Joseph Baena couldn’t hold back the tears while discussing his shocking elimination from “Dancing With the Stars.”
The 25-year-old fitness model, who is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mildred Patricia Baena, got emotional while chatting with Page Six about having his mother in the audience for his last show.
“She was extremely upset that I was going home, and of course she’s going to be upset, because she’s my mother and she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her son,” Joseph exclusively told us via Zoom on Tuesday.
“But she’s so happy with how far that I came. It gets me a little emotional because she wasn’t supposed to be here tonight.”
Joseph explained that he originally planned to have a group of friends in the audience, given the “fun” vibe of the prom-themed episode.
“Last minute, one of my friends was not able to make it. I asked my mom to come back-to-back nights, and she was there, she came,” he shared. “I’m just so, so happy that she was able to see my last dance. Yeah, it just means a lot.”
The tears were also flowing when host Tyra Banks announced that Joseph and his pro partner, Daniella Karagach, were going home.
“I’m just an emotional guy!” he joked to Page Six. “No, but it’s meant the world to me to be on this show and to be with such amazing people.”
The bodybuilder added that taking part in the dance competition show has just been “the most incredible” experience.
“To have it end, it’s sad,” he admitted. “You don’t want it to end; you want to keep going. And basically for the last five weeks, this has been my life. It’s taken up my whole routine and I’ve loved the experience.”
Joseph and Karagach, 29, landed in the bottom two during Tuesday’s “Prom Night” following their cha cha to Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” and an all-out dance marathon with the other remaining couples.
They were ultimately sent home after head judge Len Goodman voted to save influencer Heidi D’Amelio and Artem Chigvintsev over them. Many viewers at home were shocked by the fact that either of these dance duos landed in the bottom, seeing as they’ve both received consistently high scores since premiere night.
“Honestly, you never know [what could happen]. It’s a tough one,” Karagach, who won Season 30 with NBA star Iman Shumpert, told us. “This year’s competition is so intense. Everyone is doing such a good job, so it could be anyone.”
She added, “I’m just super proud of what we have achieved in such a short period of time. And I can proudly say I turned [Joseph] into a ballroom dancer. From bodybuilder to ballroom dancer!”
Despite their elimination, Joseph told Page Six that’s he’s proud of himself for taking part in the competition with Karagach – and doing it his own way, just as he proved during Monday’s “Most Memorable Year” night.
“I’m extremely proud. It’s not an easy thing to do. One, to learn how to dance, but two, to dance in front of millions of people watching on Disney+ and all over the world,” he explained.
“I’m really proud of the limits that I was able to see, that I was able to actually surpass, and that’s a huge thing that I’m going to take out of this experience,” he continued. “So I’m just so hungry to keep going for the next thing … and not just getting through it, but killing it!”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Disney+.