Leah Remini feels she has a lot to prove on Dancing With the Stars. During some of the rehearsal footage from Monday night's episode, the King of Queens alum spoke with partner Tony Dovolani about why she was struggling to learn the samba — and why it was so important to her to get it right.
"I'm going through a personal and big change for me and my family," the actress explained, referring to her recent split from Scientology. "The church is looking for me to fail so they can say to their parishioners, 'See what happens when you leave the church?' They're waiting for me to fail."
The Church of Scientology, for its part, gave a comment to Good Morning America on Tuesday, Sept. 24, saying: "We know this may come as a surprise to someone as self-absorbed as Ms. Remini, but we could care less if she wins or loses on Dancing With the Stars."
In any case, DWTS has proven to be a good creative outlet for the actress. "It's been a godsend," she told Us Weekly backstage on Monday, Sept. 23. "The love and support that I've received from Tony, from the cast, from the crew, from friends I didn't know I had? It offsets some of that [negative energy]."
Remini added that she feels stronger every day. "I'm going through the pain of losing friends of 30 years, but like I said, the show's been a godsend," she gushed. "I wake up, I'm happy, I have real friends, I have real love, I have real support, I have my family."