Erin Andrews on the Dancing with the Stars Finale: 'That Must've Been Some Major Drugs She Was On!"

Sigh. All great things must come to an end: Here's our last Dancing with the Stars interview with Erin Andrews, the ESPN commentator and steadfast Kyle Massey defender. Following last night's redemptive finale, Erin and I discussed the judges' weird scoring, Jennifer Grey's pain tolerance, and the best moments of the season. Oh, and the winner.

So, Erin, you watched the finale. How was your viewing experience? Thrilling? Surprising?

You know, it was different being on this end of it this season. I felt being involved it with was very emotional. I know how emotional I was in the end, and not because I placed third. I knew that was going to happen. I think it was because the journey had come to and I was tired, exhausted, and so thankful for my time with Maks [Chmerkovskiy]. Very emotional. I just remember watching Evan [Lysacek] and Nicole [Scherzinger] -- because the way they did the finale last night was different than ours. They booted me and Maks right away after our first dance and then it was basically the Evan-and-Nicole competition. It was interesting the way they did it last night because it was the three of them all night. Now, I was curious if that was the format before Bristol was in third place to kind of keep her involved in the whole thing towards the end. Like, my year? We were booted right away. But this year all three of them [stayed in] for all two hours. So it was kind of interesting. I kind of thought it was a very long finale. Did you?

Christina Aguilera performed almost seven times, it seemed like.

[Laughs]. I mean, I understood. I loved seeing everybody come back and dance, the skits, and everything. It was just being different on this side as opposed to last season.

Did you think Bristol stood a shot of winning throughout the episode?

I didn't know because of the way it had gone all season. It was so unpredictable. The only thing I thought that was very telling was just how far apart the scores were. Jennifer had really separated herself and I was just thinking to myself, I remember sitting in the audience after I got the boot last year -- I remember Evan was probably five points away from Nicole, and I was sitting next to Cheryl [Burke] and she was like, "It's too much. He's not going to be able to make it up; Nicole's going to win." I remember looking at Kyle and Bristol's scores and thinking, "It's too much of a lead. I don't think Kyle's going to win and I don't think Bristol's popularity votes will matter." But then I kept saying to myself, "It can't be this predictable, right? It can't be this predictable. Something's going to happen." So I wasn't surprised Bristol got there. In all honesty, of all the dancers left, I think third was the best spot for her. I don't think she danced better than Kyle or Jennifer, but I congratulate her and think third place was a huge accomplishment for her.

Watching Kyle's freestyle, I thought, "This is something Erin will love."

I loved it. I just really love his personality and was cheering for him. The one thing I will say about Kyle in the finale -- I don't agree with his scores. I don't think he was scored correctly at all. I thought a lot of the stuff he did in the finale was right up there with Jennifer. I do agree with Jennifer's scores though; I thought hers were perfect. But I don't think he was scored high enough. That bothered me.

I thought the scoring was downright mysterious. Bristol was scoring straight 9s again? What?

Oh, her freestyle? She got better scores on her freestyle than I did. I said, "Wow. That's amazing." It's very interesting. I would love to know from the judges where they were coming from with the scoring. Even last night, the dances they did -- Kyle got an 8 from Len, and Bristol got a 9 from Len. I was just curious where he was coming from. But that's part of the whole thing; the [producers] don't hold the judges accountable. They don't need to explain their scores. I just don't think Kyle was scored high enough.

There was plenty of ridiculousness in the finale. Any particularly cuckoo moments you liked most?

I thought the finalists didn't have any ridiculous moments, but I thought the skits were hysterical. I thought the David Hasselhoff thing was great. Nothing else struck me as, "Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous." I did love the part -- once I figured it out -- the watermelon thing with Jennifer Grey. I thought it was perfect. "I carried a watermelon." That came up again and again in my mind. I loved that Kyle and Lacey did the Tootsie Roll. It was phenomenal. He's so stinkin' cute. I think if anything, I'm bummed out. I mean, I'm happy with Jennifer winning, and I thought she was phenomenal -- particularly for someone who ruptured her disc? That must've been some major drugs she was on. My dad has two herniated discs in his back, and he said, "Ruptured discs? How do you even walk right now?" I give her kudos for everything she put her body through. I just don't think the scoring difference between her and Kyle should've been as great as it was. But I don't mean to take the mirror ball trophy away from her -- she was phenomenal.

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