‘Dancing With the Stars’: Sean Spicer Admits He’s ‘Relieved’ to Be Going Home

After nine weeks of giving it his best on the dance floor, Sean Spicer admitted that he is “relieved” following his Dancing With the Stars elimination Monday night. The former White House press secretary had consistently received the lowest scores, though he didn’t fall into the bottom two until this week’s episode, when judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli opted to save Lauren Alaina and her pro partner Gleb Savchenko.

Speaking to PEOPLE following his elimination, Spicer admitted that being sent home was bittersweet, though he did find some sense of relief in it.

“The judges made the right decision on a night where you had two dances. The scores were going to be very difficult to overcome,” he said, adding that he’s both “relieved in a way” and “somewhat disappointed.”

Spicer’s continued appearance on the ABC dancing competition had become something of a controversy in recent weeks. Despite consistently earning some of the lowest scores every week, he never made it into the bottom two until Monday, something that many involved with Dancing With the Stars credited to the loyal support from Spicer’s fans. Among those fans were President Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr., who frequently took to Twitter to encourage their followers to cast their vote for Spicer.

“It means a lot,” Spicer said of Trump’s support. “I appreciate his support and his continued friendship. It means a tremendous amount to me to know that he’s taking time to put his support out there. I thank him for that.”

“There’s been a tremendous amount of support that’s kept me out of the bottom two the last nine weeks and I’ve truly been humbled by how many people have taken time out of their Monday nights to keep me going,” he added. “I will look back on this as an amazing experience.”

After it was announced on Monday night’s episode that Spicer would be going home, many of those who had voted for him again took to social media to voice their support and upset over the elimination. Some are even rooting for the series to bring Spicer back for All Stars.

Following Spicer’s elimination, there are now only four dancing duos still vying for the Mirror Ball Trophy: Alaina and Savchenko, Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber, Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten, Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson, and James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater.

New episodes of Dancing With The Stars air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.