This week, couples danced routines inspired by freestyle dances from previous seasons’ finalists. It also featured a relay dance, and for the first time, stars were paired with past Mirrorball champions, and danced without their pros. Tom Bergeron, former host of DWTS returned as a guest judge along side the usual judges, Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli, and Carrie Ann Inaba. See the opening number here.
Individual Dances
Elaine Hendrix: Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten earned a 36/40 for their salsa to “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. Their routine was inspired by Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff’s freestyle from season 3.
Robert Irwin: Robert Irwin and Witney Carson earned a 40/40 for their foxtrot to “Footprints in the Sand” by Leona Lewis. Their routine was inspired by his sister’s freestyle, when Bindi Irwin was partnered with Derek Hough on season 21.
Andy Richter: Andy Richter and Emma Slater earned a 29/40 for their quickstep to “Puttin’ on the Ritz” by Robbie Williams. Their routine was inspired by Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold’s freestyle from season 25.
Dylan Efron: Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach score a 40/40 with their Argentine tango to “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. Their routine was inspired by Milo Manheim and Witney Carson’s freestyle from season 27.
Jordan Chiles: Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa earned a 38/40 for their cha cha to “Get Up” by Ciara and Chamillonaire. Their routine was inspired by Wayne Brady and Witney Carson’s freestyle from season 31.
Alix Earle: Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy earned a 40/40 for their foxtrot to “Sinin’ in the Rain” by Matthew Morrison. Their routine was inspired by Nev Schulman and Jenna Jonhson’s freestyle from season 29.
Whitney Leavitt: Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas earned a 40/40 for their Argentine tango to “Cell Block Tango” from the musical Chicago. Their routine was inspired by Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy’s freestlye from season 31
Relay Dances
For this part, each star was paired with a past winner. The two danced together, without a pro. Winning couples received 2 extra points. Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas were exempt from the relay after finishing last week at the top of the leaderboard.
Round One: First, Elaine Hendrix competed against Jordan Chiles, with both doing a quickstep to Micheal Bublé’s version of “I Get A Kick Out of You”. Hendrix was paired with season 4 champion Apolo Anton Ohno, and Chiles was partners with season 24 champion Rashad Jennings, with Chiles and Jennings winning.
Round Two: Next up, Dylan Efron competed against Andy Richter. Both completed a Viennese waltz to “Earned It” by The Weekend. Efron was paired with season 20 champion Rumer Willis, and Richter was paired with season 29 champion Kaitlyn Bristowe, with Efron and Willis winning. See the opening number here.
Round Three: The last round was Robert Irwin competing against Alix Earle, both doing a jazz routine to “Dance With Me Tonight” by Olly Murs. Irwin was partnered with season 32 winner Xochitl Gomez, and Earle was paired with season 33 winner Joey Gradziadei, with Irwin and Gomez winning.
After judges’ scores, bonus points, and viewers’ votes were combined, comedian Andy Richter received the lowest score and was sent home.
Next week is the semi-finals, and is Prince Night. All the songs the couples dance to will be from Prince’s discography.
