DWTS’ Val Chmerkovskiy And Sailor Brinkley-Cook Speak Out After Shocking Elimination
Published on October 23, 2019. Updated October 25, 2019Every season of Dancing With the Stars usually has at least one elimination or exit that fans never see coming, and for season 28 it seems that elimination was in week six.
On the Monday, October 21 episode of Dancing With the Stars, fan favorite pro Val Chmerkovskiy and model Sailor Brinkley-Cook were eliminated after being put in the bottom two alongside Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber.
While Brinkley-Cook was too upset to speak after the elimination, the next day Chmerkovskiy opened up about how he felt, saying he thought it was a “mistake” they were sent home. “It sucks we got eliminated. That sucks, and I don’t think it’s right and I think that the show may or may not have made a mistake,” he stated. “But it’s not a perfect show. It is a show that has, at the core of its nucleus, this incredible effort to make people happy, and I think that’s what makes the show very, very special. … You appreciate the effort. There’s a lot of people putting in the effort to make people happy like in the simplest form, that’s the beauty of it. It’s a humongous effort by a lot of people who are incredibly talented who are holding themselves to a very high standard all in the name of bringing joy to people.”
He went on to state that despite the elimination, he is still very happy about his time on the season with Sailor, which started off a little rough after she stepped in for her injured mother, Christie Brinkley, only three days before the premiere.
Life goes on. Not everyone gets to be a winner unless they choose to be. Winning is a mentality. I’ll take six weeks of this experience with her, with her mom, getting to know Christie Brinkley ,” he said. “To get to know this superstar and to realize what I’ve been missing out on and then to get to know her as a person. I have nothing but the most incredible things to say about Christie Brinkley because of the person that I’ve met in the last month and a half, not really having an extensive knowledge of what her career looked like. One of the things that I admire so much about her is how she embraces motherhood and how she prioritizes it. The fact that week 2 of rehearsal, she was having the time of her life but in the same breath, after Sailor visited for literally 10 seconds of that rehearsal when she walked out, she was so proud. ‘That’s my daughter, oh man she would be perfect for this show. She would kill this show, she would be so good.’ For me, those are the moments that made me really gravitate towards people.”
Meanwhile, Brinkley-Cook took to her Instagram on October 22 to share her thoughts.
“Last night was heartbreaking. I was so not ready for this experience to finish so soon but wow am I grateful for every minute of it,”she began the post. “I loved every sweaty moment in the rehearsal studio pushing myself past so many inhibitions and insecurities, and laughing my way through it all with my buddies @michdibs @valentin . And then doing something every Monday that I never in a million years thought i could be capable of. It was such a gift, no matter how nervous i was getting up on that stage I’d always look around and think what is my life!? How blessed am I?! This experience changed my whole outlook on life. All my life I let my fears hold me back from anything I wasn’t comfortable with. This experience made me feel unstoppable. Each day on this rollercoaster ride was a massive learning lesson, a journey in 24 hours.”
“Thank you to everyone for showing me so much love and to all my close friends and family for always believing in me and supporting me. Thank you to the whole crew on DWTS for showing unconditional kindness always,” she continued. “To my cast-mates who quickly became such good friends, thank you for taking me in and being so kind and supportive.. I’ll miss you guys! But I’m so excited to see y’all light up that stage on Monday!”
“A massive thank you to my fearless partner and friend @valentin for everything, for believing in my strengths, for never giving up, for cracking me up every day,” she wrote. “I’ll sincerely miss dancing by your side. But I know it won’t be the last time. I am so grateful to have taken this chance, befriended some really amazing people, had some bucket list experiences and have these stories to tell forever. And I’ll never stop dancing!!!! Feeling so filled with love and gratitude! Thank you!!!”
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Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
