Kate Flannery reveals her biggest Dancing With the Stars competition and which The Office costar will be cheering her on

Kate Flannery reveals her biggest Dancing With the Stars competition and which The Office costar will be cheering her on

When The Office star Kate Flannery hits the dance floor on Dancing With the Stars this season, fans can expect to seen hints of the character they love shining through.

“I”m having so much fun during rehearsals and there’s definitely a lot of Meredith that’s been showing up,” Flannery, who played Meredith Palmer on the beloved sitcom, told EW. “I don’t think either one of us could have anticipated the amount of work that competing on this show requires. It’s a lot!”

EW caught up with the actress during the premiere of HGTV’s A Very Brady Renovation in Los Angeles on Thursday night where she opened up about what it’s been like during her two weeks of practice on the reality competition series.

Flannery’s celebrity competitors this season include Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek, supermodel Christie Brinkley, and Queer Eye‘s Karamo Brown, but she says there’s someone else she’s more worried about.

Rachel Luna/Getty Images
Rachel Luna/Getty Images

“My biggest competition on the show is me. I’m keeping my eyes on my own paper,” she revealed. “I think everyone has a little bit of magic in them. I was so excited to chat with Maureen McCormick [Marcia on The Brady Bunch] tonight, who also did Dancing with the Stars. I had some questions for her, because it’s really this whole thing. It’s totally different to dancing and moving at a party.

Flannery said the training has been a bit challenging. “They’ve been giving us a little taste of different dances so far because it’s all out of my wheelhouse,” she admitted. “I did some dancing in college in musicals, like in West Side Story. But that was a long time ago, like 35 years ago. I’m pretty creaky and chubby now, so we’ll see how I do.”

“I’m trying to carbo-load. I don’t want to disappoint the fans by changing too much,” she laughed. “I’m just kidding. I would love to lose a few pounds, of course. Actually, I say that the reason that I’m doing the show is because I’m too cheap to join the gym.”

And while Flannery wouldn’t share who her dance partner will be — saying everyone will have to tune-in to the announcement on September 16 — she did name drop two famous friends that will be in the audience cheering her on. “Angela Kinsey, who was on The Office with me will be at the first show. And Jane Lynch is coming, too.”

Flannery has been documenting the experience of training for DWTS on her Instagram account, and she’s been brutally honest about the process. Dancing at the competition level has brought out some insecurities, but she’s working hard to be a stand-out competitor on the show. See her candid posts below.

 

Dancing with the Stars premieres Sept. 16 on ABC.

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