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Gilles Marini: "I Feel Like I'm a Bad Dad"

Why the Dancing With the Stars' finale left the Sex and the City Frenchman worrying about his young son

By Marc Malkin May 20, 2009 4:33 PMTags
DWTS, Cheryl Burke, Gilles MariniABC/KELSEY MCNEAL

Leave it to Gilles Marini to be thinking about someone else after last night's stunning upset that left him in second place on Dancing With the Stars.

When I tell him how, well, shocked I am that he didn't win, he assures me it's all right. "Don't worry, man," he said after the show on his way to catch a red-eye flight to NYC for an appearance this morning on Good Morning America. "It's OK."

He's hoping his 10-year-old son, Georges, will be OK, too...

"My son looked at me and started crying because he wanted me to get that trophy," Gilles said. "He was just crying and crying and crying. I feel so badly because I want to be with him but now I am flying to New York. I feel like a bad daddy because I can't see him and hold him."

As for partner Cheryl Burke, he simply said, "Sorry, baby. I tried my best.'"

Despite it all, he says he's happy for Shawn Johnson. "It's great for her to have it," he explained. "Come on, she's only 17 years old. I don't want to be the one crushing her dream."

And yes, Gilles plans to continue dancing. "Obviously, it will be less grueling; it won't be as intense," he said. "But it’s a great thing to do. Everybody should do it."

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