New pics. Chelsie enjoying her free time:



And finally, Chelsie with whip 'n' boots?

'Dancing With the Stars': Chelsie Hightower cracks the whip

Last season on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," ballroom dancer Chelsie Hightower had to help stoic cowboy Ty Murray transition from a rodeo bull rider to a paso doble matador, and this season is turning out to be just as much of a challenge.

For the ninth cycle of the reality-competition show, which launched Sept. 21 (performances are on Monday nights; results are on Tuesdays), the 20-year-old is partnered with 21-year-old snowboarder Louie Vito.

"They like to give me the ones that have no dance experience at all," says Hightower. "But that makes it fun, taking someone and completely molding them from scratch, turning them into a dancer."

Vito just may make the 2010 U.S. Olympic team heading to Vancouver, Canada - if he doesn't become one of the show's many casualties.

"He's in pretty good shape," Hightower says. "We keep stretching and making sure that we're taking care of our bodies and listening to our bodies. We're trying to stay as injury-free as possible."

Since both Hightower and Vito live in Utah, and Hightower has five brothers who are snowboarders, the two have a lot in common. But Vito can still be a lot to handle.

"He's definitely entertaining," Hightower says. "There's never a dull moment with Louie. He's always doing some crazy thing. He's super ADHD, so as much as it drives me nuts that I can't get him to focus, he cracks me up so much.

"He's really fun to have around. On top of that, he also works hard."

Asked how she keeps Vito focused, Hightower says, "Just yelling at him. Nothing specific, just telling him to shut up. It gets to him sometimes, but I'll keep with that one."

Right now, Hightower and Vito are working on a dance that we haven't seen yet on this fall's competition.

"We're doing a rumba this week," Hightower says. "I love rumba; it's so sensual. Louie's actually doing well, surprisingly. He's doing the hips well and stuff. Of course, he loves being close, and he loves being able to touch each other."

But fear not, Hightower can handle that as well.

"I got my whip. I can crack it."

There might even be a little crush there.

"Maybe," Hightower says. "Possibly. Louie's awesome. We have fun together."