Hannah Brownis moving onwards and upwards.After anemotional roller coasteronThe Bachelorette, the former pageant queen joined theseason 28 castofDancing with the Stars. And after weeks ofgrueling rehearsals, she openedMonday night’s season premiere, scoring a 20/30 for her cha-cha with Alan Bersten — the second-highest score of the night afterJames Van Der Beek, who earned a 21/30 from the judges.Speaking to PEOPLE after the show, Brown, 24, admitted the past few weeks have been no easy feat.“Rehearsals have been really hard for me,” she said. “And it’s not just trying to learn the cha-cha. It’s all the emotions that come with just being in this experience and the experience I’ve been in the past year.”“Going fromThe Bacheloretteto being onDancing with the Stars, I’m having to work through some things,” she continued. “I’m so thankful that Alan has been there and has been patient with me. It has been tough. I’m really excited to see the growth that I have to just move forward doing the show.”Five weeks after getting engaged toBachelorettefinalistJed Wyatt, Brownbroke things offbecause she found outhe had lied about having a girlfriendwhen he went on the show. And while fans hoped she might rekindle things with her runner-upTyler Cameron, he’s been dating supermodelGigi Hadid.Speaking toPEOPLE Nowafter the cast announcement last month, Brown said shelooks forward to challenging herselfon the show — and is “totally focused on Hannah and with this new chapter in my life.”“I don’t want to really flash back to pageant days for this because I think that was what was the hardest thing for me competing — not looking to my left or my right and really just focusing on getting better and showing my best self,” she said. “I want to do that with this.”“Of course I want to win. You don’t compete in something if that’s not your goal, you should always want to succeed,” she added. “But I just want to continue getting better and better each week and have that competition for myself, not with the other contestants.”Dancing with the Starsairs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.

Hannah Brownis moving onwards and upwards.

After anemotional roller coasteronThe Bachelorette, the former pageant queen joined theseason 28 castofDancing with the Stars. And after weeks ofgrueling rehearsals, she openedMonday night’s season premiere, scoring a 20/30 for her cha-cha with Alan Bersten — the second-highest score of the night afterJames Van Der Beek, who earned a 21/30 from the judges.

Speaking to PEOPLE after the show, Brown, 24, admitted the past few weeks have been no easy feat.

“Rehearsals have been really hard for me,” she said. “And it’s not just trying to learn the cha-cha. It’s all the emotions that come with just being in this experience and the experience I’ve been in the past year.”

“Going fromThe Bacheloretteto being onDancing with the Stars, I’m having to work through some things,” she continued. “I’m so thankful that Alan has been there and has been patient with me. It has been tough. I’m really excited to see the growth that I have to just move forward doing the show.”

Five weeks after getting engaged toBachelorettefinalistJed Wyatt, Brownbroke things offbecause she found outhe had lied about having a girlfriendwhen he went on the show. And while fans hoped she might rekindle things with her runner-upTyler Cameron, he’s been dating supermodelGigi Hadid.

Speaking toPEOPLE Nowafter the cast announcement last month, Brown said shelooks forward to challenging herselfon the show — and is “totally focused on Hannah and with this new chapter in my life.”

“I don’t want to really flash back to pageant days for this because I think that was what was the hardest thing for me competing — not looking to my left or my right and really just focusing on getting better and showing my best self,” she said. “I want to do that with this.”

“Of course I want to win. You don’t compete in something if that’s not your goal, you should always want to succeed,” she added. “But I just want to continue getting better and better each week and have that competition for myself, not with the other contestants.”

Dancing with the Starsairs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.

source: people.com