Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy believes Sailor Brinkley-Cook's exit from the Season 28 competition was premature and their early ouster wasn't justified.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It sucks we got eliminated. That sucks, and I don't think it's right and I think that the show may or may not have made a mistake," Val, 33, told Us Weekly.

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

When Sailor and Val's eliminated was announced at the end of Monday night's Dancing with the Stars broadcast, Sailor -- who replaced her mother, supermodel Christie Brinkley, at the start of the competition -- began crying and sobbing to the point where she even couldn't talk to host Tom Bergeron and co-host Erin Andrews.

Sailor was obviously crushed, especially after she and Val earned three 9's from Dancing with the Stars' judges for their jive routine on Monday night's show.

"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," Val told Us.

"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."

Sailor, 21, was reportedly most saddened by the thought she'd no longer get to spend time with the rest of the Dancing with the Stars cast, and Val apparently understands where she was coming from.

Val said he and Sailor are "like-minded people" in that they "gravitate towards that camaraderie and that community of people that are supportive and awesome."

"It's about that collaboration," the pro dancer said, adding that his partnership with Sailor felt like "the collab of a lifetime."

RELATED LINK: PETER WEBER'S 'THE BACHELOR' SEASON 24 CAST OF BACHELORETTES ANNOUNCED EARLY BY ABC! (PHOTOS)

However, Val told Us that "life goes on" and Sailor has new opportunities to look forward to as a budding model.

"Not everyone gets to be a winner unless they choose to be. Winning is a mentality. I'll take six weeks of this experience with her, with her mom, getting to know Christie Brinkley," Val explained.

"To get to know this superstar and to realize what I've been missing out on and then to get to know her as a person, I have nothing but the most incredible things to say about Christie Brinkley because of the person that I've met in the last month-and-a-half, not really having an extensive knowledge of what her career looked like."

Val was especially impressed by how Christie "embraces motherhood" and "prioritizes it."

"The fact that Week 2 of rehearsal, she was having the time of her life but in the same breath, after Sailor visited for literally 10 seconds of that rehearsal when she walked out, she was so proud: 'That's my daughter, oh man she would be perfect for this show. She would kill this show, she would be so good,'" Val recalled.

"For me, those are the moments that made me really gravitate towards people."

Christie, 65, was initially cast on Dancing with the Stars and began rehearsing with Val for the first dance of the season, but an arm injury two days before the premiere resulted in Sailor stepping in and putting on her dancing shoes.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

"I gained a lifelong friend in Christie, and then by this incredibly unfortunate fortune, got a chance to really bond with her daughter Sailor," Val told the magazine.

"What a gift for me as a dancer, as a teacher, as someone who's been part of this show for so long. This is easily one of my favorite seasons I've ever had."

Sailor and Val landed in the bottom two on Monday night's DWTS episode along with pop star and Fifth Harmony member Ally Brooke and her professional partner Sasha Farber based on the combination of judges' scores and live home-viewer votes from the last two performance shows.

Dancing with the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman were able to vote to save one of the bottom-two couples from elimination. (Len, as the head judge, casts the deciding vote in the case of opposing votes from Carrie Ann and Bruno).

Len did not have to voice his opinion, however, because both Carrie Ann and Bruno voted to save Ally and Sasha.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR WINNERS ULTIMATELY END UP MARRYING?! (PHOTOS) 

Next week, Dancing with the Stars' eight remaining couples will surprise and spook fans with "Halloween Night" performances, including team dances, and one more couple is expected to be eliminated from the Season 28 competition.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS