Judge Derek Hough‘s prediction that singer Lauren Jauregui and her pro dance teacher Brandon Armstrong would be sticking around the dance competition reality series turned out to be premature. In September 30’s shocking elimination, the Fifth Harmony singer and her pro partner were voted off the show in week 3 of Dancing With the Stars Season 34.
Jauregui told host Alfonso Ribeiro on-air that said she was feeling “pissed” over leaving the show. TV Insider chatted with her and Armstrong on the press line (right on the ballroom floor) after the show wrapped.
“I mean, they asked me how I was feeling in the moment, and that’s how I was feeling in the moment,” Jauregui simply told TV Insider about saying that she was “pissed.”
“I’m feeling just emotional about the whole thing,” she elaborated. “I feel like I had a lot left to give the show, and I just wish that I would have had the opportunity to do that especially because I was working with Brandon. We were going to keep progressing. That was our strategy. It’s sad not to be able to do that.”
Disney/Eric McCandless
Jauregui told us last week that she’d hoped to be the one to take Armstrong to his first Len Goodman Mirrorball victory. “Of course, I wanted to give him that,” she says.
“Obviously, not great,” lamented Armstrong when asked how he was doing. “Look, I’ve been around this for a long time. I would hope that people still celebrate the dancing.”
Last week, the couple received positive remarks from the judges in what’s turning out to be one of the program’s most competitive seasons ever.
Carrie Ann Inaba called the duo’s foxtrot “mesmerizing,” and she complimented the pair’s partnership, noting that it put people at ease. Hough compared Jauregui to a willow tree dancing in a gentle breeze. “It’s just so effortless, soft, and beautiful,” the judge added. “You are an amazing dancer, and I cannot wait to see what you do for the rest of this competition. [You’re] ethereal.”
“It’s beautiful to get great feedback from the judges,” Jauregui shared. “They’re such incredible performers. Whether it’s good or bad, I am absorbing and taking it in. I love willow trees, too, so that was so sweet.”
Armstrong was encouraged by the judge’s comments from last week, too. “Honestly, for me, it’s like if you’re going to work all week to be true to a style, you want them to comment on that,” Armstrong said. “It’s rewarding and validating.”
Just as Jauregui wanted to bring Armstrong to the finale, he had hoped his star partner would have a longer experience on the dance competition reality series. “I wanted [Lauren] to experience what the show has to offer,” he laments.
Traditionally, all the ejected couples come back to the dance floor one last time for the season finale. Count on Jauregui to accept that invitation when it’s extended. She says that she’d love to return to the ballroom to dance again and to show everyone “what they missed out on.”
Dancing With the Stars, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC