Rick Perry's Dance Career Cut Short on Dancing With the Stars

The hopes and dreams of Texans everywhere were crushed last night. Well, the hopes and dreams of one Texan anyways.

That’s right: On Tuesday night, former Governor Rick Perry was voted off Dancing With the Stars.

On Monday, as his former presidential rival Donald Trump was gearing up to take on Hillary Clinton in the debate, Perry was preparing for a very different type of battle: stomping his way through paso doble — which is evidently some sort of bullfighting-esque dance, judging by Perry’s very sparkly clothing choices — on a reality dancing competition. (While Perry danced on Monday, results from the competition did not air till Tuesday night.) Check out the video of Perry’s dance below.

When Perry initially announced his participation in the dancing reality show, he said he joined to honor veterans. At the time, we had some questions about how exactly he planned to do that, since dancers don’t receive any money for winning the DWTS competition. However, in the package that aired showing Perry’s rehearsal, the drive to help veterans still clearly motivated Perry.

After twisting his ankle — complete with surprisingly graphic sound effects — in rehearsal, Perry told the camera that he wasn’t going to let an injury stop him from sashaying his way across the dance floor.

“When I think about the men and women who serve us in the military, when they get hurt they keep pushing on, so it’s gonna take more than that,” Perry said.

In his post-elimination interview with the DWTS host and judges, Perry also urged viewers to check out Advance the Colors TV, an online resource that aims to provide help and information to veterans face once they return home. Perry appears in the organization’s welcome video.

Perry’s main rival in Monday’s competition was rapper and home construction enthusiast Vanilla Ice, as both men performed the paso doble dance. (Yes, Vanilla Ice hosts a home construction reality show called The Vanilla Ice Project.) However, because Ice received immunity from the judges after Monday's dance, as Fox News reported, Perry ended up being the one to go home.

Perry’s exit was not exactly a shocking development. He told The Texas Tribune he had two left feet and was also nearly ousted in the show’s first elimination round, but narrowly survived. Perry himself seemed surprised by the results since immediately after hearing that he wasn’t eliminated, he jumped up and down with his dancing partner Emma Slater, shouting, “Holy mackerel! I love you!” and pointing at various audience members.

However, after his elimination, Perry seemed at peace, saying that his daughter is getting married on October 15. “I can promise you I’ll look good on the dance floor for her,” he said.