The competition is heating up as Dancing With the Stars season 34 enters the semifinals.
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and her pro partner Mark Ballas’ spunky cha-cha to Prince’s “1999” on the Nov. 18 episode dedicated to the late musician’s legendary discography proved unusually divisive when offered up to the judges for scrutiny.
Bruno Tonioli first raved that, “Everything that you wanted from a cha-cha was there. The execution, the precision, the placement, the level of difficulty – incredible, and you did it.”
Carrie Ann Inaba agreed, praising Leavitt’s effort as resulting in “a wonderful dance.” But she had some reservations, leading to a spirited disagreement with former pro and current judge Derek Hough.
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Mark Ballas, Whitney Leavitt
“I’m gonna say this is what stood out to me,” Inaba continued. “At times I felt that the technique, I could see you focusing on the technique, and normally that doesn’t happen when you perform. It almost kind of hindered it because you’re such an amazing performer.”
Inaba explained that technique should “disappear into a great dance,” but with Leavitt’s cha-cha, “I could see you focusing on the technique, but it was still well delivered.”
With a mischievous smile, Hough kicked off Leavitt’s final critique of her first performance with a fulsome defense of the technique in question. “Carrie Ann, you are out of your mind!” he exclaimed, causing Inaba to laugh and rock back in her seat.
“That was literal perfection,” Hough continued. “By the way way, cha-cha in a in a semi-final is really risky, honestly… It got better and better and better, the precision, the technique, the performance. That was awesome.”
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Leavitt and Ballas ultimately earned a near-perfect score for their dance. 10 from Hough and Tonioli and 9 from Inaba made for 29, the highest score of the evening so far. A few performances later, Robert Irwin and his partner Witney Carson beat their score with a perfect 30.
In the skybox awaiting the score, cohost Julianne Hough went straight for the elephant in the room, asking Leavitt about a recent comment that the “only reason you wanted to do [The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives] was so that you could do this show.” Leavitt explained that after two seasons on the viral breakout, she “wanted to take a break, but once I found out that this would be an opportunity for all of the girls to be able to go after this, I wanted to take that chance.”
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Whitney Leavitt, Mark Ballas
Leavitt thanked longtime DWTS producer Deena Katz for the opportunity, which she said has already “changed my life.”
If she manages to survive tonight’s elimination, she has a chance of transforming her life even further in next week’s finale.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.
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