Marla Maples and partner Tony Dovolani ended their journey on "Dancing with the Stars" Monday night following the show's Disney Night. The ex-wife of Donald Trump had high hopes to win the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy, but she unfortunately only lasted three weeks on the popular dance competition show.
Maples and Dovolani received 28 out of 40 points following their "Little Mermaid"-themed dance. Following the show, the two spoke to reporters backstage about how they were stunned that it was time for them to say goodbye.
"I'm still kind of in shock. It feels like a nightmare that I want to wake up from," Dovolani said. Maples, 52, added, "I just can't believe it either. We just built so much love and support from our fans and we would have liked to continue on... It was surprising. We worked so hard. Of course, we would have wanted to get better scores... I feel so happy that I had Tony there to just keep me on board, keep us focused, to be able to be at this point in my life and be able to dance like this, and have a new way of starting and creating life. It's been fantastic."
Maples' 22-year-old daughter Tiffany watched from the crowd and also couldn't believe that her mom was getting eliminated. "She just supports her mommy," Maples explained. "She's in shock. She's really sad. We're sad, but we've got to trust there's something bigger and better coming."
"I'm so proud of my mom," Tiffany said. "And I'm so sad that she was voted off! But I think, every week, she did better and better, and she was the perfect Little Mermaid this week, and last week, I think, she did an amazing dance to the song 'Happy.' I think everyone tries their hardest, and she truly was amazing."
"DWTS" pro Val Chmerkovskiy, who tied for highest score Monday night with his partner Ginger Zee, spoke about Maples after the show, making sure to point out that she is so much more than just "the former Mrs. Donald Trump," which is how "DWTS" introduced her night after night.
"I want to commend Marla on her grace. I hope she leaves with a great feeling. She had a great showing, and it was sad that she had to go," Chmerkovskiy said. "This is Hollywood, and people tuning in every week don't always remember what happened the week before, so we want to introduce our celebrities in the most [succinct] way. But having said that, I think she has other things, I think, we could celebrate outside of her being the former Donald Trump's ex."
He went on to explain that she handled the introduction every night "like a champ." "She held her head high and she never stooped down to make that a thing," he added. "That, for me, is one of the more impressive things about how she was on our show. I probably would not have handled it with that much grace."
