Despite scoring a low 15 out of 30 and getting panned by all the judges, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino thought he did a decent job on his Dancing With the Stars debut Monday.
"I didn't do bad," he told UsMagazine.com after the show.
VIDEO: The Situation's dancing debut
With only five days to rehearse, he told Us, "I knew dancing wasn't my strong point. But I thought, 'I'm going to give this everything and try my hardest and whatever happens, happens.' And this was in front of millions of people! I just jumped head-first into it, like I do with everything."
Judges weren't impressed.
Bruno Tonioli told him he will look like a "jackass" if he doesn't rehearse more; Carrie Ann Inaba criticized his "80s style of dancing."
Said The Situation, 28, "I think they were definitely a little hard on me! I mean, I jumped off the stage! I thought that was cool."
But he told Us he can handle their harsh words.
"I am a very confident guy, but I understand you have to sometimes risk defeat to get a victory," he said. His goal on the show? "I'm trying to show people, 'Hey, this guy is going out of his element, and he's taking on a competition in front of millions of people. Maybe he's making a fool out of himself, but he's still doing okay,'" he told Us. I just want people to know this is an intelligent kid."
His partner Karina Smirnoff told Us he has been "completely opposite" from his wild-partying reality TV persona. "I thought I was going to have my hands full," she told Us, "but Mike is sweet, kind, respectful. He's a hard worker. He listens, and he tries anything I ask him."
If all else fails, he has a secret weapon: His trademark abs!
"I don't want to cop out and show abs right off the bat!" he joked. "Maybe we're going to save The Situation for another situation."