Maureen McCormick had quite the ride on Dancing with the Stars, from tearing muscles in her back to "floating" onstage.
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The Brady Bunch star and her professional partner Artem Chigvintsev were eliminated during Monday night's Dancing with the Stars episode in which the remaining eight couples took a step back in time and danced through the decades for "Eras Night."
"I'm so proud that I faced one of my biggest fears, and I did it! I lasted seven weeks," McCormick said during a Tuesday appearance on Good Morning America. "It was a dream for me. It was beautiful."
While some fans might view McCormick's ouster from Season 23 of the ABC reality dancing competition premature, the graceful 60-year-old admitted, "Honestly, I thought I'd be lucky if I survived a week."
McCormick continued, "But I just wanted to give it my all. And you know, yeah, it was so cool. There were moments in dancing with [Chigvintsev] when I felt like I was floating."
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McCormick revealed she also "never" expected to feel as comfortable onstage as she did by the end.
"I never did," she reiterated.
Dancing with the Stars has always challenged its contestants mentally, emotionally and, most of all, physically. Despite having torn two muscles in her back this season, McCormick said she feels "great."
"I feel so good," the television star said on GMA.
"I tore two muscles and had to go in for an epidural, which, thank goodness, I could do, because it really helped me get through everything. But I feel great. I can't wait to go back and do Pilates and swim and jog and do all the things I love."
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It can also be difficult for the pro dancers and their celebrity partners to work together efficiently and smoothly, especially when pressure to do well on the show increases with each passing week.
"I think we definitely understood each other better towards the last week. It's all a learning process, and everybody learns so differently that you kind of have to adapt to it and see how you can make the best of the situation," Chigvintsev explained.
"It was a learning process, but I think we figured it out towards the end."
Chigvintsev just finds it unfortunate that he and McCormick were eliminated from DWTS after a little slip-up in last night's tango routine inspired by the 1980s.
"Right towards the end, I kind of slipped on [her] dress, and it's a bummer because that's the dance we're leaving with! Oh my God. But hey... it happens," Chigvintsev noted.
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McCormick and Chigvintsev, however, were lucky enough to enjoy performing with the winning group for the season's "Team Dance" round.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski