Evan Lysacek: Winning Dancing With the Stars Wasn't My Goal

Olympic gold medalist insists he's just fine going home tonight empty-handed

Evan Lysacek insists he won't be disappointed if he doesn't bring home the disco-ball trophy tonight.

"We are so excited to have gotten this far," the Olympian told us this morning during our weekly exclusive one-on-one. "What I said coming into this competition is, regardless of what anyone says—I did not know how to dance. My motives for doing the show were really simple and honest—I wanted to do something fun and I wanted to dance. At this point I feel like: mission accomplished."

But just how hard was it having to learn four dances this past week? Read on to find out, plus what he's saying about Kate Gosselin's finale performance…

Would you say that this week of practice was the most strenuous because you had to prepare four dances?
For sure it was, just because everything is heightened and we want to do our best and show that we belong in this finale. It's always difficult to find the time because my schedule is so tight with touring with Stars on Ice. We really were just using every free second we had and we ended up with four dances that we're really, really happy with.

How did it feel when the judges criticized your freestyle after how hard you and Anna worked on perfecting it? Would you go back and change anything about it?
No way. We would do it exactly the same if we could do it over. When it was over, I think we were both really satisfied because we couldn't have done it any better. If they didn't like it, I'm cool with that. Anytime you put your heart and soul in something and people criticize it, it doesn't feel good, but at the same time, we were so happy with it.

If you had to pick someone other that yourself, would you bet on Erin or Nicole winning?
At this point, the votes are in and it's down to the judges' decisions. Nicole brings to this competition absolute perfection and a very extensive knowledge of dance. Erin is so different, she has a gorgeous, amazing body, but she's so real and the connection she has with Maks is great.

Have you heard anything about Kate's crazy "high wire" finale performance?
Yes, it's awesome! I don't know if it's going to be crazy as much as funny. We all fell in love with her on the show because she's the sweetest, goofiest, most caring person in the world.

—Reporting by Brett Malec