Kendra: Dancing Taught Me What True Love Is

Kendra Wilkinson learned more than the tango during her time on Dancing with the Stars.

After her surprise elimination Tuesday night, the reality star says she's seeing things from a whole new perspective.

"I had the most amazing time, but after seven weeks of being on Dancing with the Stars, it actually made me think about real life," Wilkinson, 25, tells Parade. "I know what true love is now – and that's, of course, my son and my husband."

Continues Wilkinson: "Every now and then it's cool to get dressed up and glamorous, but at the end of the day, I love what's real and what's real is family ... I'm so happy that I get to be a mom again!"

Wilkinson, who has one son – 1½-year-old Hank Jr. – with her pro-football-playing husband Hank Baskett, has some simple tips for other mothers who might be struggling.

"My number one piece of advice to all moms is to just breathe," she says. "Take time for yourself, even if it's just going to the bathroom and taking a couple breathers. Take at least five minutes out of the day for yourself – you need it, you deserve it."

Wilkinson also pays tribute to one of the major benefits of being on DWTS.

"My body is so great now," she says. "The different dances did different things, like the Latin dances would shape my thighs and my calves and my butt because of all the twisting. And it would make you sweat, that's the real calorie burner right there."

"But the Viennese waltz and the tango, it's all in the legs," she says. "You're doing a full squat for two minutes. It's more intense than anybody would think. My body's back into shape and I'm so happy."

Credit: PEOPLE (Sara Hammel)

Spoiler! Which Celebrity Was Voted Off DWTS?

After seven weeks of rocky performances, Kendra Wilkinson was voted off Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday night.

"Some flowers bloom early, some flowers bloom late, and you've been a late blossoming girl," judge Len Goodman, 67, reassured the E! reality star. "The last few weeks you've really come on."

How did Wilkinson -- who was in the bottom three with Kirstie Alley, 60, and Chelsea Kane, 22 -- take the news?

"I've lasted seven weeks, which is seven weeks longer than I ever thought I would last," she said. "I want to thank Louis [van Amstel] for sticking with me and not fighting me."

Now that she's out of the competition -- only Alley, Kane, Romeo, Hines Ward and Ralph Macchio remain -- Wilkinson can finally get back to her daily routine.

"Baby Hank, I'm coming home for you!" the proud mom, 25, exclaimed. "I may not the best dancer, but I am the best mom."

Credit: Us Magazine

Kendra: DWTS Has Been "Great" for My Sex Life

From the ballroom to the bedroom!

Turns out the judges weren't the only ones raving about Kendra Wilkinson's sultry moves on Monday's Dancing With the Stars. The 25-year-old Playboy alum's husband, Hank Baskett, was highly impressed with her hip shaking.

"Right after the [team] dance tonight we walked over to Hank and he said, 'Honey! I didn't know you could do the splits!'" Wilkinson's pro partner, Louis van Amstel, told Us Weekly after the pair took part in a group cha-cha routine with Kirstie Alley, Hines Ward and their partners.

Wilkinson says the flexibility tricks she's learned during her DWTS stint have come in handy behind closed doors.

"It's definitely great," Wilkinson told Us of the impact DWTS has had on her and Baskett's sex life. "If you come to my trailer after this you may see it moving back and forth. I'm definitely bringing the splits into the bedroom tonight!"

While Wilkinson relishes in DWTS' bedroom benefits, she admits to Us she worries about having the confidence to advance on the series.

"I have the physical, emotional [and] mental [strategy] to make it. But I'm still working on believing in myself," says Wilkinson, who also performed an intricate tango on Monday's show. "I have so much to offer and so much love and emotion to show. It's like a flower just starting to blossom, it's a process. Some flowers bloom overnight -- but not me!"

Credit: Us Magazine

Kendra Wilkinson Spotted At Dance Practice

Kendra Wilkinson and partner Louis van Amstel are spotted at the studio for Dancing with the Stars practice. Later, Hank Baskett arrived to catch a peek at his wife's progress.

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by PacificCoastNews.com

Bruno Calls Kendra A Stripper, Propositions Her

Guess he liked it?

Bruno Tonioli got seriously overheated following Kendra Wilkinson's samba routine with partner Louis van Amstel on Monday's Dancing with the Stars ("Guilty Pleasures" night).

After the Playboy alum and reality star, 25, pulled off a super-sexy dance to Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," the eccentric judge didn't offer much in the way of constructive criticism.

Instead, Tonioli quipped, "Ladies and gentleman, Dancing with the Stars presents: Revenge of the Stripper, Part 1!"

Tonioli then threw out a dollar bill and lay down on the judges' table. "Let's do it now, let's get it over with!"

Wilkinson and van Amstel laughed nervously and stepped back. The other judges praised the pair. "That was a guilty pleasure, my dear!" Carrie Ann Inaba gushed. "You were so in your element in this dance...Boy, that was a big performance!"

Added Len Goodman: "The more you gyrate, the more I palpitate! Well done."

As she rehearsed her routine, Wilkinson promised to bring "a lot of jiggle" -- plus clean , crisp lines and perfect technique -- to the performance.

"I'm gonna shake my butt all the way to the top of the leader board!"

In the end, she nabbed 25 points -- including a grateful 9 from Tonioli.

Credit: Us Magazine

Kendra Wilkinson: I Did Everything I Could Have

Sometimes you just have an off night. And that seemed to be the case for Kendra Wilkinson, who landed at the bottom of the leader board on Dancing with the Stars Monday night.

"The scores suck," the reality star said of earning just 18 points – the night's lowest score – for her Viennese waltz with partner Louis van Amstel. "That's the way it goes. I didn't do a perfect job and I got the scores I got, and that's the way it goes."

After judge Bruno Tonioli's highly animated critique, head judge Len Goodman reminded him, "These people are beginners, Bruno. Don't be cruel."

Kendra admitted to having mixed feelings about the routine. "Going into it I didn't feel comfortable but when the music started I did feel comfortable," she said. "I felt in place. I felt like I did everything I could have done."

So what went wrong? "I had three missteps," she says. "It sucks because I didn't mean to do it. It just happened. But I moved on from it and I finished it."

Credit: PEOPLE (Michele Stueven and Aaron Parsley)

Holly: Kendra Will Do Better Than I Did on DWTS

Holly Madison's stint on Dancing with the Stars may have been short-lived, but she thinks her former Girls Next Door costar, Kendra Wilkinson, could go all the way to win the competition's coveted disco-ball trophy.

"She absolutely has a chance at winning," Madison 32, recently told PEOPLE. "She's a natural athlete and she's really competitive and she has a fan following, so I think she'll do really well and certainly better than I did."

Still, Madison says that no matter how Wilkinson fares, she should just enjoy herself.

"It's so much fun," Madison, 32, says about participating on the hit ABC show. "As soon as I heard Kendra was going to be on this season, I texted her and said, 'Try your hardest, but don't even worry about being competitive or how long you stay on the show.' "

The Las Vegas Peepshow dancer, who sat with Wilkinson's brother and hubby Hank Baskett during a recent DWTS taping, so far is impressed with Wilkinson's footwork on the dance floor.

Madison, who encourages the show's competitors to "have a blast," says her main advice is to live in the moment.

"You never know when you're going to go. It could happen for any reason," says Madison. "So just enjoy it from week to week."

Credit: PEOPLE (Dhavi Shira)

Kendra Wilkinson's Interview With Mario Lopez

Kendra Wilkinson was spotted doing an interview with Mario Lopez for the show EXTRA at The Grove in Los Angeles yesterday, April 7, 2011. Also pictured, Kendra's Dancing with the Stars partner, Louis van Amstel.

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by Photo Agency

How Hank Influences Kendra's Dancing Routines

Things will get personal on Monday's Dancing with the Stars when pro Louis Van Amstel hits the ballroom with partner Kendra Wilkinson and takes on the role of her husband Hank Baskett.

"Next week is definitely a more spiritual, sexy story. It's a love story," Wilkinson, 25, told PEOPLE of their upcoming performance. "It's about my husband and me. It's about how we fell in love and what went on behind the scenes of falling in love."

While there's practically no comparison between the dancer and the athlete, Van Amstel, 38, is ready to put his acting chops to the test.

"I'll take the challenge," he says. "If she has to take the challenge each week, I'll take the challenge in storyline week. I'll have to up my game."

Fortunately, the pro dancer has met the inspiration for his role – and walked away with a good sense of the man he'll be impersonating.

"They are a very huge, big inspiration to young Hollywood that you can have it all and still be down to earth, have love, have kids at a younger age ... and be very supportive of each other," Van Amstel says.

The meeting also gave Baskett, 28, the opportunity to share an important – though perhaps unexpected – suggestion with his wife's new partner. "He didn't even give me advice," Van Amstel says. "He gave me a green light. 'Push my wife! Do anything you want with my wife.' "

Credit: PEOPLE (Jessica Wedemeyer and Tim Nudd)

Kendra: I Almost Walked Away From Dancing

It's only week two at Dancing with the Stars and emotions are already running high.

Just minutes before her quickstep with partner Louis van Amstel Monday night, Kendra Wilkinson says, "There was a moment where I just wanted to walk off the stage."

The reality star, who hopes the Dancing experience helps her overcome her stage fright, says she was rattled because she, like viewers at home, watched footage of her quickstep rehearsal. The video package showed the reality star in tears, emotional over the fact that she grew up a tomboy and now she's dressing like a lady and trying to perform highly elegant moves on the dance floor.

"I'm 25 – I'm at my quarter-life crisis," Wilkinson explains. "I'm growing up and I'm doing it while I'm on this show. And it's so funny – a lot of people don't want me to grow up. They go, 'What happened to you?' That's why a lot of times I'm so stressed out because when I do grow up, people push me down, and when I'm too much of a kid people are like, 'You have to grow up.' "

Though she had temporary second thoughts about stepping into the ballroom Monday, once her performance began, Wilkinson says, she felt secure.

"The audience pushed me through tonight," she says, noting that the fans in the audience who shouted, "I love you, Kendra," made all the difference.

"I'm so thankful for them," she says. "I'm happy people out there have faith in me. I know I can do this." 

Credit: PEOPLE (Monica Rizzo)

Kendra Wilkinson: 'I Was So Nervous' on Dancing

Nobody at Dancing with the Stars was more relieved than Kendra Wilkinson to get Monday night's premiere performance out of the way. Before performing the cha cha on live TV with partner Louis van Amstel, Wilkinson was a bundle of nerves.

"In the cha cha you're not supposed to bend your knees but I had to or I would have passed out," Wilkinson said. "I was so nervous, I barely took a breath."

What worried her? In short, everything about performing.

"I have a fear of the stage, a fear of the audience," Wilkinson said. "[The bright lights of the ballroom] made me dizzy. But I pulled it out and the fact that Carrie Ann [Inaba] said I didn't miss one step made me feel so good."

Wilkinson wasn't the only person to get a case of pre-show nerves.

"When I got here at the beginning of the day I wasn't nervous at all," says two-time Dancing champ Cheryl Burke, now in her 11th season on the show. "But two minutes before the show I thought, 'I'm going to throw up.' "

"That's a sign of a professional – you get nervous before you perform," said Burke's partner, WWE star Chris Jericho. "I'm just happy we got that first one under our belts."

The first dance, Romeo said, "felt great. It's like taking that first shot in your first basketball game. You knock it out and then you know what you need to do to get your team to the next level."

Dancing's next performance show airs March 28 (8 p.m. ET) on ABC. 

Credit: PEOPLE (Monica Rizzo)

Kendra & Louis van Amstel: DWTS Gift Suite

Kendra Wilkinson and professional dancer Louis Van Amstel attend the Gifting Services Suite Honoring Dancing With The Stars - Day 1 at CBS Studios on March 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.

Credit: Wire Image

Kelly Osbourne: Kendra Could Win "Dancing"

When Dancing with the Stars kicks off season 12 on Monday, Kelly Osbourne will be rooting for her friend Louis van Amstel and his new partner, Kendra Wilkinson.

"I've met Kendra a few times and I think they are going to be perfect," Osbourne recently told PEOPLE at the Who What Wear dinner at Il Sole in West Hollywood. "They have a really good chance at winning this."

Osbourne, who danced with Amstel during season 9, says the pro is happy with his pairing. "He's already told me, 'I love her. She's so much fun,' " Osbourne said. "The few times I've hung out with [Kendra] we've always had a really good time so I think they are a really good mix."

The secret to their success, Osbourne believes, may not only be their ability to dance but also the pair's chemistry.

"Louis knows what he's doing and I think he's got a girl that can move," Osbourne said. "They are going to have fun together because, a lot of people don't know this, but Louis has a bit of a dirty mouth and is quite dirty minded as well so I think they are going to be perfect together."

Credit: PEOPLE (Michelle Ward)

Kendra Wilkinson: Don't Pick Me To Win DWTS!

Kendra Wilkinson may be the second of Hef's former girls next door to compete on Dancing with the Stars, but don't think she turned to Season 8 alum Holly Madison for pointers. "I'm very stubborn like that," Wilkinson tells TV Guide. "If anyone tries to tell anything to me, I shut them up immediately. There's only one piece of advice I'll take and that's from Louis." So how are rehearsals going for the self-proclaimed tomboy with zero dance experience?

Why'd you decide to do the show?

Kendra Wilkinson: When I heard that they wanted to talk with me, I was like, "Uh, oh." I was kind of nervous. Yeah, I have a show on TV. I've been on TV for eight seasons. But candid reality TV is a lot different than Dancing with the Stars. I'm not that Hollywood. And Dancing is beyond Hollywood. It's a huge show. It took me a while to really feel it in my heart to feel good about it. Having a son, am I really going to take this time? It's not even the time; it's the focus. ... It's a lot of mental work.

Has it been tough juggling the show and your family life?

Wilkinson: I was preparing for the worst and it's actually not that bad. You get to make your schedule. I get to spend some time with the baby, go dance for a few hours, and come back and spend more time with the baby and my hubby [Hank Baskett]. It's a perfect, perfect time in my life and career to be doing this.

We did a poll and you're the favorite to win.

Wilkinson: And I really don't like that at all! [Laughs] I've always been the underdog and I love that feeling. I've never won anything except for my husband and my son. I hate the fact that I'm picked to win. ... It's flattering, I guess, but I wish people wouldn't do that. It puts extra pressure on me. I don't know why people are picking me. I do not have one minute of choreographed dance experience in my life. I know how to go into the club and shake my butt to a hip-hop song, but when it comes to choreography, posture and etiquette, that is really hard for me. I need a lot of practice. ... I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. It's going to be a huge fight for me.

What's been the hardest thing so far?

Wilkinson: Definitely posture. My posture is really bad. I have no etiquette. I'm an athlete. I'm a tomboy. I slouch and I'm pigeon-toed. That's my main problem. It's all mental. Louis lays us on the floor and is like, "Look, your feet go out because that's natural for your body." I'm like, "You know what? You're right!"

What's your first dance?

Wilkinson: The cha-cha. I get to shake my booty for a little bit. Our routine is great. I hope I can pull it off on game day. It's very, very fast. I have to concentrate. Once you think it's over, you have a mile to go. I think it's a great way to start off the season for me. It's a great way to pump up everybody and get everybody involved and have some fun. If they gave me the foxtrot for my first dance, that wouldn't have been good.

What are you looking forward to the most?

Wilkinson: I'm looking forward to getting the first dance over with. It's one of those things where the more I wait, the more nervous I get.... I'm also excited about getting into my costume. That's going to give it that extra spark for the dance.

Credit: TV Guide (Joyce Eng)

Kendra Wilkinson & Hank Baskett's Date Night

Taking an evening away from their parental duties, Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett were spotted out to dinner in Los Angeles last night (March 10).

The “Girls Next Door” alum and her footballer hubby both looked to be enjoying each other’s company as they arrived at a swanky restaurant.

Credit: Celebrity Gossip

Kendra Wilkinson Leaving Dance Practice

Kendra Wilkinson was spotted leaving the Dancing With The Stars studios after practice with Louis van Amstel in Hollywood, CA yesterday, March 8, 2011.

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by Photo Agency

Kendra Wilkinson's Sexy DWTS Costumes

Kendra Wilkinson is ready to rumba!

Two days after ABC announced that Wilkinson, 25, will be paired with Louis van Amstel on Dancing With the Stars, the network released the first set of official partner portraits.

Wilkinson, on the other hand, is already nervous about her competition -- especially Alley, 60.

"I'm worried about the Karate Kid [Ralph Macchio], the wrestler [Chris Jericho] and the boxer [Sugar Ray Leonard], because it's all about brainwork with dancing and they have it already," she told Us. "They've been choreographed before and I haven't! I'm all about freestyle and shaking my butt! That's all I got! And I think Kirstie Alley wins the popularity vote; she has the most fans, I think."

And don't expect the former Playboy model to show too much skin on the family-approved program.

"I can't look too sexy," she told Us. "That's the key, you know. I'm already known as the Playboy girl, so I can't go out there and do that. I have to be ABC appropriate!"

Credit: Us Magazine