‘Dancing With the Stars’: Sean Spicer Gets Emotional About ‘Friend’ Karamo Brown’s Surprising Elimination

Amid the uproar over Sean Spicer‘s continued involvement in Dancing With the Stars following Queer Eye personality Karamo Brown‘s surprising elimination Monday night, Spicer himself got emotional, calling Brown his “friend.”

“It’s a night of mixed emotions,” Spicer told Entertainment Tonight after Monday’s episode. “I’m humbled by the support and that so many people have voted for us, considering where our scores were. But then obviously seeing a friend go home, who’s done so much, has made so much progress, it’s tough. I know how hard he works and so it’s mixed. I’m really excited and humbled that we’re going on but I’m really sad to see him go.”

The former White House press secretary continued, even getting a little misty-eyed while speaking about Brown. “We’ve had a lot of great conversation and he’s been unbelievably supportive of me, and I have of him. I think we both had some stumbles out of the gate. So, knowing that we both had to double down and work really hard to make progress kind of creates this bond. We did the team dance together … and so it is tough to see him go.”

Brown reacted to Spicer’s words just moments later, saying that the show “has been a positive experience for me from day one. I have grown, I’ve learned stuff and also, I gotta be honest with you, when this show started for me, there was backlash, because I made a comment about Sean Spicer,” he recalled. “A lot of people told me, ‘You’re wrong, we don’t like you.’ And I just knew in my heart, we’re at a place in our country where people are divided, where they’re not talking, and to see Sean’s reaction tonight — to see and have the conversations I’ve been having with him shows that if you can just show kindness, maybe you can influence somebody who has different points of view than you.”

“That’s what’s been happening. So, I feel like a winner,” he added. “But think about that. No one would have thought at the beginning of this that a white Republican would have been crying over the gay black guy going home. It’s because we’ve had heartfelt conversations, we’ve talked about things, and it doesn’t mean that I’ve influenced him completely, but I’ve touched his heart to some degree and I think that’s what we need in this country. So, I’m happy about it.”

DWTS fans were shocked to see Spicer advance into Week 8 as the competition gets tougher and tougher. Despite receiving the lowest scores from the judges out of all the remaining couples, Spicer and his pro partner Lindsay Arnold have yet to be in the bottom two come elimination time.

During Monday’s Halloween Night, The Office alum Kate Flannery and partner Pasha Pashkov found themselves in jeopardy of going home, along with Brown and partner Jenna Johnson. Carrie Ann Inaba cast her saving vote for Brown and Johnson while fellow judge Bruno Tonioli saved Flannery and Pashkov. Head judge Len Goodman ultimately went with Flannery and Pashkov, sending Brown and Johnson packing.

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: David Livingston / Contributor / Getty