DWTS' Melissa Rycroft: I'll Miss "Everything" About Lil' Kim

What will she miss most?

"Everything!" she told Usmagazine.com after the show. "She is so sweet, and [the show] brought out a side of her for fans to see that they didn't know. I didn't know how sweet she would be. She had something genuine about her that just made me smile."

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Kim said she feels "okay" about leaving. (She had earned the second-lowest score -- 52 points out of 60 -- for her waltz and salsa this week. Viewer votes ended up sending her home.)

"I would love to still be here - who wouldn't want to be going
to the finals to win?" she told Us. "But at the same time, I still have my other life, and I can go back to the studio and start recording and do all the things I need to do. There are mixed emotions."

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Her partner Derek Hough said he liked dancing with Kim the best.

"Don't tell anybody - but she's my all time favorite partner!" he told Us.

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What about his former partner and current girlfriend Shannon Elizabeth?

"OK, one of my favorite partners!" he added.

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Kim, Hough said, "deserved everything she's got. I was just saying to the producer, I don't know if it would have made difference what week we went because she really came out here and proved herself, and I think she's had some of the most memorable routines ever."