ABC/Adam TaylorIntroducing Bill Nye the Robot Guy!
This week's episode of Dancing With the Stars featured a plethora of Hollywood-themed performances, but it was Bill Nye's dance that really stole the spotlight. After a severe knee injury in last week's performance, our favorite science guy did not let this suffering stop him from shaking his groove thing in Monday's episode of DWTS.
Although his dancing pro partner Tyne Stecklein created a clever robot-themed dance to hide Nye's limited mobility, America's lack of votes combined with the judged low scores were not enough to save him. Tonight we were backstage with Nye and the rest of the DWTS cast to find out their reactions to the heartbreaking elimination.
When asked to reflect on his time on the dancing competition, Nye says that although he is disappointed, he is thrilled to have had this opportunity. "I'm going to miss this, it was really cool and exciting. It was a thrill and the team was just fantastic," he exclusively tells E!.
Regardless of their early elimination, Stecklein says that she is incredibly proud of her partner's work this season and his determination to dance. "Obviously he's a very intelligent guy so I knew that he wouldn't push it if he shouldn't." She explains, "With the brace, there really wasn't a way to injure it any worse because it holds it still. I'm just really proud of him for going back out there and giving it a try."
The science star says that although this week's performance was "a blast" he understands why he was sent home. "We could have probably gone one more week but we would have run out of ways to dance. There were all these calculations like could we just do contemporary? But sooner or later I would have to bend my knee and that was a concern. I'd like to think that the audience realized that and the judges realized that."
Many of Nye's DWTS co-stars expressed their sadness upon seeing that America's beloved science teacher will not be returning to the competition next week. Elizabeth Berkley admires Nye's "incredible attitude," while Glee star Amber Riley revealed that she was proud that "he didn't give up" despite his injury.
Jack Osbourne tells us, "Bill is a trooper, I mean that guy came out and he performed to the best of his ability and he did a great job. It was entertaining and it was fun and it was sad to see him go. I'm proud to say that on more than a few occasions I've had some science conversations with Bill. We talked about all sorts of aerospace stuff, it was great."
While Osbourne and some of the other cast members bonded with Nye over a love of science, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi tells us that she was simply focused on figuring out what he was saying! "He definitely uses big words and sometimes I have no idea what he is saying but he's a great guy," the former Jersey Shore star says.