“Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice was the second celebrity to be eliminated from the “Dancing With the Stars” ballroom, getting sent home on Monday night — Week 2 of Season 31. But, backstage, after the show, she said she saw the experience as wish fulfillment.
“How am I feeling? Listen, it was an amazing experience. I had an amazing partner,” she said, referring to pro Pasha Pashkov. “Finally my dream came true. I’ve always wanted to dance. I did two dances and in front of a live audience. And it was pretty amazing. Yeah, it was great.”
In the final moments of Monday night’s show on Disney+, Giudice and her partner were put in the bottom two alongside “Charlie’s Angels” star Cheryl Ladd and pro Louis van Amstel. While the viewer votes landed both couples in the bottom, the couple that continued on was ultimately up to the judges. While Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli opted to save Giudice and Pashkov, Carrie Ann Inaba and Len Goodman chose Ladd and van Amstel. Because Goodman’s vote, as head judge, serves as a tiebreaker, Giudice was eliminated.
“It is what it is,” Giudice said backstage after being asked if she was surprised about not being saved to dance another week. “I guess maybe because we were in the bottom two last week. I really don’t know how it works, and so I guess it’s because it happened again this week. So, they picked …. Cheryl instead of us. That’s OK. You know, everyone was amazing.”
Giudice said she had hoped to make it to the finals, though when she saw who she’d be competing against this season, she didn’t think she’d make it to a mirrorball win, despite her drive.
“I wanted to win the mirrorball because his wife [Daniella Karagach] won it last season. So I want him to have like, the second trophy in their house so they have two of them. But you know what? There’s a lot of amazing dancers on the show. … When I saw my competition, I’m like, ‘I’m definitely not winning it.’ But I tried,” she added.
When asked about the judges’ decision being split, Giudice noted it was a salve despite the fact that she was sent home.
“Yeah. I mean, that was nice. Yeah, I don’t I don’t think Len liked me really so much. … And then, I knew Len was not going to pick me. I knew he was gonna pick Cheryl over me. I knew already,” she said.
Asked why she thought that, Giudice replied, “I just knew. I had a feeling.”
Although disappointed to leave the competition, Giudice said she takes away a lesson from the experience.
“That anything that you want to do in life, you know, go for it. Because you can achieve anything,” she said. “Because I’ve always wanted to dance, I really did. And look, I got to do it at 50 years old. My dream finally came true because … I love ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ I was a really big fan of it. So I finally got to be on it.”
New episodes of “Dancing With the Stars” debut Mondays on Disney+.
