‘The Wonder Years’ Actress Danica McKellar Said ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Was Stressful

Danica McKellar attends the "Unsung Hero" Nashville World Premiere on April 15, 2024. Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Danica McKellar is sharing the reality of participating in “Dancing With the Stars” a decade after her appearance.

During Sunday’s episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, “The Wonder Years” alum shared insight on the intense training she went through during her time on the competition show.

“It’s much harder than they show in the packages because it would bum people out to see how stressful it is,” McKellar told host Cheryl Burke. “It just wouldn’t be as fun anymore for people.”

“Failure was not an option,” she added. “So I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to try and fulfill it, and it broke me. I was in tears because I didn’t know how to handle that kind of pressure.”

The “Crown For Christmas” star performed a variety of dances with partner Val Chmerkovskiy during season 18 of the reality series before getting eliminated from the competition in week eight. Despite the challenges she faced, McKellar said the experience gave her strength.

“It made me stronger. I’m grateful to Val because I like challenges. I like being pushed beyond my comfort zone. So, I welcome that kind of thing,” she said. “I’m just working really hard trying to do my best and felt completely unqualified.”

McKellar explained that while she loved dancing, being on the show made for a relentless experience.

“I remember telling somebody it was like if you love chocolate and somebody puts you in a vat of chocolate and then holds your head under it,” the 49-year-old said. “That’s what Dancing with the Stars is like. And every now and then, you get a breath. It’s unrelenting.”

A Big Milestone

Earlier this month, McKellar celebrated her 10-year anniversary with husband Scott Sveslosky in a sweet tribute posted to social media.

“Exactly 10 years ago, we said, ‘I do!’” her Instagram post caption reads. “November 15, 2014, just before 6:30 am, we held a small, sunrise ceremony on a secluded beach in Kauai - only 20 people, including us.”

“Ten years has flown by, and I feel like the luckiest woman on the planet! Happy 10 year anniversary, my love!” she added.

In another post last month, the “Coming Home for Christmas” star reminisced on the day she met Sveslosky through a blind date.

“Exactly 11 years ago today, Oct 16, 2013, my life changed forever when I met Scott on a blind date, set up via mutual friends!” she captioned the post.

“And BTW, we pretty much instantly knew that day we'd found our forever. I still remember sitting down across from him and trying hard not to giggle—actually I couldn’t stop giggling at first—I was instantly smitten, staring at my future husband!” she continued. “Happy Anniversary of our first date, my love!”

Born on Jan. 3, 1975, in La Jolla California, McKellar launched her acting career when she got the role of Gwendolyn “Winnie” Cooper on ABC’s hit coming-of-age series “The Wonder Years.” The show premiered in 1988 and ran for six seasons until ending in 1993.

Following the show, she appeared in the Lifetime films “Cradle of Conspiracy” (1994) and “Justice for Annie” (1996). She then briefly had a recurring role in season 4 of “The West Wing,” starring Rob Lowe, before competing in season 18 of “Dancing with the Stars” in 2005.

McKellar has also starred in several Hallmark films, including 2015’s “Crown for Christmas,” 2017’s “Campfire Kiss,” 2018’s “Love in Design,” and 2020’s “Christmas She Wrote.”

McKellar graduated from the University of Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics.