Val Chmerkovskiy Says ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Exit ‘Sucks’ After He & Sailor Brinkley-Cook Get Eliminated

Professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy said that his shocking exit from the ABC reality competition series Dancing with the Stars “sucks” after he and celebrity partner Sailor Brinkley-Cook were eliminated during Week 6 of the competition.

Val said to Us Weekly that he was upset not only for himself but most of all for his partner, who stepped in abruptly to take over for her mother, former supermodel Christie Brinkley, after she broke her wrist less than a week before the newest season of the series began in September.

“It sucks we got eliminated. I don’t think it’s right and I think that the show may or may not have made a mistake,” said Val to the entertainment news publication.

“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,” Val explained.

During the show’s final moments of its sixth episode of the season, Val and Sailor were standing side-by-side alongside Sasha Farber and singer Ally Brooke as the bottom two couples in the competition.

After hearing her name called, 21-year-old Sailor broke down on stage and was unable to contain her tears as Val tried to console her. She did not make any formal remarks on stage after being eliminated from the show.

The judges seemed clearly upset after the bottom two couples were revealed, with Carrie Ann Inaba remarking that she was “stunned” that Ally and Sailor were in this position. All three judges concurred that it was Ally and Sasha who would be moving forward on the series and that Sailor would be heading home.

The Inquisitr recently reported that competitor Sean Spicer is getting a lot of votes from his former White House colleague Sarah Sanders, who reportedly has her entire family using every platform to vote for the former White House press secretary, who remains in the competition despite no progression of his dance skills.

The show came under fire last season for its questionable voting policies, which allowed fans to flood the phone lines, internet, and mobile voting after performances to vote for their favorite celebrities, whether or not they had improved as dancers as the weeks progressed. This ballot-stuffing for a particular celebrity allowed radio personality Bobby Bones to make it to the finals and subsequently win Season 27 of the long-running competition series, over more competent dancers such as Disney star Milo Manheim, YouTuber Alexis Ren, and Harry Potter film star, Evanna Lynch.

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.