Week three and four of “Dancing With the Stars” brought heavy competition and three guest judges to the ballroom. At the end of week two, contestants Tori Spelling and Anna Delvey were eliminated. Unfortunately, three stars have now left the ballroom as the competition continues and each star fights for the Len Goodman mirrorball trophy.
The show was delayed a week due to the vice-presidential election and to make up for it, a two-night special aired during week three. Monday night’s episode on Oct. 7 was “Soul Train” themed. The night brought joy to the stage and paid homage to the beloved ensemble television show. Actress Rosie Perez, who danced on “Soul Train,” served as a guest judge this episode and brought light and love to the table.
Standout dances included Chandler Kinney and partner Brandon Armstrong’s cha-cha which earned the duo four nines from the judges. The score placed them at the top of the leaderboard for the third week. “The Bachelor” star Joey Graziadei and partner Jenna Johnson performed a fantastic jive to “Shout” and received two nines, also placing at the top of the leaderboard.
While Kinney and Graziadei have been consistently placing well, another usual top scorer Dwight Howard did not join them this week. Howard and partner Daniella Karagach performed a cha-cha they admitted was under rehearsed. The basketball star received three sixes and one five, leaving Howard at the bottom of the leaderboard alongside Reginald Vel Johnson.
This season’s rhetoric about Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko appears to surround the duo’s dating rumors. The pair have been seen on TikTok getting up close and personal, but this week their sexy rumba did not score as high as they hoped, receiving four sevens. Instead, the chemistry between “The Bachelorette” star Jenn Tran and partner Sasha Farber sparked. During their Viennese waltz, the judges praised Tran for making improvements and teased about the dance being the sexiest waltz they had ever seen.
Eric Roberts improved during “Soul Train” night and lovingly dedicated his dance to his wife. Although he wound up at the bottom of the leaderboard along with Howard and Vel Johnson, there was no elimination during “Soul Train” night. Instead, fan votes and scores from Monday’s episode were combined with the next night, Oct. 8 “Hair Metal Night.”
“Hair Metal Night” brought fire and controversy to the dance floor. Guest judge Gene Simmons, guitarist for the band “KISS,” ruffled many feathers because of his comments about the female contestants' looks and overall strange scores. Social media has certainly not been quiet about the disapproval of Simmons on the show.
One of the strangest scores awarded by Simmons was to “The Real House Wives of Atlanta” star Phaedra Parks. Parks and partner Val Chmerkovskiy received all sevens from the judges for their paso doble, but Simmons gave the pair a five. After the show, Parks was interviewed about her thoughts on the score and stated to Page Six, “I figured he didn’t like short black women.”
Also stirring up fans during the night was the emotional aftermath of Ilona Maher and partner Alan Bersten’s dance. The duo performed a jive that had several mistakes, as the judges noted. Maher was seen crying during the scores and when asked how she was doing, explained she had felt better. After receiving two sixes and two sevens, fans rallied behind Maher, praising her for showing strength and emotion.
The night ended with a double elimination of Eric Roberts and Reginald Vel Johnson being sent home. While fans and the “DWTS” family were sad to see them go, the two were congratulated for their effort. Hosts Alfonso Riberio and Julianne Hough also announced that retired pro-dancer and fan favorite Mark Ballas would join the next week of competition as a guest judge.
Ballas was a guest judge during “Dedication Night” in the ballroom. He provided positive critiques to each star — a huge redemption from Simmon’s unfortunate night as judge the week prior.
Standouts from the night included Danny Amendola’s powerful contemporary dedicated to his late football coach. The star received four nines from judges and had a massive breakthrough this week. Also scoring high was Graziadei, who dedicated his Viennese Waltz to his fiance Kelsey Anderson and received all nines. Amendola and Graziadei topped the leaderboard for the night, knocking off Kinney for the first time since the season’s start.
Steven Nedorosik came out swinging for his Argentine tango dedicated to the men’s gymnastics team and opened the number with a pommel horse routine. Nedorosik also received his first nine from Mark Ballas for his performance.
The highlight of the night was when Derek Hough took the stage to perform with his miracle fiance Hayley Erbert. Erbert, a previous member of the dance troupe, experienced a traumatic medical emergency during the “DWTS” tour last year and underwent brain surgery. Hough and Erbert opened up in a heartbreaking package before their dance about the difficulty of the incident and how it was unlikely Erbert was going to make it.
Despite all odds against her, Erbert is now healthy and recovering. To show for her miraculous healing, she and Hough danced together. The dance was Erbert’s first time back in the ballroom and left everyone in tears. It was a powerful, emotional and beautiful display of the two’s lasting connection through a painful event in their family.
Unfortunately, one couple was eliminated — model Brooks Nader and partner Gleb Savchenko. The pair shared they were not expecting this and believed they were going to win instead. During their time on the show, dating rumors followed them closely. Since their elimination, Nader has posted on TikTok videos of the pair kissing and being together, so it seems this partnership may not be officially over yet.
