Exclusive

Geraldo Rivera Responds to "Cruel" Dancing With the Stars Criticism

Exclusive: The Fox News host, 72,s is season 22's oldest competitor and tells E! News, "It's about the effort!"

By Tierney Bricker Mar 22, 2016 5:57 PMTags
Watch: Geraldo Rivera Responds to "DWTS" Judges' Critique

"Well, Edyta did great."

That was how Geraldo Rivera summed up his Dancing With the Stars debut when he and professional partner Edyta Sliwinska chatted with E! News' Sibley Scoles after Monday night's premiere. And it was a rough night for the 72-year-old Fox News host, as his Cha Cha scored just a 13 out of 30 points from the judges, and earned some particularly harsh criticism from returning head judge Len Goodman (who served up his signature brutal honesty all night).

But Geraldo wasn't too upset with Len's comments, telling us, "I thought that his critique, while cruel, was pretty accurate." Ever-protective of her celebrity pupil, his partner Edyta added, "It makes for great television, right?"

ABC

As for his performance overall, Edyta admitted, "He wasn't very happy. He felt he messed up a step, and he did. But it's not really what's important. The fight is important that you put up."

And Geraldo, who is the oldest competitor this season, said that for him, "It's about the effort. It's about doing something that's outside my comfort zone, you know, way outside the box for me. And to wait so late in life to try it is kind of funny!"

To hear more from Geraldo and Edyta, including who they think had the best performance of the night, watch our interview with them above now. 

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