Cassandra Thorburn took to the Dancing with the Stars stage for the final time on Monday night after failing to impress judges with her routine.
The mother-of-three was eliminated from the dancing competition at the end of the episode, becoming the third celebrity to say goodbye.
Speaking of her experience after receiving the sad news of her elimination, the 47-year-old told host Grant Denyer how grateful she was to have appeared on the show.
Cassandra thanked the public for their support throughout the competition following “a troublesome couple of years”.
“I’m really happy people supported my and kept me here for as long as they did,” she said. “It made me feel special. It was like a big hug.”
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This led Grant to say how it was great to watch Cassandra embrace the competition and make a name for herself after the split from her ex Karl Stefanovic.
“Something for me,” she exclaimed. “It’s been a long time.”
Cassandra’s departure from the show comes after her son Jackson finally broke his silence about his parents’ bitter split.
It was widely rumoured last year that Karl and his son were estranged following the Today show hosts public divorce from his ex-wife, and Jackson’s mother.
In an interview with Woman’s Day, published on Monday, the 19-year-old said: “My mother is the most extraordinary person, and what she has weathered these past few years, no one deserves the backlash.”
He continued: “To watch my parents’ private lives play out so publicly was incredibly destructive for all of us – someone had to step up and protect her, and I knew that person was me.”
Karl tied the knot with shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough in a lavish ceremony in Mexico in December last year. While his three children didn’t attend the wedding, the kids did travel over to Mexico at the same time as the ceremony, but stayed away from the celebrations on the big day.
“Despite what’s happened, he’s still my dad,” Jackson added. “I’ll leave it there for now – who knows what happens next.”
This followed Cassandra’s very open confession about her marriage breakdown.
Last week, Dancing with the Stars contestants were required to choose a song from their most memorable year, with mum-of-three Cassandra picking 2016 — the year she divorced from TV star Karl.
Read more: Karl Stefanovic’s son breaks silence over parents’ bitter split
“It was the year I became a single parent, it was my lowest moment, I struggled to leave the house,” the former journalist, who was married to Karl for 21 years, revealed. “My girlfriends were helping me with groceries and all sorts of things.”
However, Cassandra claimed she is now coping really well, adding: “For me, I have found a confidence in myself that I truly believe is okay to have.
“I built up these walls around myself for years because of public scrutiny, media and criticism … and I just sometimes struggle to put those walls down and dancing is helping me do that.”
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