Nastia Liukin Shares How The ‘DWTS’ Loss Upset Her
Gymnast Nastia Liukin lost her chance to dance in the recent Dancing with the Stars finale, but her loss is apparently not what upset her the most.
In a recent interview with Us Weekly, Liukin explains that her history as a gymnast and competitor helped her to become used to the concept of losing. However, why Nastia is upset about her loss apparently goes much deeper than not walking away with the Mirror Ball trophy.
Exclusive: @NastiaLiukin looks back at her #DWTS run. http://t.co/ANujKz5Vav pic.twitter.com/jic18F1Xqo
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) May 21, 2015
According to the report, Liukin is more concerned about not being able to share her story with the rest of the world.
“Of course I would have loved to dance in the finale, but this has nothing to do with that. I wish I had the chance to tell my story the way that everyone else had to tell theirs.”
The 25-year-old athlete further expressed that she wanted to fully take advantage of the opportunity to show the softer and more genuine side of herself to the rest of the world as a competitor on Dancing with the Stars.
“I feel like I’ve been criticized for so many years as being this stone-faced, cold athlete, but as a gymnast, you don’t talk or show emotion. You go out there to compete! So it was really important for me to open up to America and show them who the real me is. I want people to know that I am not perfect.”
It may have seemed like Nastia Liukin and Derek Hough were clashing a lot during the time that they worked together throughout their Dancing with the Stars journey. However, Liukin claims that her frustration was directed at the situation – not her partner.
Liukin states that working with Derek was “a dream come true” and that the other dancers were very supportive since they were “not competitive on a personal level.”
The former Olympian was eliminated alongside her partner Derek Hough on May 12. She officially finished in fourth place out of 12 contestants. The ironic part of Nastia’s elimination was that Val Chmerkovskiy and Rumer Willis were the other two contestants that were facing elimination on the same night.
Willis and Chmerkovskiy clearly improved their performances and scores – leading to their triumphant win earlier this week.
Nastia Liukin is now working on starting her own agency alongside her best friend Liz Ballard. It is her goal to use her new agency to represent other people that have “stories to tell and brands to build.”
[Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]
