Dancing With the Stars 2014: Lolo Jones Voted Off in Week 1 of Season 19

Twelve dancers remain in the competition for the mirror ball trophy.

ByABC News
September 16, 2014, 9:05 PM

— -- Olympian Lolo Jones was voted off "Dancing With the Stars" last night, becoming the first celebrity competitor to be eliminated on the show's 19th season.

After judges’ scores and viewer votes were combined, Jones and fashion designer Betsey Johnson learned they were both in jeopardy of going home. When Jones heard her fate, she smiled and hugged her pro partner, Keo Motsepe.

“I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Jones said. “I’m glad that (Johnson’s) staying. She deserves to stay and everybody here did a great job.”

The Olympian's cha-cha suffered from several missteps and she blamed the trouble on a missed cue that she said threw off her entire performance. During the judges' evaluation following her performance, Jones, who appeared frustrated, acknowledged that her performance was "awful."

Jones and Motsepe appeared on "Good Morning America" this morning to rehash the night, where Jones expressed her frustration.

"We had no clue what was going on. I didn't have the cues everyone saw on TV. I was waiting for three text message cues, and he [Motsepe] was trying to train me saying, 'Things could happen; you may not have the cue,' but I felt so rushed," she said on "GMA." "You already have so much anxiety, and it killed me."

Despite being voted off the show so quickly, Jones said she tried to learn from the experience nonetheless.

"Whenever I go do something tough, I try to take away something. Three Olympics -- you have to take away something if you’re not taking away a medal," she said. "A lot of people didn’t understand my frustration, but I feel like I let Keo down. He came all the way from South Africa, and I killed our dance."

Jones started to tear up as she recounted the hard moment.

"I finished the dance and that was very tough for me to do," she said, starting to choke up. "I was having a hard time breathing backstage and trying not to cry. I don't even remember anybody dancing that night, and I really regret that. I wish I could just smile."

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Jones expanded on her inability to smile on her Facebook page.

"When I was dancing last night and messed up I had flashbacks of the three Olympics and that people constantly tease me about. I thought oh no here it comes again. People are going to ridicule me. I'm so tired of feeling embarrassed," she wrote to her nearly 350,000 followers. "I joined the other competitors upstairs and I couldn't force a smile on my face. I felt like vomiting and in between the other dances I went in a back room and fought back tears. I felt so broken. So unlovable. Embarssed [sic]. My brief time on #DWTS was a lasting lesson. I really wanted to stay on the show and have the layers of hurt wash away by showing the public how hard I work. I wanted to come away a victor for once. I wanted to do so good performing in public that the haters would stop teasing me."

Monday night’s premiere showcased 13 competitors vying for the mirror ball trophy. Actor Alfonso Ribeiro, who was a child star on Broadway, leaped to the top of the leaderboard with a skillful jive which judges asked him to reprise tonight, while Johnson brought up the rear when her routine was stymied by problems with a pink prop feather boa.

In addition to Johnson and Ribeiro, returning to compete next week are actors Antonio Sabato Jr., Randy Couture and Jonathan Bennett, actresses Lea Thompson and Janel Parrish, reality TV star Sadie Robertson, YouTube beauty guru Bethany Mota, TV talk show host Tavis Smiley, comedian Tommy Chong and NASCAR legend Michael Waltrip.

The celebrities will compete every week for scores from the judges and votes from viewers. The star with the lowest combined total will be eliminated each week until the final three compete for the trophy.

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