Gavin DeGraw faced off against Jaleel White in a "dance duel" on Tuesday's Dancing With the Stars, and the singer tells Us Weekly he thrived in the high-pressure environment.
"I'll miss the whole pressure element of this show," the singer — eliminated by Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli in a unanimous vote — explained after his ouster. "I don't necessarily enjoy the pressure all the time but pressure is good."
Admitting that he never expected to take home season 14's Mirrorball trophy, DeGraw, 35, still earned a pretty decent consolation prize from his pro partner Karina Smirnoff.
"I got Karina's phone number finally! It took a while," DeGraw, who continues his concert tour this summer, admitted to Us. "[Dancing With the Stars] was like summer camp: We made a lot of great friends and it was a great experience. You don't have to win a trophy to learn how to dance, so this is about stepping out, learning something new — it's not about winning or losing all the time."
Following DeGraw's elimination, eight contestants remain in the competition: White, William Levy, Gladys Knight, Maria Menounos, Donald Driver, Roshon Fegan, Melissa Gilbert and Katherine Jenkins.
