Dancing with the Stars’ Emma Slater seen apologizing to fellow pro dancer after shock elimination
By Brittany Miller
Copyright independent
Week three of Dancing With the Stars Season 34 left the cast and fans reeling after a shocking elimination.
Following last week’s double elimination, Tuesday night’s episode of ABC’s dance competition series sent one couple packing in a twist no one saw coming, causing one of the professional dancers to apologize to her colleague as the credits began rolling.
*Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Dancing With the Stars Season 34*
The theme for week three was TikTok night, as the couples danced to songs that have gone viral on the social media platform, including “Anxiety” by Doechii, “Pop Muzik” by M, “Man Child” by Sabrina Carpenter, and “Yukon” by Justin Bieber.
However, at the end of the night, it was Fifth Harmony singer Lauren Jauregui and pro dancer Brandon Armstrong who were sent home after dancing the cha-cha to her own girl group’s song “Work from Home.”
The elimination was based only on their scores from this week by the three judges — Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli, and Carrie Ann Inaba — in addition to votes from viewers at home.
At the end of the night, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and her partner Mark Ballas were once again at the top of the leaderboard alongside Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles and her partner Ezra Sosa.
Jauregui and Armstrong were at the bottom of the leaderboard along with Andy Richter and his pro partner Emma Slater, scoring 18 out of a possible 30 by the judges. While many fans expected Richter to be sent home after having the lowest scores for three weeks in a row, he was spared for another week.
After revealing the Fifth Harmony singer as the eliminated contestant, the whole ballroom went silent.
“You can hear from the audience that everybody is shocked,” co-host Julianne Hough said before asking Jauregui how she felt about the results. “Pissed,” she replied, going on to tell everyone how much she loved working with Armstrong and having him as a partner.
As the credits began to roll, the cast huddled up in a group hug as Slater could be seen mouthing the words, “I’m sorry” to Armstrong.
Many fans of the show were quick to express their disappointment over the pair’s elimination, questioning why other couples were only staying on the show for the fan votes and not their dancing ability.
“So it dosnt matter if you can dance good anymore on dancing with the stars? Why would you keep Andy over Lauren,” on X user questioned, while another agreed, writing, “absolutely no reason Lauren should’ve gone home when she’s out dancing more than half of the people who stayed.”
Season 34 of the beloved dance competition series features a mix of reality TV stars, athletes, and other pop culture personalities.
New episodes of Dancing With the Stars air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with streaming available the next day on Hulu.