It’s Ariana, bitch.
Ariana Madix pulled out all the stops for Tuesday’s “Music Video Night” on “Dancing With the Stars,” channeling her No. 1 idol, Britney Spears, and performing a cha cha inspired by the iconic “I’m a Slave 4 U” music video.
“As soon as I knew there was going to be a ‘Music Video Night,’ it’s like, ‘There’s gotta be Britney representation, right?’ And then you think, ‘Well, who’s going to do Britney?’” the “Vanderpump Rules” star exclusively told Page Six in the ballroom after the show.
“And I’m like, ‘It has to me be, please,’ because that is my girl! So I was thrilled.”
Madix – who has been a lifelong fan of the singer – told us she got into character by closing her eyes and picturing the OG video in her head moments before she hit the dance floor with her pro partner, Pasha Pashkov.
“I was like, ‘That’s the vibe, that’s the energy,’ and that was it,” she said of prepping for the energetic routine, which received a total combined score of 37/40 from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and guest Paula Abdul.
“It felt amazing [to hear that feedback]. Cha cha is freaking tough … I might know how to do the [Spears choreography], but if I can’t have decent cha cha technique, they’re gonna see it, they’re gonna call me out,” she continued.
“So that was the toughest thing. That was something we worked so hard on. So for them to see that, it was awesome.”
Madix, 38, also took a trip down memory lane with Page Six, remembering herself as the little girl who grew up listening to Spears’ music on repeat and teaching herself all the singer’s video choreography at her childhood home in Melbourne, Fla.
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“I’d be like, ‘Girl, you’re about to do what you’re doing in the living room, like, for real, in front of millions of people!’” she exclaimed of what she wishes she could tell her younger herself now. “So, study hard.”
Of transforming into the 41-year-old pop star, Madix credited the show’s hair, makeup and wardrobe teams for creating a look that was almost identical to what Spears wore in “I’m a Slave 4 U.”
“The team here is the absolute best. Zena [Shteysel] killed the makeup and then, actually, [Tuesday] morning, there was a wig,” she revealed, telling us they “killed” that idea and opted for a sultry, wavy ‘do.
“There’s so many products in here. It’s going to take me a lifetime to get them all out,” she joked. “I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow [trying].”
If getting the chance to pay homage to Spears wasn’t enough excitement for one week, Madix also had the opportunity to meet Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean.
The Season 29 alum, 45, surprised Madix and her “Team 4 Everybody” members as they rehearsed for their team dance to “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”
“Her reaction was the best thing of the entire week,” Pashkov told us of seeing his partner’s genuine excitement. “It was so pure and so real. It was a joy to watch that.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s show, Madix shared via Instagram Stories that she was dedicating the dance to Spears and all her “fellow Britney stans.”
“[Tuesday] night I get the chance to channel the queen who has been an inspiration to me since childhood. The resilient, mesmerizing, legendary princess of pop @britneyspears!” she shared, tagging dancer Brian Friedman, who created the music video’s iconic choreography with Wade Robson in 2001.
After seeing the performance, Friedman took to his own Stories to congratulate Madix and Pashkov for “killing” his and Wade’s choreography.
“I’m literally crying omg,” Madix wrote in response. “thank you so much … y’alls choreography changed my life.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, with new episodes streaming the following day on Hulu.
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