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‘Dancing With the Stars’ Recap: Nyle DiMarco Claims His Only Competition Is Val Chmerkovskiy, One Star Chides Partner for ‘Stab in the Back’

Bring on the icons! After last week’s Switch Up, the celebrities returned to their usual pro partners for Dancing With the Stars‘ Iconic Dances night on Monday, April 25. Additionally, it was judge Len Goodman‘s birthday, but aside from a brief mention of his mood possibly crashing after a sugar high from cake, there didn’t seem to be much fuss about it.

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For her part, Erin Andrews was weirdly obsessed with forcing everyone to reenact the quirkiest moves from their dances, which looked extra awkward without the music to back them up. When Doug Flutie refused her request, Erin called him “annoying.” It turned out that was the least of his woes, however.

Doug Flutie Is Eliminated

You can’t say the guy didn’t give it his all, but as the weeks ticked by, the gap between Doug and the rest of the celebrities only seemed to widen, no matter how hard he worked. This week, he and Karina Smirnoff performed a Bollywood dance to “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire — and while the judges praised the former NFL star, they still only gave him a 21 out of 30, placing him (once again) at the bottom of the board.

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To be honest, neither Doug nor Karina (nor anyone else) looked remotely surprised by the news. He called it “an amazing experience” and gushed about how “the whole group” was like one big, happy family. Karina said she was “proud” of their “amazing season” and grateful for the “opportunity to make a great friend.” He’s not the best dancer, but he’s definitely a great sport.

Others Who Struggled

Three other celebs beat out Doug by only three points, though: Kim Fields, Von Miller and Ginger Zee. Kim and her partner, Sasha Farber, danced the jive to the finale from the movie Hairspray, “You Cant Stop the Beat.” Her video package revealed that after suffering an injury, the Facts of Life alum ignored doctors’ orders and continued to rehearse, but she was still somewhat overwhelmed by the speed of the dance and ended up with a 24.

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Von was visibly nervous when he found out he and Witney Carson would be performing a jazz routine to Michael Jackson‘s “Bad.” Using fancy sets and backup dancers, they did a pretty solid job of recreating the iconic music video. Judge Bruno Tonioli called their dance “badass,” while Carrie Ann Inaba said Miller “embodied” the King of Pop 100 percent. Still, their scores were less than stellar.

Rounding out the 24-pack were Ginger and Val Chmerkovskiy with their rendition of Janet Jackson‘s “Nasty.” In her video package, the normally bubbly Good Morning America meteorologist admitted that the taxing schedule of working, competing, tending to a newborn and flying across the country each week was starting to take its toll, but it seemed her problem with this jazz routine wasn’t her energy level, but her innate good-girl self. All the judges agreed they wanted to see more attitude, and Carrie Ann said Ginger “almost owned it” (but almost owning something and owning something are two very different things). Then, just like that, Ginger — who has frequently been near the top of the leaderboard — found herself one rung from the bottom.

Nyle Gets Cocky

The usually charming Nyle DiMarco came across as a bit arrogant this week as he declared that his biggest competition was actually Val because he didn’t think there was much competition among the regular celebs. Hmm. The model and Peta Murgatroyd danced the quickstep to “Hey Pachuco!” from The Mask, with Nyle decked out as Jim Carrey in a yellow suit and green mask.

Bruno loved the “explosive, kooky energy,” but Carrie Ann commented that his frame was “a little broken.” However, it was Len who really put the star in his place. First conceding that the “performance was terrific,” Len moved on to his real message: “You’re a good dancer, but don’t start saying you’re as good as Val because you’ll just annoy people” (like Len).

Paige VanZant Channels Her Inner 1960s Sex Kitten

Things did not start out well for Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas this week. After Mark had nearly completed choreographing their routine, they learned that their song hadn’t cleared the legal department, and they would be dancing a different type of dance to a different song. In other words, they had to start over midway through. Mark was not happy, but rose to the occasion, creating a spunky jazz routine to “Soul Bossa Nova” from Austin Powers.

Paige also rose to the occasion, flashing her insane legs as she bopped around in perfect form. When Mark practically begged her to think of something she could do to add a special oomph to the performance, the fighter threw in a cheerleading-style basket toss at the end. “There is nothing about that dance that I didn’t like,” Len said before rewarding the duo with a perfect 10.

NYLE DIMARCO, PETA MURGATROYD
Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd

Wanya Morris Says Hello to the Top of the Leaderboard

Wanya Morris and Lindsay Arnold performed a jazz routine to ‘NSync’s “Bye Bye Bye,” which was pretty perfect considering he is besties with Joey Fatone. Simply put, Wanya crushed it.

Carrie Ann said he was on fire, and Bruno called the routine “as polished as Kim Kardashian‘s face” (it wasn’t exactly clear what he meant, but it was clear that it was a compliment). They both rewarded him with 10s. (Len issued a 9.) Joey Fatone and Lance Bass were on hand backstage to give their stamp of approval and managed to prevent Erin from harassing Wanya to reenact any of the routine.

That left Antonio Brown and Sharna Burgess, as well as Jodie Sweetin and Keo Motsepe, to fill in the middle of the pack. After Antonio scolded Sharna for her “stab in the back” last week when she said he wasn’t going to win, the pair actually did really well with their jive to “Footloose,” but it wasn’t enough to push into the top few spots. Meanwhile, Jodie and Keo performed a contemporary routine to “Try” by Pink that tied them with Nyle and Peta. The reality was that both of these couples did pretty well tonight, but there were others who did better.

Tell Us: Do you think Nyle is getting too cocky?

Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.

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