Giada De Laurentiis became the third celebrity eliminated from Dancing With the Stars Season 35 on Tuesday, September 22. The chef and her professional partner, Alan Bersten, left the competition at the end of âViral Hits Nightâ after receiving one of the eveningâs lowest judgesâ scores.
The pair danced a salsa to Becky Gâs âBella Ciao.â Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli each awarded it a four, giving Giada and Alan 12 out of 30. It was a four-point drop from their premiere tango. Tonioli told Giada, âYou gave me salsa without spice,â while Hough said he wanted to see more commitment in her movements, according to TV Insiderâs account of the episode.
Giada called the score âdisappointingâ when co-host Julianne Hough asked for her reaction. âHopefully, people will vote for us, and Iâll get another shot,â she said, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. The opportunity did not come: she and Alan were eliminated once the judgesâ scores and viewer votes were combined.
Why Guillermo survived the same judgesâ score
Giada and Alan were left awaiting the result alongside Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess, and Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson. Guillermo and Witney had also scored 12 out of 30 for their paso doble, making the final announcement especially tense. Guillermo advanced; Giada did not. The show has not published each coupleâs vote total, so their tied judgesâ scores alone cannot explain the difference in outcome. TV Insider reported the final three and the elimination.
The vote was unusually large. Hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough said during the broadcast that more than 50 million votes had been cast with about half an hour remaining, according to TheWrap. By the end of the episode, the total had surpassed the record set by the Season 34 finale. That figure refers to votes cast, not necessarily 50 million individual viewers.
A difficult week in rehearsal
Before the salsa, a recorded rehearsal segment showed Giada and Alan becoming frustrated as they worked through the routine. Alan urged her to be patient while Giada pointed to the limited time they had to prepare. He later joked about whether they should try group therapy. The exchange provided context for a demanding week, although neither the show nor the couple said it caused their elimination. Entertainment Weekly described the rehearsal footage.
Giada had also said she danced in the premiere with a broken toe after Alanâs knee accidentally landed on her foot during an earlier rehearsal. She went on to perform their tango and earned 16 out of 30. There has been no confirmed statement linking that injury to Tuesdayâs salsa score or elimination. Read her account of the injury.
Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy, Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, and Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov shared the top judgesâ score on Viral Hits Night, each earning 21 out of 30. Thirteen couples remain after Giadaâs exit. New episodes air Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+, with streaming available afterward on Hulu.
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