The two stars who got the axe on Monday's 'Dancing With the Stars' open up to ET about having to say goodbye.
For Nikki Bella and Vanessa Lachey, getting cut at the end of Monday's Dancing With the Stars was a real shock.
It was Halloween Night on DWTS, and the episode ended up sending shivers down fans' spines when the show surprised everyone with a double elimination.
Nikki Bella and her pro partner, Artem Chigvintsev, were sent home, as were Vanessa Lachey and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
While the double elimination took the audience by surprise, it was even more unexpected for Bella, who told ET after the show that getting the axe "definitely hasn't sunk in."
"I think it may in a few days," she added. "It's sad and it's unfortunate, because I just truly have loved my time here. I've loved this journey that I've been on, I've loved learning how to dance, I've loved meeting Artem and getting to know him and spending time with him."
"This place is amazing, and I'm just so grateful, but I'm glad that I got to experience all of this," she added.
For their performance on Monday, Bella and Chigvintsev danced a jive routine set to the classic tune "I Put a Spell on You," which earned them a 24 out of 30, tying them with Lachey and Chmerkovskiy for the lowest score of the night.
However, throughout her time on DWTS, Bella has often opened up about showing a softer, more elegant side of herself that she's never presented before, and how the experience made her a more open person.
"[I've learned] that it's OK to be uncomfortable and go out of your comfort zone. When you think you can't, you totally can," Bella told ET. "It's OK to be silly and make fun of yourself, but as long as you're having fun, that's all that matters."
For Lachey, she admitted she's "going to miss the challenge" of the competition, but said that getting sent home isn't all bad.
"I was shocked, because I was so excited to get to the finals, potentially, and go to that level. But on the other hand, it's bittersweet because I get to snuggle with my kids until like, noon tomorrow," she said. "We're going to stay in PJs all day until we go to Disneyland."
The TV personality's elimination comes one week after her husband, Nick Lachey, was sent home, ending his DWTS journey.
Lachey and Chmerkovskiy also reflected on their reportedly tumultuous relationship early in the season, which allegedly culminated in the pro dancer taking a week off, with Alan Bersten stepping in to cover, although both partners have denied rumors of behind-the-scenes tension.
"We went into some obstacles in the beginning," Chmerkovskiy admitted.
"Obstacles like I had two left feet!" Lachey chimed in. "He was like, 'You can't dance!' That was four weeks of work."
"But we found our rhythm and then we started to improve steadily. It was so obvious and that's so hard to do," Chmerkovskiy explained. "We put in work. We put in so much work. We put in constant, nonstop, massive giant effort."
For Halloween Night, Lachey and Chmerkovskiy got zombified for a spooky paso doble set to "Game of Survival" by Ruelle, which didn't really win over the judges, and could have been impeded by what looked like yet another wardrobe mishap.
After Monday's bloodbath, only six couples remain in the running as this season quickly approaches its finals rounds of competition. Dancing With the Stars returns next week at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
