Melissa: 'DWTS' No Bed of Roses

The rose ceremonies during Jason Mesnick's stint as "The Bachelor" were nerve-wracking for Melissa Rycroft -- but nowhere near as scary as the dance-offs during "Dancing with the Stars"!

Rycroft confessed that the elimination format in "DWTS" is "definitely" more nerve-wracking than facing Jason and his limited number of roses.

The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her professional partner Tony Dovolani earned some of the show's highest scores, but Melissa still breathed a huge sigh of relief when she found out they were safe. "It's fair to say nobody's safe, no matter how high your scores are," she told Us Weekly, adding that during the elimination show Tuesday, "all of our hearts were pounding."

"We worked really hard and made it, and now we get to start all over again," Rycroft said. "I don't think it's going to be any easier because each week it's a brand new routine. We had the salsa routine, but now we've got to throw that out the window and start fresh!"

The athletic beauty is dancing the foxtrot next week -- and admits that she has work to do! "I have no idea what the foxtrot even is!"