Alexa PenaVega said she was 'mean' to her DWTS dance partner

Although there have been a number of stars who struck up romance with their dance pro partners on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, Alexa PenaVega said that was definitely not in the cards for herself of her husband, Carlos PenaVega, when the pair of them went on the series.

According to Alexa PenaVega, she was "a little mean" to her dance pro partner whenever she felt like things were getting too flirty in order to make sure she kept some strict boundaries between herself and her partner on the show.

Alexa PenaVega appeared on Cheryl Burke's podcast for the November 4 episode and said that when she and her husband both appeared on the show together in 2015, the pair didn't understand how someone could go on the show without their spouse getting jealous of the connection the dancers have with their partners.

"It was early in our marriage, and we literally said we don't know how spouses do this show without doing it the way we did," she said on the podcast episode and said that the two of them "understood the dynamics of the show."

The two of them may not have had problems with falling for their dance partners themselves, but there have been several celebrities that got into relationships with their partners after the show, including Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff, Kym Johnson and Robert Herjavec, and Derek Hough and Shannon Elizabeth.

According to Alexa PenaVega, the vibe on the show is "incredibly flirty" and both herself and her husband were jealous of each other dancing with their respective partners despite understanding the agreement they had not to cross any boundaries.

"We went on the show, we literally said, 'Look, we're a married couple. You guys are our partners, and we are so excited to team up with you, but that doesn't mean we ditch our marriage and this becomes our No. 1. Our marriage is still first."

- Alexa PenaVega

Not only was it hard for her to watch her husband, Carlos PenaVega, dance with his partner, she said that it was equally hard when it was the other way around. On the podcast episode, she said, "And for Carlos, at that season of his life, he was such a jealous man that even though he understood the dynamic, it was still hard for him. And you know how it is: It is incredibly flirty."

"I love Mark. We got along great. But, like, if it was ever flirty, I'd just be, like, 'I don't do that.' I was a little mean, but it was only to set good boundaries," she explained on the podcast about how she managed to keep the firm boundary between herself and her dance partner to protect her marriage.

According to Alexa, the show's producers weren't quite so happy with the fact that she set these boundaries and tried to paint her time on the show as less serious because she was so focused on keeping her marriage healthy. She told Cheryl Burke, "[They were] trying to make it like, ‘Alexa only cares about her husband. She doesn’t care about the competition at all.'"

Despite the fact that the show wasn't easy, Alexa PenaVega said that the challenge of the show was part of what made it so much fun and although she was "a little mean" to her partner, the experience is one she looks back on fondly.