"I'm actually panicking because people are saying, 'Oh, we know who's going to go'. I was like, 'No, I don't know who's going to go - because it could be a shock elimination!'" he said.
"I've been walking around [and] people are like, 'Oh, I love this person, I love this person'. And they said a couple of people and I'm like, 'Oh... interesting!' So obviously it could be a big shock elimination."
Now, in his fourth season as a judge, Gourounlian is relieved that he won't be voting to save one couple and send another home until the dance-offs later in the series - something he says still makes him feel "sick in my stomach".
"It's never easy," he continued. "I never danced in [the] competition, but when you're working that hard every day...
"First of all, nobody wants to go in week one [of eliminations] because they feel like it's an embarrassment and a fail - but it's not. Thank God I'm not sending anybody home this Sunday; it (elimination by the judges in the dance-off) is starting a little bit later on. It is always sad.
"I remember Brian (Dowling, husband and a DWTS contestant in 2020) doing the show. He was upset that he left. I was like, 'Do you know what? Pick yourself up. Life carries on. You did seven weeks. What's next?!'"
As to the accusation that he has become a tougher judge in the new series, Gourounlian said he sometimes likes "to push the boundaries".
"I'm still the nice Arthur!" he laughed.
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