Exclusive

Lolo Jones on Her Early Dancing With the Stars Exit: "People Thought I Was Bitter"

Exclusive! The Olympian was the first contestant eliminated in season 19, and admitted to E! News that she felt "a little bit gutted"

By Tierney Bricker Sep 17, 2014 3:11 PMTags
Watch: Lolo Jones Confesses Regrets After "DWTS" Exit

"Still trying to have strength to stand, for sure. A little bit gutted."

That's how Olympian Lolo Jones described her feelings when we caught up with her after she was the first celebrity eliminated from the 19th season of Dancing With the Stars.

While former Olympic athletes have fared quite well on the ABC hit, Lolo was unable to rebound from an early mistake she made in her routine in the premiere, receiving a score of 22/40 with her professional partner Keo Motsepe (one of three new pros this season). 

"I wish I could've rebounded better," Lolo admitted to E! News. "I was literally holding back the tears from crying and I had all that makeup on, and I was like, 'Don't mess up your makeup!'" 

ABC/Craig Sjodin

Lolo is aware that some viewers may have mistaken her reaction for bitterness, but she said that's just not the case. "People thought I was just being a bitter contestant...Keo had to pull me aside a couple of times, and I was like, 'I can't breathe. I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I messed up the whole dance.' And he was just trying to calm me down and was like, 'We'll be fine, we'll be fine.'"

After the show, Lolo also posted a message on Facebook to her fans about her early exit, saying, "When I was dancing last night and messed up I had flashbacks of the three Olympics and that people constantly tease me about. I thought oh no here it comes again. People are going to ridicule me. I'm so tired of feeling embarrassed."

And during the show, when she found herself in the bottom two with designer Betsey Johnson, whose routine scored the lowest points of the night (20) due to a feather boa prop-gone-wrong, Lolo said she would've rather gone home over the 72-year-old. "She had the wardrobe malfunction. You can't send her home off of that," Lolo explained to us. 

So who would Lolo like to see win this season? Watch our interview with her above to find out!

DWTS airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.