Looking on the bright side. Simone Biles and pro partner Sasha Farber opened up about their heartbreaking Dancing With the Stars elimination after receiving perfect scores for their jive and rumba on the Monday, May 15, episode. Watch Biles’ reaction to being voted off the competition in the video above.
The gymnast, 20, put a positive spin on her DWTS exit. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” she told Us Weekly and other reporters after the show. “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.”
The athlete said that she “went out with a bang,” and now she’s looking forward to a much-needed break. “I want to take time off, go on vacation, spend family time and friend time,” she said.
Biles and Farber also discussed their elimination on Good Morning America on Tuesday, and Biles joked that she hoped host Tom Bergeron had announced the wrong names. “I thought they were going to pull a Steve Harvey on us — at least I was hoping,” she said. “But, I mean, it’s OK.”
The Olympian added that it was difficult to appear on the ABC dancing competition one season after her teammate Laurie Hernandez, who won the season 23 Mirrorball with partner Val Chmerkovskiy. “At times I think the expectations were a little bit different for each contestant, and it’s hard to follow Laurie,” Biles said. “I think they wanted me to pick up where she left off, which is very hard because we’re two different people, but I had an amazing time on the show.”
The five-time gold medalist also addressed her sassy comment that “smiling doesn’t win you gold medals” on last week’s episode. “I think it was a positive spin if anything,” Biles said of fans’ reception to her zinger. “There were a couple of negative comments that we saw, but you just dismiss it and you’re like, ‘It’s fine.’”
Farber chimed in that he was glad they ended the season by nailing their dances. “If you’re going to go out, you go out on a night like that,” he said. “I’m just so proud of Simone, and she’s grown into this beautiful woman and she’s a dancer now. I feel like this show is all about growth, and she did exactly that. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
