While Pretty Little Liars star Janel Parrish was busy waltzing away from A in 2014, she was literally dancing on her off days, too. As a contestant on season 19 of Dancing with the Stars, Parrish was paired with pro Valentin Chmerkovskiy, and together, the two shimmied and swayed their way into third place. Surprisingly, not scoring first place and the famed Mirrorball Trophy was something special to Parrish. “Three’s my lucky number,” she admitted exclusively to The List.

Though Parrish isn’t a professional dancer, her experience acting on Broadway undoubtedly gave her dance routines an edge. “I’m lucky enough to have grown up on stage, and I think that definitely helped,” she told us. “And just the fact that I just love performing. It feels like home.”

In an exclusive interview with The List, Parrish tells us what else it takes to make it — or break it — on Dancing with the Stars.

Competing on Dancing with the Stars takes a lot of work — but it's worth it, says Janel Parrish

While working alongside A is quite an endeavor, competing on Dancing with the Stars was still the “craziest thing I’ve ever done,” Janel Parrish admitted to us. Though the actress is used to living out roles in other worlds like Rosewood, playing herself on the stage was something new to get used to. “It felt like an alternate reality, because my world, my days, everything was dance,” she explained. “And I loved it.”

Dancing is definitely not far from the arts, but rehearsing for nearly 14 hours every day requires you to stay in tip top shape. After doing this for four months, Parrish believes that she came out of the competition even more powerful than she was before. “I was challenged every day, I was terrified every day,” she said. “But I overcame it, and afterwards, I was like, ‘You can do anything now. You did that? That was terrifying. And you did it. Live.'” Looking back, A has absolutely nothing on her now!

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