But after a tough Tango on Monday left her near the bottom of the leaderboard and viewer votes got factored in, Phillips and her partner Tony Dovolani got the bad news it was over.
But here's the good news: because of "Dancing," she's making a sizeable donation to an orphanage she supports in Mexico.
"We're building a dormitory for them, a 60-bedroom dormitory," she said. "It's going to house them, feed them, it's going to clothe them, it's going to educate them. The $60,000 that I am going to donate is definitely going to make a huge difference for them."
Still, the elimination was upsetting. Not just to Phillips and Dovolani.
"It feels like some people are required to do something slightly OK and it's going to be blown up and be looked at as, 'Oh my God. That is amazing. You're incredible.' And then, some people who are incredible only hiccup and everybody points at it and goes, 'See, you made a mistake. You're out,'" said Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Hope Solo's partner.
"It's heart-wrenching for me to see her to have to go through this and I know that she feels like... she let Tony down," said Phillips' husband, Billy Baldwin.
Phillips is the fourth contestant eliminated so far on this season of the hit ABC show. Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest), Elisabetta Canalis and Kristin Cavallari were ousted on previous episodes.
But the show, as they say, must go on. Next week will feature an 80s theme.
Tuesday's results show also featured performances by Raphael Saadiq and Susan Boyle, and the return of two-time "Dancing" champ Julianne Hough. The professional dancer-turned-actress showed off some of the moves she'll be rocking when the remake of "Footloose" opens in theaters Friday. Hough and co-star Kenny Wormald danced to "I Need a Hero" before Blake Shelton offered his take on the movie's title song.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
To see photos of Julianne Hough's performance on "Dancing With The Stars," check out our slideshow!
