'Dancing With the Stars' week 3 recap: Guilty as charged
SPOILER ALERT: This recap of Week 3 of Dancing with the Stars contains spoilers.
Life’s simple pleasures are the best. But guilty pleasures are even better, especially when they’re celebrated in a blinged-out ballroom with spray-tanned celebs. Welcome to Dancing with the Stars’ Guilty Pleasures Night, where you’ll find a Malcolm in the Middle star ‘fessing up to his obsession with boy bands and a WWE superstar going gaga for romance novels.
But first, as the country continued to grieve over the senseless mass shooting in Las Vegas, Tom Bergeron served as a calming force as he dedicated this week’s show to everyone touched by the tragedy. After last week’s double header, Week 3 was also a non-elimination episode, and it came at a really good time. Because on a day like this, getting sent home from a celebrity ballroom comp is small potatoes. Really, really small.
Here’s how the stars scored this week.
Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas: 27/30
Guilty pleasure: Staying in pajamas all day. It was a pajama party for Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas as they jived to Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” It was hard to tell the violinist is going through a breakup as she delivered what Len Goodman declared was “the best dance of the season.” Bruno Tonioli called the routine brilliant and Carrie Ann Inaba promptly added it to her list of favorite DWTS numbers of all time. No wonder this dance received the highest score of Season 25 so far.
Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold: 25/30
Guilty pleasure: Superhero comic books. Bam! Wap! What was that? Carrie Ann’s been in the dance business her whole life and even she can’t wrap her head around this Charleston. Bruno called this dance a “visual feast,” but Len apparently blinked and didn’t see any Charleston in it.
Vanessa Lachey and Alan Bersten: 23/30
Guilty Pleasure: Being silly with girlfriends. Maks Chmerkovskiy was out, so Alan Bersten and his man bun filled in to dance a “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” jazz with Vanessa Lachey. Turns out boys had fun, too— at least Len did. The not-at-all grumpy judge praised the dance and went so far to say it was hard to tell Vanessa from the pro dancer troupe members in the opening sequence.
Drew Scott and Emma Slater: 23/30
Guilty Pleasure: True crime shows. Drew Scott star loves solving unsolvable crimes, but there was no mystery to his C.S.I.-style Argentine tango with Emma. Len told The Property Brothers star that he maintained last week’s best dance standard, while Carrie Ann praised him for growing each week.
Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy: 22/30
Guilty Pleasure: The song “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba. For her dance, Victoria Arlen went back to high school where she was bullied for being the new girl who also happened to be in a wheelchair. But this time around, she danced the quickest quickstep ever. The Paralympian swimmer said her legs haven’t moved that fast in 12 years. “I think you’re totally on a path to a 10,” Carrie Ann said as she gave her an 8. Bruno and Len dinged her a point because her speed caused her to lose body contact and frame. But Tim Bergeron delivered the best line of the night to bullies across America. “If you’re watching and you go to school and you see someone who’s different, don’t be an ass,” he said.
Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson: 21/30
Guilty pleasure: Boy bands. Who knew Frankie Muniz always wanted to be in a boy band? The actor donned double denim as he set out to fulfill a lifelong fantasy, and his *NSYNC didn’t totally stink. Carrie Ann noted that while he was “great” at the boy band stuff, his samba suffered.
Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev: 21/30
Guilty pleasure: Romance novels. Move over Fabio, it’s Artem, the Russian Seaman. OK, scrap that! Nikki’s more 50 Shades than brave hero/damsel in distress. Her steamy Viennese waltz with Artem was enough for her fiancé John Cena to finally show up and offer up a critique, “I thought it was spicy, I thought it was exciting, I thought it was sexy, I thought it was fearless. I thought it was every reason why I love you,” he told Nikki. After a review like that, who cares what the judges think?
Derek Fisher and Sharna Burgess: 21/30
Guilty Pleasure: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns. The last time a couple channeled Will Smith’s ‘90s sitcom on this show, they won a mirrorball trophy. Derek Fisher didn’t do The Carlton like Alfonso Ribeiro did back in Season 19, but he did deliver a mean cha cha to the Fresh-Prince theme song, complete with a backward cap and booty shakes. Bruno said Derek was inspired by Smith’s star power while Len said he could tell the NBA star was into the music. “Will Smith would proud of you — and so am I,” he said.
Nick Lachey and Peta Murgatroyd: 21/30
Guilty pleasure: Romantic comedies. Nick Lachey and Peta Murgatroyd jazz-ercized their way through Week 3. Carrie Ann loved Nick’s sequined unitard and pointed out that he was finally having fun. But Len went Sesame Street on us — and today’s letter was C. “I loved the concept, the commitment, and the confidence,” he said.
Terrell Owens and Cheryl Burke: 21/30
Guilty pleasure: Break dancing. Fittingly, the judges finally gave this guy a break. T.O. went full-on Kurtis Blow for his salsa, and even Len said he was in the red zone. “It was so good!” Carrie Ann said. “You finally brought it!”
Sasha Pieterse and Gleb Savchenko: 19/30
Guilty pleasure: Baking. Sasha and Gleb thought they had all the ingredients for their jazz, but something was missing. Carrie Ann praised the dance as clean and well-rehearsed, but even a pie-in-face ending didn’t help their score.
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Watch clips and full episodes of DWTS for free on Yahoo View.
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