Say what? David Ross opened up to Us Weekly about his fellow Dancing With the Stars competitor Simone Biles‘ shocking elimination on the Monday, May 15, episode.
“I’m shocked about me and Simone. This is a package deal here,” the former MLB star, 40, told reporters after the show. “I didn’t feel like I could celebrate on stage because I felt bad. I felt like, ‘Why am I taking her spot?’ I don’t know if I should feel that way or not, but I do and I did.”
Monday night’s elimination was particularly surprising because Biles, 20, and her pro partner, Sasha Farber, earned perfect scores for their jive and rumba, while Ross and his partner, Lindsay Arnold, landed at the bottom of the leaderboard with a combined score of 70 out of 80.
“I’m super happy I’m going on but there is a part of me that hurts for her,” Ross said of the Olympic gymnast. “It’s hard. This is a family. We are friends. It’s hard to see anybody go that you get to know and that you create a relationship with and you see what great people they are.”
The former baseball catcher added that he never expected to make it to the finals. “No! I can say that with an exclamation point,” he told Us. “Every week is a shock for me.”
Biles, meanwhile, is looking on the bright side. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” she told reporters of her elimination. “I have been going nonstop since the Olympics, and I feel like I couldn’t ask for more of what Sasha has done for this entire season and journey, and I found out a lot about myself.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
