Two weeks after her lift drew a public critique from Carrie Ann Inaba, Jenna Johnson walked off the Dancing with the Stars floor with the first perfect score of Season 35. She and Harry Shum Jr. earned a 40 out of 40 on Horror Movie Night Tuesday, the same episode that brought her husband, Val Chmerkovskiy, back to the ballroom after his one-week suspension.
Shum and Johnson danced a contemporary routine to “Toxic” by 2WEI, inspired by Saw. It was the second routine of the night, and nobody else reached the top of the leaderboard with them. Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Dewan, along with Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold, came closest at 37.
Val Chmerkovskiy Is Back
Chmerkovskiy sat out Dedication Night after BBC Studios called his TikTok about Inaba “inappropriate.” The post, which most viewers read as a nod to Will Smith’s slap at the 2022 Oscars, went up after Inaba called out lifts in Johnson’s routine on October 13, and it got him pulled from the following week’s show.
He opened his return by apologizing to his partner. “We are back together. I am so sorry for all the chaos. You did not sign up for that, and I feel awful,” he told Dewan in their pretaped package. “I forgive you,” she said. The two then danced an Argentine tango built around zombie movies and scored 37.
Inaba had nothing but praise for the routine. “Incredible choreography, Val. I wanna say that first. Incredible,” she said during her critique. After the show, the two hugged on set, a moment fans quickly passed around online. Chmerkovskiy later said he wanted Inaba to hear from him directly that he wishes her “nothing but love,” as Variety reported.
A Tough Guest Judge And Two Goodbyes
Shirley Ballas, Mark Ballas’ mother and a judge on Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, joined Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough on the panel. She did not hold back, handing out a 4 to Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa and another to Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik.
Because Dedication Night ended with no elimination, two couples went home this week, decided by judges’ scores and viewer votes from both episodes. Jackson Olson and Emma Slater left after a contemporary inspired by Joker, and Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess were cut after a Dracula-inspired routine that scored 26.
Eight couples remain: Tatyana Ali, Jenna Dewan, Ezra Frech, Amber Glenn, Maura Higgins, Harry Shum Jr., Julia Stiles and Connor Wood with their pros.
Disney Night Moves To Monday
The show changes nights next week. Disney Night airs Monday, November 2, instead of the usual Tuesday, with Cynthia Erivo joining the panel as guest judge. Dancing with the Stars airs live on ABC and streams live on Disney+.
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