Vernon Davis and Peta Murgatroyd are saying goodbye to season 29 of Dancing With the Stars. After being in danger of elimination for three weeks in a row, the former NFL star and his pro partner were sent packing during the dance competition show’s Top 11 Night.

While Carrie Ann Inaba chose to save Vernon and Peta, fellow judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli opted to go with the other bottom two couple, Johnny Weir and Britt Stewart. “This is so hard and it’s only going to get harder,” Bruno said of the difficult decision they had to make on Monday. “Each of you have great [dance] qualities.”null

Speaking with 360 aproko just moments after the show wrapped, Vernon and Peta reacted to the disappointing news, but brought their own positive spin.

“Life is all about the unexpected,” Vernon said. “But it’s great, you know? I had a great journey. I met Peta, and Nelly… even though there’s COVID [concerns], being able to spend moments with these guys during the show was awesome.”

Peta shared similar sentiments, telling 360 aproko that she and Vernon “love each other very much,” and that they “had a great time.”

“We had a nice bond that was formed and I truly hope that we can just carry that over into our lives now forever,” she shared. “It’s been a pleasure getting to know him, and getting to know his stories and his life.”

Later in the interview, Peta also gave an update on her neck injury. The pro dancer revealed after last week’s show that she had to rush to physical therapy. “I’ll be OK but I needed to get it seen to ASAP,” she tweeted at the time. “Thanks for the concern. Love you all.”

“When I was getting the judges scores last week, I was standing there thinking, ‘Something’s not right,'” Peta revealed to ET. “I could just feel it was just stiffening up… and as I walked off, we went up the stairs to go back up to our skybox area, and I couldn’t turn my head.”

When she finally got attention from physical therapists, Peta discovered that the actual cause of her neck pain was actually stemming from three of her ribs having “popped out.”

“It’s strange, I know. I didn’t realize [it happened],” Peta said. “I’m fine [now]. I’m totally fine, and I don’t know how it happened.