Maksim Chmerkovskiy returned to "Dancing With The Stars" to dance with Heather Morris on Monday, April 24 after being out with a calf injury. They received the first perfect score of the season. That didn't stop them from being eliminated on the sixth week of competition that shocked everyone.
Maks returned
Maks returned on the sixth week to participate in the Boy Bands and Girls Groups episode. He choreographed a rumba that all four of the judges loved. Every judge gave Heather and Maks the highest score of 10, including guest judge Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.
Carter filled in for Julianne Hough who was absent.
By the time Morris, 30, and Chmerkovskiy, 37, danced, Nick had settled into judging. He cheated Simone Biles and Sasha Farber out of some points. They were the first to dance and Nick gave them the lowest score of any of the regular judges. Even host Tom Bergeron noticed and commented that guest judges usually give higher scores. It was probably because Nick hadn't found his groove during the very first dance of the night. Simone still ended up with 35 points.
In jeopardy
When Nancy Kerrigan and Artem Chigvintsev were in jeopardy at the end of the episode, fans of the show were almost certain they would be the ones to be eliminated. From Kerrigan's facial expression, it showed that she thought the same thing.
However, the "Glee" actress was the one who was eliminated. Morris had been a frontrunner for a while, but people complained that she had dance experience and should not have competed. Some are wondering if that is why she didn't get enough votes to keep her on the show.
Shocked
The ballroom audience and viewers were shocked after hearing the result.
Bergeron said the reaction was the most vocal he has heard in 24 seasons. Maks and Heather were fine with the decision. Maks spoke highly of his partner and said she is his inspiration as he moves forward. He also complimented Alan Bersten for filling in for him during his absence. Heather thanked Maks and Alan for getting her that far in the competition.
She said she was okay with the decision because it's a hard competition. She added that she was really happy that she got to do exactly what she got to do. After the elimination was announced, Alan tweeted just one word: "Shocked." He was not alone, especially since the couple was doing so much better than some of the others..
During almost every season, there is a surprise elimination. That one ranks among the most shocking. Hopefully, that was the only shocking elimination to happen during this season and there will be no other. Watch "Dancing with the Stars" on ABC on Mondays at 8 p.m. to see what will happen next.
