Nicole Scherzinger on 'Dancing With the Stars' Win: 'It's Still Surreal'

Finalists Nicole Scherzinger, Evan Lysacek and Erin Andrews appear on "GMA."

ByABC News via logo
May 26, 2010, 12:12 AM

May 26, 2010— -- Nicole Scherzinger said that despite consistently earning strong scores, her "Dancing With the Stars" win last night came as a shock.

"I was genuinely surprised," the Pussycat Doll said today on "Good Morning America." "I had the most amazing people I was up against. It was so awesome; it's still surreal."

Scherzinger and fellow finalists Evan Lysacek and Erin Andrews appeared live on "GMA" today with their professional partners after competing in last night's finale. They all agreed that the tenth season of "Dancing With the Stars" was one of the strongest.

"We felt the energy from the first week," said Scherzinger's partner Derek Hough, who won for the second time. "There was something amazing about it … it truly was a phenomenal season."

Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek, who began competing on the show right after the Vancouver Olympics, said the experience was "so much more than I could have anticipated. The most surprising thing to me is the bond that we all shared as a cast ...we all left with a new family and we walked out of that building hand in hand."

ESPN sportscaster Andrews, who was eliminated halfway through the two-hour finale, concurred.

"It was an amazing experience," she said. "It's really a family. It's very exciting."

"This experience has meant everything to me," Andrews said after her elimination on the finale. "I came here under really crummy circumstances," she said, referencing her recent experience with a stalker, "and I just wanted to get my life back together and my smile back and I just wanted to be myself again."

"Season 10 will forever stand out," her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy said today. "Any other season we might have made a run for it."

The Doll brought home the ball on Tuesday's season finale of "Dancing With the Stars."

Scherzinger and Hough beat out Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya in the tenth season finale, winning the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.

The final three couples had waltzed, cha-cha'ed and foxtrotted their way through the entire competition, earning praise -- and sometimes, criticism -- from judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

On the finale, the judges congratulated all three couples, saying it's been the highest standard of dancing and the best season of DWTS to date.

"It's been such a blast," Lysacek said on the finale. "We were totally satisfied with everything we gave and we are so proud of Nicole and Derek, they deserve it and they've worked so hard and they've inspired all the rest of the couples in the competition."

The grand finale also brought former contestants Pam Anderson, Niecy Nash, Jake Pavelka, Buzz Aldrin and Kate Gosselin back onto the floor for command performances. Chad Ochocinco was also supposed to dance, but the NFL star had been sidelined by a football injury.