Maks: "Mel B Is the Best Dancer on DWTS"

Based on their sizzling performances the last few weeks, you’d

think Melanie Brown and Maksim Chmerkovskiy have been rehearsing their butts

off to perfect these dances, but it’s actually the opposite, Maks tells OK!.

“Her practice schedule is 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with the Spice Girls — no breaks — and

then she's practicing with me from 7 to probably 7:45!” Maks teases. “It is

very difficult, but we're doing it. We don't practice nearly as much as the

other celebrities and maybe we should!”

Still, the couple is getting some of the highest scores of

the competition, including two perfect 30s the last two weeks and a total score

of 56 Monday night for a second-place showing. Maks credits Mel’s natural

ability for separating herself from the rest of the pack.

“Mel is by far the best dancer in this competition, no

question,” he says. “HelioCastroneves can try and come close because he's a

guy and he can just stand there and have Julianne Hough do her thing around

him. I'm not hating! I think he's developing and improving and everything else

but in the end, he isn't Mel.”

Of course not — Helio doesn’t stress Maks out every week

like Mel, 32, does. The 27-year-old pro says Mel breaks down once a week to the

point where he must talk her out of it and motivate her. “I am like her

therapist!”