Dancing With the Stars recap: Sean Spicer's out, Joey Fatone's pants split, and Backstreet's back
Someone give Joey Fatone better pants. For Boy Bands and Girl Groups night, Dancing With the Stars invited Fatone back not only to guest judge but also to dance the intro, a medley that included “Everbody” and “Tearing Up My Heart.” During an early aerial split, Fatone split his pants wide open. Yikes. Week 9 of DWTS also gave us a Backstreet Boys sighting and a scandalous NSYNC story.
But who ended up on top and who flamed out? Here are the dances for the night:
James Van Der Beek and Emma Slater
Van Der Beek was apparently in a boy band as a teen, and it showed when he pulled off a gnarly summersault and a pants-ripping single split to top it off to the tune of “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters. “It’s consistent. Everything you do is really really consistent,” Fatone said, but Tonioli noted, “It could have had a little bit more pumping on the downbeats.” Score: 36 out of 40
Sean Spicer and Jenna Johnson
Spicer is doing the Argentine tango a day after Donald Trump Jr. told Extra that Sean Spicer is more than just a dancer on Dancing With the Stars, he’s also a symbol that the Democratic party will lose in 2020. That’s a whole lot of pressure. Still, he gave it his all, even claiming that he was excited to do the lifts! (There was one lift.) The judges weren’t impressed. “It’s not easy being green is it,” Fatone said. “The best thing about it, it wasn’t very long,” Goodman said. “It was just a series of walking about.” Score: 26 out of 40.
Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten
If you’re younger than 25, you remember taking videos in the Apple Store dancing to some old song with your besties. Well, Hannah showed us her video, a rendition of TLC’s “No Scrubs” in eighth grade wearing a backward baseball cap. Luckily, their salsa was a little less embarrassing, but not without its missteps. “You lost a little bit of timing,” Tonioli said. “Don’t feel discouraged. You are a star attraction.” “The lifts were a little sloppy. But honestly overall, fantastic,” Fatone added. Score: 32 out of 40
Ally Brook and Sasha Farber
Brook used her experience as part of a girl band herself (Fifth Harmony) to bust out what the judges considered a “flawless” performance, dancing the samba to the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.” “You guys are part of the wonder twins. It’s so incredible. You’re so in-sync,” Inaba said, adding, “It was flawless, my darling.” “I’ll tell you what I want. More of that!” Tonioli said. ” It was a proper, technique absolute samba.” Score: 40 out of 40 (A perfect score for the second week in a row.)
Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko
Allain was looking for retribution after last week’s jive had her holding back tears. Lauren also opened up this week about a breakup two weeks before the show. “[The show] was a perfect recipe for healing a broken heart,” she said.
What was the right spring-board back to the top? Doing the quickstep to one of the songs by an eliminated contestant, “You Can’t’ Hurry Love” by the Supremes. “You give it your full every single time. I loved it,” Inaba said. Goodman did have some critiques: “There was one or two little moments that weren’t quite dead on point.” Score: 34 out of 40
Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson
Their Paso doble to En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” started out with Mitchell doing a hip thrust reminiscent of Dak Prescott’s little dance number last night (we’ll get to that a little later). Their paso doble was split with a commanding stomp routine in the middle. “I think you set off all the seismographs in California. It’s not an earthquake people!” Tonioli said. “I’m telling you I am overwhelmed by the power of the performance.” Goodman had other thoughts: “It’s too much gimmicks, not enough paso doble.” Score: 34 out of 40
Round 2
James Van Der Beek and Emma
Van Der Beek told us the story of trying to let Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass into a Prince show by passing back his ID (which only really works in college.) Van Der Beek is a bro, which should deserve some honorary points itself.
Van Der Beek danced to the NSYNC classic “Bye Bye Bye” in front of Fatone, which is the ultimate leg up. But, they didn’t go home with a perfect score, despite Fatone’s insistence that it was absolute perfection. Score: 36 out of 40 (total is 72 out of 80)
Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten
Hannah broke down during rehearsals out of frustration; she wanted to get their tango to “Boy With Luv” as perfect as possible. But the pressure clearly didn’t get to Hannah when it came time to perform. “For me, it’s the best dance of the night,” Fatone said. “Thank you for bringing back your A-game,” Inaba said. Score: 39 out of 40 ( total is 71 out of 80…and Alan celebrated with the Dak Prescott dance!)
Sean Spicer and Jenna Johnson
Spicer admitting he was a One Direction fan is somehow one of the most and least baffling moments of the night. Also, he said he’s using the show as a weight loss program? I mean, good for him I guess? The foxtrot to “Story of My Life” was much of the same, bleh. “You’re technique definitely goes in one direction. Reverse, my darling,” Tonioli said. “It flowed, and it splattered. It had a couple drips. And then it flowed again,” Goodman said. Score: 24 out of 40 (total is 50 out of 80)
Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko
Alaina was somewhat afraid of doing the Rumba to the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” but none of that fear showed on stage. That may be because her friend, Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean, popped into rehearsal to give her some words of encouragement. Call it a comeback, Alaina might be back in it. “If it was based on the song, I would give it a zero,” Fatone quipped. “However, the dance was amazing.” “I tell you if you like your rumba hot, place your order now because Lauren delivers!” Tonioli said. Score: 36 out of 40
Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson
The last time Mitchell was in the bottom two was with a slow dance, and he had to go back to that for a Viennese waltz to Boyz II Men’s “I Make Love to You.” But Mitchell has gotten stronger as a dancer since then, and it showed. “The one thing that impressed me most is that you took direction,” Inaba said. “I thought it was terrific. Natural talent,” Goodman said. Score: 40 out of 40 (total is 74 out of 80)
Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber
Ally said she put her heart in this performance so she didn’t go down into the lowly bottom two. The jazz rendition of New Kids on the Block’s “Step by Step” featured Brook putting her legs on Sasha’s neck with a cherry-on-the-top spin. “What a great way to end the show,” Fatone said. “You reminded me of my dear friend Paula Abdul,” Tonioli said. Score: 40 out of 40 (a perfect 80 out of 80 total)
The bottom two couples were Sean and Lindsay and Lauren and Gleb. Much to everyone’s amusement, Sean Spicer was eliminated. “I loved being on the show. God bless you all. Happy Veteran’s Day,” Spicer said.
Want more Dancing With the Stars? Make sure to download the Sirius XM app and search for Eye on the Ball, EW’s first DWTS recap show hosted by me and Patrick Gomez! It drops every Tuesday afternoon.
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