ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL
Shock, relief and tears filled the backstage area of Dancing with the Stars tonight as Denise Richards' samba sent her packing.
"For a minute, I thought we had a shot at staying," Denise told E! News backstage after tonight's elimination show. "I’m really glad I got to do the dance over again and get better scores and a better reaction. It was better to go out on that note than last night."
Better scores indeed. Denise and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy earned five more points in her dance-off against bottom two-er Holly Madison. "I never imagined anybody could improve in a day by five points unless you flat out fell on the floor," says Maksim.
Find out what Chuck Wicks whispered in Julianne Hough's ear, what made Steve-O say 'for crying out loud,' and what Jewel still does for hubby Ty Murray…
Chuck Wicks on preparing for the worst: "Once they had the first four names and we weren't in there, I whispered in [Julianne Hough's] ear, 'We may want to start practicing the dance a little bit.'"
Holly Madison on the dance-off: "It was really scary. I thought for sure that we were gone out of the competition. I was really freaking out, so hopefully I won’t be so scared next time."
Ty Murray on Jewel: Ty tells us that his wife and ex-competitor Jewel might be gone from the competition, but she's showing her support…with foot rubs!
Steve-O on perspective: "This taught me not to take myself too seriously. For crying out loud, this is a dance-off. If your biggest problem is that you screwed up a dance routine or that you’re not on a dance show, I think everything is pretty good."
Steve Wozniak on being safe: "That was the most incredible surprise. I was setting myself up to be so happy doing my dance again. When that came, my world turned in an instant…I was crying. I still have tears a little."
Gilles Marini on Woz: "It's not shocking. Remember one thing: many, many people vote. Maybe [Woz] has 70% of the overall vote, so who knows? If people don’t vote, we are gone. Even if we have three 9’s, they still need to vote."
Lil' Kim on Denise: "I’ve met a totally different person than what we read or see [in the media]. Sometimes that press bothers her because she talked to me [about it]. She’s really a sweet girl."
Are you as shocked as Woz and Steve-O are that they didn't get eliminated? Did Denise Richards deserve to go? (Mind if we gloat? We called it last night!)