‘Dancing With The Stars’ Recap: An Emotional Elimination

“Dancing with the Stars” bid a tearful goodbye to one of Season 19’s popular pairs.

(Spoiler Alert! This story contains the elimination news from Monday night’s show.)

After weeks of hanging in there lap after lap around the ballroom, it was racecar driver Michael Waltrip, and his pro partner, Emma Slater, who puttered out of the competition. As the two said their farewells, many got misty eyed.

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“It was a chance to do something that was more emotional than it was physical,” Michael said, after he got the bad news that he was going home. “To get to experience the wonderful cast, the folks that we danced with and to get to know Emma’s heart and who she is as a person, I just grew so much emotionally, and I’m a better person because of my tenure here and I’m happy that I got to be here and I’m sad I have to go.”

Emma had to hold back her tears as she explained to co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews what partnering up with Michael in Season 19 meant.

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“He’s made me a better person. And this season has been amazing,” she said.

Asked how Michael changed her, Emma said, “He’s touched me in a way that I’ll be a better person for the rest of my life, and I want to thank you for that.”

It was a somber note to end the show on, but the two hours before that moment were lively and fun, as each team took on the theme of “dynamic duos.”

“Pretty Little Liars” star Janel Parrish and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, earned a perfect score for the night with their contemporary number that was inspired by “Romeo & Juliet.”

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“A juicy dance. Romance [doesn’t] come any juicier than this one,” judge Bruno Tonioli said of their number, which received a standing ovation from the in-studio audience. “Extremely ambitious, yet gorgeous and glorious in every possible way.”

“I knew that you were a good dancer, but tonight, you’ve shown me that you’re a great dancer,” judge Len Goodman added.

Janel and Val’s perfect score kept them at the top of the leaderboard and out of a dance off at the end of the night that pitted two teams against each other, both performing the same type of dance with the aim of earning an additional three points to their score. (Janel and Val got the three points automatically, bringing their total to 43/43).

Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson faced off against Lea Thompson and Artem Chigvintsev. While the judges thought it was close call, they ultimately gave the points to Alfonso and Witney, who ended the night in second with 41 points (earlier they earned 38 for their competition Batman & Robin-inspired cha cha).

Friends Derek Hough and Mark Ballas, with their respective partners, Bethany Mota and Sadie Robertson, squared off on the dance floor, both pairs doing the cha cha. Again, the judges said it was too close to call and, in this case, the judges were split down the middle with Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno choosing Sadie and Mark as the winners, while Len and Julianne Hough picked Bethany and Derek. The tie breaker? Co-host Erin explained that because Len is the show’s head judge, it’s his choice, so Bethany and Derek took the additional three points. They ended the night with 40 points (their Lucy & Desi dance earlier in the evening earned 37), while Sadie and Mark took home 38.

“Dancing with the Stars” continues next Monday night at 8/7c on ABC.

— Jolie Lash