Jake Pavelka says he "didn't really expect" to be on the verge of tears after he was ousted from Dancing with the Stars' tenth season with professional partner Chelsie Hightower.
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"It's kind of just how I felt. It really meant something to me being here on Dancing with the Stars and I guess at that moment I was just so grateful to have had been able to dance with Chelsie for six episodes and do well," said Pavelka during a Wednesday appearance on Good Morning America.
"I still am really sad to say bye to the Dancing with the Stars family and ABC."
The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love star and Hightower became the fifth couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars' tenth season during Tuesday night's live results show broadcast on ABC based on the combination of the judges' scores they received during Monday night's performance show and home viewer votes cast after the show.
"It's just the name of the game with this show. We came out and did our best and unfortunately didn't get enough votes," said Hightower, who also participated in the GMA appearance.
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"I think we had a few more weeks left in us, but what do you do. We had a good time."
Pavelka's ouster presumably ends his role as an ABC reality show regular that began as one of Jillian Harris' The Bachelorette fifth-season suitors last summer, continued this winter when he starred in The Bachelor and got engaged to Vienna Girardi, and then saw him cast as one of Dancing with the Stars' tenth-season celebrity participants.
"Vienna has been amazing. She's been a cornerstone through all of this -- cooking me breakfast every morning, she brings Chelsie and I lunch a lot of times -- and I owe her big," said Pavelka on GMA.
"She put her life on hold for me to do this and so I'm going to go romance my bride."
While Pavelka has previously denied former girlfriend Tanya Douglas' claims that he's "fame-obsessed" and insisted he is not looking to pursue a Hollywood career, he seemed to back off that stance a bit during his GMA interview.
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"Are you going to get back to flying?" GMA anchor George Stephanopoulos asked.
"You know what, flying, no matter what happens, will always be a huge part of my life," said Pavelka, who had previously said Dancing with the Stars was just an opportunity he could not resist and he was planning to resume his job as a commercial pilot afterwards.
"Okay. Huge part of your life?" Stephanopoulos asked. "So you're not really sure what you're going to be doing next in terms of your career?"
"You know what, you never know what door God's going to open, but right now the plan is to fly airplanes," answered Pavelka.
In addition, Pavelka said he and Girardi have yet to set a wedding date.
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"We've got Florida and Texas -- we've got family in both -- so we're trying to figure out a good place to have a wedding and when to do it, and if we want to do it on sand or carpet. Just where to have it," he said.
As for who his favorite is to take home Dancing with the Stars' tenth-season mirror ball trophy, Pavelka said he thinks ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy might have a shot.
"I think if Maks will really challenge Erin Andrews on the dance floor, I think Erin has what it takes to go all the way," he said.
"I say Nicole," added Hightower, referring to perennial leaderboard leaders Nicole Scherzinger and partner Derek Hough.
"Chelsie I think you're probably right," replied Stephanopoulos. "We'll see what happens."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio