When Mark Ballas learned that his partner for this season of Dancing with the Stars was none other than Melissa Joan Hart, to say that he was excited would be a bit of an understatement.

In his younger days, it was a nightly ritual of his to watch Melissa, 33, on Nikelodeon's Clarissa Explains it All.

I would tell my mom not to talk to me when it was on," Mark admitted to Access Hollywood.

So, how well in Melissa holding up thus far?

She’s doing pretty well so far," says Ballas, 23. "She has a tendency to kind of want to do all the hard stuff now. We've got to build up to it. We're only on day eight. We have three more weeks to go."

Although still in the early stages of rehearsal, Melissa remains hopeful and anticipates the future with open arms and big grin.

See, I kind of look at it like, 'We have three more weeks to go!'" said Hart.

Be sure to tune into the new season of DWTS on September 21 at 8PM on ABC to see how the celebrity hopefuls measure up to their dancing counterparts!