"Dancing With the Stars" Season 23 recently saw the elimination of Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte. Following his departure, the athlete opened up about his whole experience being in the hit ABC reality TV competition.
While speaking with Yahoo TV, Lochte said that he didn't anticipate that he will be eliminated on Monday night because he and his partner, Cheryl Burke, in the dance-off round.
"Last week's scores weren't that good, and this week I definitely thought I could have done better on the individual dance. But then we went out on a high note, because winning the face-off against Derek and Marilu definitely wasn't so bad," he said.
Meanwhile, Lochte's first dance this season sparked a major controversy. After his performance, a group of protestors tried to attack him on live television. This is why the Olympian was so pleased to receive a standing ovation after he was eliminated.
"When I got the standing ovation after my elimination was announced, that was so cool. It definitely showed how many people out there who are rooting for me and care about me, so it felt really good even though I was sad about leaving," he said.
In other news, Lochte is grateful for all of the experiences and people he's met on the show. In fact, after his Rio controversy, Lochte said that he didn't want to get out of the house and meet people because he was bashed everywhere.
"But being on this show made me realize more things about myself that I didn't know, and also it made me go back into the public eye and made me feel comfortable and confident in myself," he said.
"Dancing With the Stars" Season 23 is still airing on Monday nights at 8. As of late, there are still several pairs in the competition. Next week, two of the contestants will be paired together for a collaborative routine.