TV Watch

The Dancing Cast Weighs In on Shannon & Derek’s Smooch

04/24/2008 at 12:00 AM EDT

Perhaps it's the steamy performances or those long practice sessions in the studio, but it happens almost every season … a hot hookup forms off the dancefloor on Dancing with the Stars. This season's possible show-mance: Shannon Elizabeth and her partner Derek Hough, who were photographed recently kissing in Malibu.

"They might have been auditioning for a new romantic comedy, like Friends with Benefits," pro dancer Karina Smirnoff, who has weathered her share of romance rumors, joked to PEOPLE at the 2008 JCPenney Asian Excellence Awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday. "They're both hot, young single , so why not?"

Fellow contestant Cristian de la Fuente agreed: "When you spend a lot of time with somebody and you have a good relationship, you want to extend that working relationship to the house."



While Elizabeth and Hough continue to foxtrot around the nature of their relationship, insisting they're just partners on the dancefloor, pro Mark Ballas, Hough's roommate and bandmate, says of the pair: “He’s single. She’s single. Whatever. I think what’s great about their relationship is they’re really good friends and they get along really well. They have great chemistry.” --Eunice Oh, with reporting by Monica Rizzo and Reagan Alexander

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