Stars continued to shake up the “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom with two couples eliminated, 10s given and strange guest judges. Couples competed on Halloween-themed night, followed by ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ night the week after.
Halloween night brought more record-breaking votes to the ballroom, with the show receiving over 55 million votes. The night also welcomed former pro dancer and two-time mirrorball champion Cheryl Burke as a guest judge.
The biggest shock of the night was the announcement star Elaine Hendrix would not be competing. Hendrix was carried out on a stretcher during rehearsal due to a rib injury. Her partner, Alan Bersten, shared sad remarks about missing his partner and the cast made sure to send well wishes to the "Parent Trap" star.
Despite not being able to compete during ‘Halloween Night,’ Hendrix was still scored for her dance, using rehearsal footage of the last ‘full-out’ of the routine she completed. The pair received a score of 32 out of 40 for their Argentine tango, and doctors cleared Hendrix.
Hendrix wasn’t the only one with an injury, as Dylan Efron was accidentally elbowed by partner Danielle Karagach, resulting in a broken nose. Despite this, Efron explored the ‘romantasy’ genre, a genre he expressed his love for, in his dance. Their Viennese Waltz earned the pair a score of 35 out of 40, with judges calling him the most improved dancer of the season.
Front-runners Robert Irwin and Witney Carson danced an incredible Argentine tango, which won the star two 10s and two nines from the judges, one of which came from strict guest judge Burke. The pair earned a total of 38 out of 40.
Social-media darling Alix Earle shared in her rehearsal package she wanted three-time mirrorball champion partner Val Chermovskiy to be harder on her. Earle was seen crying following this as she shared how hard the dance and rehearsal were. The hard love did pay off as the pair received the highest score of the night for their tango, three 10s and one nine from Burke.
Rounding out the front-runners and high-scorers, Whitney Leavitt performed a jazz routine to “Brain Stew” with partner Mark Ballas and had many timing issues on the floor. Despite being off on timing, the judges awarded her three nines and a 10, earning a 37 out of 40.
While Leavitt’s dance difficulty level is greater than many of this season's contestants, she consistently scores high despite making mistakes. This has led to fan speculation she is receiving special treatment.
As the competition moves into its final weeks, "DWTS" introduces extra dance challenges for couples to compete in. ‘Halloween Night’ brought the ‘Dance-Monsterthon’ to the table.
All nine couples were on the ballroom floor at the same time. As judges eliminated them one by one, the last standing couple received five points for the event. A hard four minutes of dancing wound up with Leavitt winning the competition, despite visible disagreements from the judges.
Judge Derek Hough shared on a live video after the show that he and judge Carrie Ann Inaba wanted Earle and Chermovskiy to win, but guest judge Burke and Bruno Tonioli wanted Leavitt to win.
Many fans were outraged by Burke having more say in the scoring than permanent judges and overall expressed a distaste for the favoritism shown to Leavitt. Despite not winning the competition, Earle secured her spot at the top of the leaderboard.
For "DWTS," judges' scores and viewer votes are calculated together to determine who will be sent home. Despite receiving the lowest score once again, Andy Richter was saved from elimination for the seventh week in a row, thanks to fan votes. Instead, Jenn Affleck and partner Jan Ravnik said their goodbyes to the ballroom.
Rapper Flavor Flav joined the judges' panel for ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ night. Flavor Flav kept his sunglasses on for the duration of the show, made strange remarks to contestants and scored sporadically throughout the night. Host Alfonso Riberio made remarks to the audience about the "wildness" of the show that night, referencing Flavor Flav’s behavior.
Stars competed to songs sung by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and the team routines returned with a new twist: each team was assigned one of the hosts to join in their dance.
The top three scorers, Leavitt, Irwin and Earle all danced a paso doble. Earle danced to “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Jon Bon Jovi and even received a video hype message from the legend himself. For their sharp and high-energy routine, the pair received three 10s and one nine from Flavor Flav.
Leavitt also earned three 10s and a nine from Inaba for her paso doble to “No More Tears” by Ozzy Osbourne. Despite a few mistakes during his performance, shirtless Irwin had the crowd in the palm of his hand for his paso doble and earned a 38 out of 40.
During ‘Halloween Night,’ Olympian Jordan Chiles and partner Ezra Sosa took a risk by dancing with a harness for their jazz routine. Judges didn’t love the prop, and Sosa tearfully apologized during rehearsals, but Chiles redeemed herself. Chiles dressed as Tina Turner for her jazz routine, paying homage to the compliment Inaba gave her early on. The high-energy, sharp and fun routine earned the pair a score of 38 out of 40.
The team dances brought high energy and funny moments to the ballroom. ‘Team Chicago’ competed first, led by captain Danielle Fishel. Host Riberio joined the team with competition rules requiring stars to compete without their partners for part of the dance.
Efron, Leavitt, Chiles and Fishel lit up the dance floor and even included a ‘Carlton’ dance segment, where Riberio led the team through his iconic move. The judges were stunned by the group’s technique and performance, and they earned a perfect score of 40 out of 40.
‘Team Kool’ performed second, led by captain Andy Richter and joined by host, professional dancer and two-time mirror ball champion, Julianne Hough. In rehearsals, the team denoted themselves the “fun team” and had a blast practicing together.
The routine was entertaining to watch as stars Earle, Hendrix and Irwin performed to “Celebration,” which was performed live by Kool & the Gang. The fun-loving energy didn’t secure them the win though, as the team wound up with 38 out of 40.
Once again, despite being at the bottom of the leaderboard, Richter was saved from elimination for the eighth week in a row. Sadly, Fishel and her partner, Pasha Pashkov, who earned a 34 out of 40 for their contemporary, were sent packing.
There are only three episodes left of the competition and as viewers have seen, fan votes are necessary to secure couples' spots.
