‘Dancing With the Stars’: Sailor Brinkley-Cook Reveals What Mom Christie Told Her After Elimination

Sailor Brinkley-Cook and pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy were eliminated from Dancing With the Stars this week during the sixth week of competition after Brinkley-Cook stepped up as a contestant when her mom, Christie Brinkley, broke her arm ahead of the season premiere. Brinkley-Cook opened up about her exit while speaking to PeopleTV‘s Reality Check on Tuesday, sharing the words of wisdom that her famous mom gave her after her elimination.

“She just told me that things like this happen in life and everything leads to some other great door opening,” she shared. “Our team name is ‘SailaV’ — c’est la vie, such is life. This stuff happens!”

“I’m so lucky I had this experience,” the 21-year-old continued. “I never in a million years would’ve thought I would have been on this show. I didn’t sign up, I didn’t do the press trip before. I literally jumped in for the first performance.”

“And I’m just lucky that I made it to week six and I got to experience all of that, and I think she’s really happy that I’m looking at it that way, as well,” Brinkley-Cook added of her mom.

Brinkley shared a heartfelt message to her daughter on Instagram on Wednesday morning along with a series of photos and videos from Brinkley-Cook’s time on the show.

“Dear Sailor and Val, Thank you for your work that brought us beauty and joy! May you both always have a song in your heart that keeps you dancing with wild abandon thru a grateful life of exhilarating joy!” Brinkley wrote. “You don’t need to be on a tv show to keep smiling and dancing… and that’s the ultimate prize! Here are a few random happy snippets of videos I shot from your rehearsals guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s face!”

After her elimination, Brinkley-Cook shared a series of photos from her and Chmerkovskiy’s final DWTS performance on Instagram, writing, “…At least we went out with a bang.”

Chmerkovskiy used his Instagram Story to share a message with his partner and fans, calling the elimination “heartbreaking.”

“You know, things happen,” he said. “Such is life. C’est la vie. I think it’s important to, in moments like this, take a second, take a breath and understand that there’s so much to be grateful for…I know Sailor is so grateful and I’m just grateful for the opportunity to dance, to perform, to teach. I’m really proud of Sailor and I’m grateful for her respecting my direction, the effort that she put into everything.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Taylor Hill