After getting knocked out of the competition on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” champion boxer Victor Ortiz has no regrets.
“I’m enjoying the fact I got to experience such a wonderful thing,” Ortiz said today on “Good Morning America.” “I feel great.”
When asked if he had plans to continue dancing, his answer was blunt: “Absolutely not,” he joked, “Did you see my two left feet?”
Ortiz struggled on the ballroom dance floor often landing near the bottom of the leaderboard since the season started six weeks ago. He thanked his pro dance partner, Lindsay Arnold, for attempting to make him a dancer.
“This beautiful gal next to me had to put up with me for some time, so I’m definitely blessed,” Ortiz said of his partner.
“I had to get him out of his shell and actually make him want to dance in front of millions of people, but once he did that, he did so well,” she said. “I’m really proud of him.”
After he learned his fate Tuesday night, Ortiz got a standing ovation from the ballroom audience.
“I had a blast. I made great friends, including you guys, you beautiful people,” he said, indicating his castmates, “so at the end of the day it was a heck of an experience … .”
He invited everyone to follow him to his next championship boxing bout, and admitted dancing worked his muscles in ways that boxing never has.
“I’ve definitely been hurting quite a bit,” Ortiz explained today. “My legs were hurting so bad when I jumped off the stage it felt like my muscles were going to burst because they were hurting so bad.”
The 26-year-old boxer ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard Monday after his individual rumba failed to dazzle judges, earning him 18 out of a possible 30 points. He also performed a paso doble as part of a team, and that dance earned the entire team 22 points for each member, giving him a grand total of 40 out of a possible 60 points for the night.
Ortiz and reality-TV star Sean Lowe were both in danger of getting eliminated Tuesday.
Elimination is decided based on a combination of judges’ votes and viewer scores. The star with the lowest combined tally of judges’ scores and viewers’ votes is the one eliminated from the competition.
PHOTOS: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 16: Celebs and Pro Partners Take to Dance Floor
Tuesday’s show featured live performances from will.i.am and Olly Murs.
Returning next week to perform to compete for the mirrorball trophy are Lowe, Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, Disney star Zendaya, country music singer Kellie Pickler, NFL player Jacoby Jones, soap opera star Ingo Rademacher and comedian Andy Dick.
“Dancing With the Stars” is in its 16 th season.
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Many of my friends don’t watch because the women are dressed so immodestly, and now the men are going shirtless. I can’t watch it when my grandkids are visiting, and my husband and I will stop watching if the women keep dressing this way.
Posted by: Old Dancer | April 24, 2013, 3:47 pm 3:47 pm
Because of the half-naked contestants and dance professionals many of my friends DO watch it…and ABC is desperate to boost their sagging ratings. I stopped watching it because instead I’m rooting for Team Adam, Team Shakira, Team Usher and Team Blake…The Voice ROCKS!
Posted by: Sammie | April 24, 2013, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm
I am a huge DWTS fan and have been watching since the first episode.
I’m a little surprised that nobody has commended Val’s choreography this season. He is dancing with a 16 year old (youngest competitor ever) and has had some challenging dances to choreograph when you think about all the sex appeal / sensual stuff that usually transpired through these routines.
I think Val has done an absolutely amazing job of keeping the choreography of Zendaya’s routines age appropriate while maintaining the very high standards for their routines.
GO VAL!!
Posted by: Sharron | April 24, 2013, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
lol@OLDDANCER, it’s 2013…
Posted by: Josh | April 24, 2013, 9:39 pm 9:39 pm
Victor has been struggling since week 1 so it really is impressive that he has lasted this long. He has his great personality and touching back story to thank for that, and I wish him the best in his future endeavors. I missed the show because I work the late shift at DISH on Tuesdays, but I was able to catch up with a recording. I love how my DISH Hopper automatically records everything on ABC during primetime, so I never miss DWTS!
Posted by: James | April 24, 2013, 10:10 pm 10:10 pm