Monday night’s Dancing With the Stars episode goes down as one of the most shocking eliminations in the show’s 24-season history. After performing a flawless rumba to TLC’s “Waterfalls” which got a perfect 40/40 from the judges, Heather Morris stunned the crowd as it was revealed that she got the least number of votes and thus was out of the competition.
Heather Morris’ hot rumba number was the first perfect score for Dancing With the Stars Season 24. After the performance, everyone could see the joy in Heather’s face as she stood next to her professional dance partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Sadly, her winning performance wasn’t enough to save her from elimination.
As the audience booed and the cameras panned to the shocked faces of the judges and hosts, Heather Morris maintained her composure and said that she was “okay” with this turn of events.
“I’m okay. It’s a hard competition and I’m really happy that I got to do exactly what I got to do. It was very, very fun.”
DWTS hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews both expressed their disbelief and noted that the live audience wasn’t pleased either.
“I have to say, in 24 seasons, that was probably the most vocally unhappy reaction we’ve gotten about a result,” Tom Bergeron commented.
According to EW’s recap, Monday’s episode brought back memories from the 90s as the theme was “ Boy Bands vs. Girl Groups .” Songs from the likes of Destiny’s Child, N’ Sync, and The Beach Boys were given classical ballroom dancing interpretations. Aside from the usual pairings, the dancers were also grouped according to sexes and had to execute a team routine. The girls beat the boy band by just one point.
As a treat, DWTS even brought out Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter as a guest judge for the night. Coincidentally, Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess danced to a Backstreet Boys song, “I Want It That Way.”
Normani Kordei and partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy got the evening’s second-highest score, 38/40. They performed a salsa number to The Pussycat Dolls’ “When I Grow Up.” Meanwhile, Nick Viall and Peta Murgatroyd got the lowest score with 28/40. The two performed a jive number to The Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun” but fell short to please the judges.
Heather Morris, wearing a sexy red dress, brought her A-game to the 1940s-inspired rumba performance. She showed a different level of dancing technique, even giving out perfect splits throughout the number. This episode also marked the return of her dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who had to take a break from the show while recovering from an injury.
The judges, who gave the pair a rare 40/40, could barely contain themselves after the former Glee star’s performance. Bruno Tonioli called Heather a “champion.”
“It was like Kim Basinger in Dancing With the Stars Confidential ,” Tonioli praised Heather.
Sadly, the voting fans may have had another idea as Heather found herself in the bottom two by the end of the episode. She was joined by Nancy Kerrigan, who performed a paso doblé number to En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” with pro partner Artem Chigvintsev. Nancy and Artem only got a 33/40, but their votes were enough to carry them to the next round.
Meanwhile, fans on the internet have not taken the result lightly. Many immediately took to Twitter to express their disappointment over the shocking elimination.
“ Dancing With The Stars just proved that they don’t [eliminate] based on talent which goes against the entire concept of the show,” one fan tweeted.
Some even went as far as to say that they will never watch the show again.
So done with dancing with the stars. How can you get a perfect score then GO HOME
— Morgan Atwood (@cadlecornn) April 25, 2017
Watch Heather’s amazing performance below. Do you agree with the fan votes, or do you think Heather deserves to stay in the competition? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
. @HeatherMorrisTV finally got her perfect 10…from all four judges! But what happened next was shocking. #DWTS pic.twitter.com/4Wm6TI2kVP
— Dancing with the Stars #DWTS (@officialdwts) April 25, 2017
Dancing With the Stars Season 24 airs every Monday on ABC.
[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]