The semifinals were extremely emotional during the November 18 episode of Dancing With the Stars. Fans said goodbye to James Van Der Beek and his partner, Emma Slater. This means Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten, Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber, Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson and Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko are left to dance it out for the mirrorball trophy.
The latest elimination was especially difficult because each couple left is extremely talented and deserving to make it to the finals. Ally, 26, was in the bottom two along with James, 42, who revealed earlier in the episode the devastating news that his wife suffered a miscarriage.
“My wife Kimberly went through every expectant parent’s worst nightmare. We lost the baby,” the Dawson’s Creek alum sadly shared on live television. James and Kimberly announced on the October 7 episode of DWTS that she was pregnant with their sixth child. “The little soul that we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond. You never know why these things happen. That’s what I’ve been telling my kids.”
Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli both voted to keep Ally and Sasha — meaning Len Goodman did not have to cast a vote. However, Ally begged host Tom Bergeron to let James stay in her place. She was not granted her wish and the goodbyes were hard to watch.
Although the former Fifth Harmony singer was in the bottom this week, she and Sasha, 35, received glowing scores for both of their dances. Their redemption performance — a Viennese waltz to “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran — was awarded a 29 out of 30. Then, their Charleston to “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Ray Chew received a perfect score, which is the duo’s second 30 out of 30 this season. “It was fast, it was fun, it was fabulous,” Len gushed.
They weren’t the only perfect score of the night. Kel, 41, and Witney, 26, blew the judges away with their contemporary dance to “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston and the pair received 10’s across the board. They also received a 27 for their redemption tango to the Motown medley “Get Ready.” The former Nickelodeon actor has flown a bit under the radar this season but is now taking center stage. “You have become so refined … You to me have come the furthest,” Carrie confessed to the team.
As for Hannah, 25, and Alan, also 25, they had a steady week and were awarded 27’s for both their redemption rumba to “Dancing with a Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani and their contemporary number to Selena Gomez‘s “Lose You to Love Me.” The Bachelor Nation babe had a bit of a rough patch during rehearsals after getting emotional with Carrie’s critiques while she visited the team in the studio. “I’m not an adversary,” the dance expert reminded the reality star. Hannah apologized later in the episode and explained that she was feeling on edge that day because of the tricky choreography. “I am so sorry if it seemed like I was dismissive of you trying to help me,” the Alabama native said to the judge.
Lauren, 25, and Gleb, 36, had a similar week when it came to scores. Her Viennese waltz to “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw and contemporary dance to her own song “The Other Side” both received 27’s.
We’re down to the wire now!