Chaz Bono On ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Performance: ‘It Felt Like A Comeback’

With his family in the audience rooting for him – including superstar mom Cher in tears – Chaz Bono earned his best scores yet on Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars,” a performance he’s calling “a comeback.”

“Tonight felt really good. The audience was rooting for me so loud, that I missed my intro, because I couldn’t hear the song,” Chaz, who has been at the bottom of the leaderboard for the last two weeks, told Access after the show. “It was our best scores yet. It felt really good. It felt like a comeback… I enjoyed every minute of it.”

The activist and author, who danced the paso doble with partner Lacey Schwimmer to the theme from “Rocky,” was happy to have his mom make her ballroom audience debut last night.

“She just told me how proud she was of me, and how nervous she was for me,” Chaz told Access.

Lacey appeared to have been left star struck after meeting her partner’s mom.

“Cher came up to me, and gave me a hug. So that was crazy! And then she said how good he did, and how happy she was that he and I were partnered together. She said how great I was, and then I kind of forget what happened after that,” the “DWTS” pro enthusiastically recalled. “I was still freaking out about the hug!”

In addition to Cher, Chaz had a slew of loved ones rooting him on.

“My aunt and uncle, my grandma, my brother, my step-mom,” he explained. “It was so nice to have my whole family there. They’ve been so supportive during this whole thing.”

Among those family members was Chaz’s stepmom, Mary Bono, who told Access what Chaz’s father, the late Sonny Bono, would’ve thought about his son’s night in the spotlight.

“Oh, he would be beaming with absolute pride… it’s something even beyond beaming with pride. He probably would have been wanting to be up there dancing himself,” she told Access. “Sonny might have had a few difficult moments with Chaz early on, but it would have gone right over. Sonny would have been very, very proud. I know that Chaz would have been very proud last week that Chaz used his song, ‘Laugh At Me.’ So, I guess Sonny is here in spirit, looking down, and still loves Chaz with every bone in his body.”

AH Nation Poll: Will Chaz Bono stick around in the competition? VOTE HERE!

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Chaz and Lacey earned a total score of 21/30, putting them in a tie for sixth place with HLN host Nancy Grace and her Irish ballroom hunk, Tristan MacManus, and original co-frontrunners Chynna Phillips and Tony Dovolani. (For an entire rundown of all the “DWTS” action from Monday night, CLICK HERE!)