NFL star Chad Ochocinco and his partner Cheryl Burke became the eighth couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars' tenth season during Tuesday night's live penultimate results show on ABC.

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"This was awesome. I enjoyed the journey. I met some wonderful people. I got some great criticism that only made me stronger," Ochocinco said after Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron revealed the couple's elimination.

"In my eyes, I already won. This is beautiful."

Ochocinco and Burke were ousted from the competition based on the combination of the Dancing with the Stars judges' scores they had received during Monday night's performance show and home viewer votes that were cast afterward. 

The show had featured the competition's four remaining couples performing ballroom and Latin routines which were scored by judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

"Chad is the most humble guy you'll ever meet -- the most amazing, soft, gentle man in the world," said Burke. "I've had such an amazing experience."

Prior to Ochocinco and Burke's ouster, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy were the other couple still in danger of elimination.

"Under normal circumstances, normal seasons, both of these couples would be in the finals.  [This] is the highest standard we have ever had [for a season]," Goodman said before Bergeron revealed which of the two couples was getting eliminated.

"And no one is clearly the winner, we have four dances to perform [in the finale].  Anything can happen and I can't wait."

Ochocinco and Burke had finished in last place on Monday night's judging leaderboard with a total of 52 out of 60 possible points after receiving 27 points for their waltz and 25 points for their samba.

Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger and her partner Derek Hough and the Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek and his partner Anna Trebunskaya had finished tied for first place on Dancing with the Stars' judging leaderboard with 59 total points each during Monday night's tenth-season semifinals performance show.

Andrews and Chmerkovskiy -- who received a 56 total points for their two routines -- finished in third place.

Dancing with the Stars' final tenth-season performance show will air next Monday at 8PM ET/PT, with the winners being crowned the following night.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
Steven Rogers is a senior entertainment reporter for Reality TV World and been covering the reality TV genre for two decades.