The hardest part of leaving Dancing With the Stars for Marlee Matlin? Saying farewell to partner Fabian Sanchez.

"We hit it off like we were friends forever," she told Usmagazine.com after her ousting Tuesday. "[One time], I dropped the F-bomb. He laughed, and I knew it would be fine."

The two failed to impress judges with their mamba, earning just 21 out of 30.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba told them they looked like they "were forcing and struggling" throughout their performance.

Despite the criticism, Matlin, 42, told Us Weekly (through a sign-language interpreter), "I'll keep dancing forever. Wherever the music is, I'm dancing!"

Sanchez said he will miss "the whole two-and-a-half months" he spent with her.

"We would go to get lunch together, goof around and play jokes on each other," he says. "I'll always remember every single day. And I just hope that were going to continue to be friends forever."