Nelly Speaks Out After Not Winning ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars wrapped up earlier this week, and some of the semi-finalists contestants are now opening up about their thoughts on the season and other competitors.

Nelly, who ended up in third place, recently revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he would probably not have competed in the season if he had known who he would have been up against. He said the entire expeience on the show was “bittersweet.”

The music superstar said that the playing field was stacked against him from the beginning since many of the other competitors had studied dance previously. Both Nev Schulman and Kaitlyn Bristowe danced as children.

Nelly Would Not Have Competed if He Knew Who Else Was Competing

Nelly revealed to the outlet that he would have probably not been open to competing on the show if he had known who else would be competing, since he was obviously was hoping to win.

“Of course you want to win,” he told the outlet. “You’ve been doing this for three months, you’ve been putting yourself through training that you’ve never had a day in your life, you’re trying to go against people who basically studied this in college.”

He added that he most likely would have refrained from going on the show if he knew that he was going up against Nev and Kaitlyn.

“Because you don’t stack yourself up against that,” he added. “Why would I get in a boxing match with someone who’s been boxing since they were 12? Why would I go play basketball with somebody who played in college? There are certian things that you’re basically setting yourself up for.”

Nelly Felt the Odds Were Stacked Against Him

In the interview, Nelly said that he felt as though the odds were stacked from the beginning since Nev and Kaitlyn both had prior dance experiences.

“Obviously, i’ts still a competition and you use whatever you have to win,” he said, saying that he doesn’t fault the two for using their previous experience. “It’s not a bad thing, it’s just a thing. So you want to work that much harder because the odds are stacked up against you.”

He said he was happy for Kaitlyn for taking home the Mirrorball trophy, though, and he said that he believed she did deserve to win.

“You’re always happy for the winner,” he added. “Kaitlyn’s beautiful, she’s a sweet person, she really wanted it. She won! You can’t say anything about that… I just would have liked to have known that coming into it. That’s all. You don’t want to get side swiped once you get in.”

Nelly ultimately came away in third place, ahead of Justina Machado but under Nev Schulman and Kaitlyn Bristowe who took second and first place, respectively.

Nelly’s partner Daniella Karagach, a first-time pro, was extremely happy with her experience, according to Entertainment Tonight’s interview.

“I couldn’t have had a better time and I couldn’t have had a better partner to spend my time with,” she added.

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