Well, that was interesting! On Monday, Oct. 12, former pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy joined Dancing With the Stars' judging panel for Switch-Up Week, which had the contestants paired with a different pro. There was no elimination this week, but next week someone goes home based on the combined scores (and votes) from this and last week.
While there were no obvious disasters, some celebrities clearly thrived from the change of pace, while others faltered. Here's a recap of the good, the not-so-good, and the pair who decided to (maybe) date.
Coming off a blunder last week, Alexa PenaVega hit the dance floor with stand-in partner Derek Hough by her side — and landed the first perfect score of the season! Revealing that regular partner Mark Ballas kept warning her she was in danger of getting eliminated in the wake of her lackluster performance, the Spy Kids star seemed more determined than ever to prove she deserved to be in the ballroom. Derek Hough turned out to be just the cheerleader she needed, and the two performed a tango that hit it out of the park, earning a remarkable 40 points. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba called the dance "incredible," while Julianne praised its "authenticity."
Coming up just one point behind Alexa was (drum roll, please) her husband! That's right, Carlos PenaVega, paired with Lindsay Arnold, earned a solid 39 for his quickstep. "To me, it doesn't get any better than that," Carrie Ann said, while guest judge Maksim declared, "It was not quickstep. It was an amazing quickstep!"
Not surprisingly, everyone's favorite ray of sunshine, Bindi Irwin, rounded out the top three. This week, the fan favorite danced the cha-cha with Valentin Chmerkovskiy. She brought an anaconda to practice, and Val struggled with Bindi's reliance on animal-focused metaphors for dancing, but they delivered a strong performance that had everyone smiling from start to finish, and earned them a 37.
But not everyone wowed the judges. Tamar Braxton, who danced a samba with Louis van Amstel, continued to struggle to connect with her partner (making it seem that maybe the problem isn't actually her partner at all). Vine star Hayes Grier performed a respectable but patchy Viennese Waltz with mom-to-be Allison Holker, which earned mixed reviews from the judges. Carrie Ann found it "sweet and sophisticated," but Bruno Tonioli and Maksim took the pair to task for not having enough actual elements from the traditional waltz.
Paula Deen once again brought up the rear, though this time before she left the ballroom she flashed hers, revealing the word "Shake" blinged across her butt. Though Carrie Ann declared Paula's jive with Mark Ballas her "best dance ever," Bruno said he found it a little "flat." And while Julianne Hough declared, "Mark brought the milk and you brought the cookies!" the judges gave her a 26, the lowest score of the night.
Also near the bottom was Alek Skarlatos, but something tells us he didn't care all that — because even though he didn't get a great score for his rumba, he (maybe) landed a date. During his practice video with Emma Slater, the international hero admitted he was "getting distracted" by his partner's appearance. "She's just too hot. I can't keep my cool under those circumstances." Maksim called Alek the season's "dark horse," but host Erin Andrews was more interested in what might happen off-camera than the judges' scores. "Can we get a date? Can we get something?" she half-jokingly asked Emma, who, it seemed, agreed.
Here are the complete rankings from Switch-Up Week:
Alexa PenaVega and Derek Hough, tango: 40 out of 40
Carlos PenaVega and Lindsay Arnold, quickstep: 39 out of 40
Bindi Irwin and Valentin Chmerkovskiy, cha-cha: 37 out of 40
Andy Grammer and Sharna Burgess, Argentine tango: 36 out of 40
Nick Carter and Witney Carson, paso doble: 35 out of 40
Hayes Grier and Allison Holker, Viennese waltz: 30 out of 40
Tamar Braxton and Louis van Amstel, samba: 29 out of 40
Alek Skarlatos and Emma Slater, rumba: 29 out of 40
Paula Deen and Mark Ballas, jive: 26 out of 40
Tell Us: Which pair impressed you the most, and who should go home?
