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" Kirstie Alley has predicted that Dancing with the Stars professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy will take his celebrity partner Melissa Gilbert far in the competition. Alley teamed with Chmerkovskiy on the ABC dancing series in 2011, eventually finishing as runner-up to the winners Hines Ward and Kym Johnson. The Cheers actress told Access Hollywood that Gilbert could make it all the way to this season&amp;#039;s Dancing with the Stars final if she follows Chmerkovskiy&amp;#039;s strategies.   &amp;quot;In my opinion, he&amp;#039;s probably the best teacher, but he&amp;#039;s really hardcore,&amp;quot; the actress said. &amp;quot;I always said this to Maks, &amp;#039;Here&amp;#039;s this wall!&amp;#039; and his job is to push me through it, I just didn&amp;#039;t know how hard it was gonna [be]. It&amp;#039;s like &amp;#039;Boom!&amp;#039;&amp;quot; She continued: &amp;quot;You sort of need that, especially from the middle [of the season] on, you really need someone to really be pushing you through.  &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t know about these other girls, but you&amp;#039;re going way beyond what you probably have ever accomplished.&amp;quot; Gilbert is pitted against fellow celebrities Katherine Jenkins, Jaleel White, Sherri Shepherd and Jack Wagner in her bid to win the mirrorball trophy. Dancing with the Stars premieres Monday, March 19 on ABC. &amp;amp;gt; Sherri Shepherd on DWTS: &amp;#039;I&amp;#039;ll ask Clinton, Walters for votes&amp;#039;&amp;amp;gt; Katherine Jenkins explains Dancing with the Stars launch absence "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/dancing-with-the-stars/news/a369048/kirstie-alley-maksim-will-take-melissa-gilbert-far-on-dwts/>