Thanks to hard work, growing confidence and the support of the Bachelor Nation, Hannah Brown made it into tonight’s Dancing with the Stars semi-finals and has a real shot at the Mirror Ball Trophy.

The Bachelorette and her professional partner Alan Bersten will be one of five celebrity and pro-dancer couples to take to the ballroom floor to compete on the tenth week of the 2019 season. They will be competing against James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater, Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson, Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko, and Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber.

“This experience has been amazing and I think anything that is worth giving your all comes with ups and downs and I’ve definitely had that in this experience,” Brown told Parade.com on the red carpet after last week’s performance. “But it’s been great with the judges and people that have supported me and rallied around me in this incredible journey that I’m going on.”

Hannah Brown, Alan Berstein (ABC/Kelsey McNeal)

For the semifinals, there will be two rounds of dance performances. In the first round, the celebrities will repeat a style of dance they struggled with earlier in the season, performing to a new song. The second round will be the final time the couples will perform to a new style of dance.

“I feel like I’ve gotten more confident just going out there and being able to perform,” Brown says. “I feel like each week is a stepping stone to get better and better and then work on things that I still need to work on.”

The plan for tonight’s performance, as revealed by Bersten is: “There’s going to be a new side of Hannah, a nice and different side. I’m really excited because we’re going to have a more of an emotional dance, and we haven’t really shown that side yet.”

Unlike several of the other dancers, who have lost more than 10 pounds since dance practice began, Brown reveals she eats too much candy – especially on the trip to Disneyland, where she partook of the corn dogs, the churros, and the cotton candy — so she hasn’t seen a big physical change in her body.

Hannah Brown, Alan Berstein (ABC/Eric McCandless)

But each week, depending on the type of dance she and Bersten are performing, she is discovering new muscles. For example, for the Paso Doble, she felt it in her abs. But overall, the most painful part of the experience for Brown has been in her legs and feet.

“I don’t really feel my feet anymore,” she shares. “We did that last little turn thing on the ground and every time I get those burns on it, and I’m like, ‘Oh whatever.’ My legs hurt really bad, too. So, we just make sure that I have massages, see a physical therapist, do the ice baths and saunas, all this stuff to keep me going.”

With the end in sight, Brown looks back at the experience, saying, “I knew I was going to work my absolute hardest. But then going through it all, you don’t understand just how hard it can be. It’s really been such an honor that I have continued to be able to stay in this competition among really amazing dancers. So, I’m hoping that the fans just continue to support and rally around us.”

Win or lose, it looks as if Brown will be staying in Los Angeles for a while because she has taken a liking to appearing on television.

Hannah Brown, Alan Berstein (ABC/Eric McCandless)

“When I get asked what it’s like, it’s like a dream come true that I can even have the opportunity to be truly thinking about some of the dreams that I’ve had actually becoming a reality. I like being on TV. I like meeting and communicating with different people. So, I could do something like that.”

Dancing with the Stars airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.