The 41-year-old "Saved By The Bell" and "Showgirls" alum and the 27-year-old pro dancer had placed second during the ninth week of competition on Monday and had been frontrunners throughout the current 17th season.
"I feel like I'm just so grateful for this whole, whole journey and I was surprised -- not in an entitled way," Berkley told OTRC.com after she and Chmerkovskiy were eliminated. "I was looking forward to the joy of next week 'cause we had Paso Doble and things I hadn't done before so I was excited to explore that. But Val's an amazing partner and we're gonna be friends for a long time and maybe do something creative together soon, so it'll be exciting."
"But I'm gonna miss this 'cause I wanted to see this through," she added. "It just feels a little cut short at the moment -- you're catching me fresh off elimination -- but that's OK. It's given me so much -- so much that I'm aware of and then probably things that will reveal themselves so I'm excited to see where that goes."
(Read a RECAP of "Dancing With The Stars" week 9.)
Chmerkovskiy told OTRC.com that he was unprepared for the elimination and that he did his best to make the experience fun and productive for Berkley. (Watch interviews with the two above, as well as interviews with other contestants)
The remaining five celebrities left to compete on season 17 of "Dancing With The Stars" are Corbin Bleu ("High School Musical"), Amber Riley ("Glee"), Jack Osbourne, Leah Remini ("The King of Queens") and comedian Bill Engvall.
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