'm going to need somebody that's a little more mature and somebody I can't wrap my finger around." As much as I love Mark and I've seen the way he works, I can get him wrapped around my finger and I wouldn't do s---. I can't get away with anything with Louis!

Check out another interview with Kelly and Louis below: