Jamie Lynn Spears on How Her Family Reacted to Her First ‘DWTS’ Performance — and Who Teared Up (Exclusive)

Jamie Lynn Spears is enjoying her cool mom points on Dancing With the Stars. The 32-year-old Sweet Magnolias actress tells ET’s Denny Directo that the experience on ABC’s reality competition has provided a beautiful opportunity to connect with her daughters, 15-year-old Maddie and 5-year-old Ivey. 

Jamie Lynn’s girls were in the audience to cheer her on during Monday’s season 32 premiere on ABC, along with her mother, Lynne Spears. 

“It just meant everything,” Jamie Lynn gushed of their support. “It was like, OK, at least to have that, it’s been a day, I got my girls here and my family, and that was it. I don’t think it would have been nearly as special without them.” 

Jamie Lynn and her pro partner, Alan Bersten, delivered a spirited performance that earned them a score of 15 from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. The positive feedback along with the audience’s enthusiastic response ensured that they were safe to dance for another week in the competition.

“They were really proud,” Jamie Lynn said of her daughters. “My youngest one, she did take a nap through most of the show, but she woke up for my performance. And then my oldest one said that she teared up at the end.” 

She continued, “That made my heart feel like, really, I don’t know. It was weird to see my 15-year-old be proud of watching her mom dance on TV.” 

Jamie Lynn joked that, like most parents of teens, “I have not done anything right in about three years,” but that joining Dancing With the Stars has been a “bonding experience for us, so I’ve really enjoyed it.” 

Now, Jamie Lynn and Alan are looking ahead to next week’s Latin Night, where they’ll shake their hips to a Pitbull song. 

“I’m sore, but, like, mentally … it’s tough,” Jamie Lynn admitted. “It’s really tough to, like, convince yourself that you’re gonna go out there and do this. I’ve just feel like I’m always so used to being really prepared and pretty confident whatever my craft is, and, like, I’m just not confident in being a dancer.”

“Not yet,” Alan chimed in. 

“I signed up with this obviously to be able to donate to my community with SAG, but then it’s also, at the same time, turned into this whole other thing of like, ‘Wow, like, you can really challenge yourself,'” Jamie Lynn mused of the experience so far. “I want to push myself and I didn’t realize it was going to affect me that much. But, like, I’m invested in it now.”

Just prior to the premiere, a source told ET that Jamie Lynn was “a little nervous that her personal life and family might be touched on during the season.”

During interviews leading up to her DWTS debut, Jamie Lynn was asked about sister Britney Spears, whose legal battles have garnered significant media attention in recent years and caused estrangement between the siblings. Jamie Lynn gracefully sidestepped the question, responding, “My 15-year-old [daughter Maddie] was very motivated for me to do this.”

As for how Britney feels about her younger sister competing, source told ET that the pop singer “wasn’t initially thrilled about Jamie Lynn doing Dancing With the Stars.”

“It’s bad timing, especially with Britney dealing with her split with Sam,” said the source, referring to Britney’s breakup from husband Sam Asghari. “She feels continuously disappointed by her family, and it definitely stings.”

In ET’s interview, Alan and Jamie Lynn were asked whether they are planning to dance to any of Britney’s hits in the ballroom. 

“We’re not really thinking about the future,” Alan replied. “We’re literally thinking about some Pitbull and ‘Shake Señora’ … One day at a time is what we’re taking it at.” 

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