Another one bites the dust! Ray Lewis was sent home during week 3 of Dancing With the Stars — but not during a traditional elimination ceremony. The former football player injured his foot and withdrew himself out of the competition and fans said goodbye to Team RAVENous.
“My journey to the [DWTS] mirror ball came to an end today due to injuries sustained to my foot,” the 44-year-old began in a written post on his Instagram Story after the September 30 episode. “Hate to see it end this way but a huge thank you to my partner [Cheryl Burke], [Ravens] flock and everyone else that supported me. I’ll be back, stronger [and] better. #noexcuses.”
Ray and Cheryl were in the bottom two during the previous week, but the athlete was looking forward to improving his skills. He elaborated on the experience in an additional Instagram post and promised followers that he would be healthy again in no time. “Not the ending I had hoped or worked for but that mirror ball wasn’t in the plans for me,” he wrote to accompany a picture of himself and his partner boogying on the dance floor. “I can’t say thank you enough for the support and love … Injuries have never stopped me before and certainly not now. I’ll be back doing the squirrel dance soon enough.”
With Ray leaving the competition, this left the bottom two couples from the week safe — Lamar Odom with Peta Murgatroyd and Kel Mitchell with Witney Carson. The highest-scoring couple thus far — Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten — tumbled a bit after their rumba. Although they still received great reviews from the judges (and a score of 21), the top two couples this week were Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber followed by Sean Spicer and Lindsay Arnold.
A lot of conversation has surrounded Hannah and Alan because their chemistry is off the charts. However, last year’s winner, Bobby Bones, spoke exclusively with Life & Style about the romance rumors between the two and compared them to the same rumblings he and Sharna Burgess experienced. “They’re not dating. I mean they tried to rumor me with Sharna because we were both single,” the 39-year-old radio host confessed while promoting his partnership with Dog Chow for the “Service Dog Salute” campaign. “Look, I know Alan. I don’t feel like they’re dating and if you get two single people, you’re just going to assume that they’re together. I don’t think they’re dating, but it’s a very intimate thing. You’re so close with that person the whole time so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
We can’t wait to see what happens next week!