Why Sean Spicer had to go from 'Dancing With the Stars' before the reality show got ugly
There have been no calls for voting recounts, no allegations of Russian meddling, no discussion of a Deep State of ballroom dancing.
So it might be safe to say that Sean Spicer was eliminated for good from "Dancing With the Stars" Monday, a week before the semi-finals in ABC's dance competition.
Lordy, it was time.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the Sean Spicer dance experiment despite the outcry, including from host Tom Bergeron, over injecting politics into a show entirely dominated by sequins and proper holds.
Spicer was everything you could hope for in a lightning-rod contestant, embracing the ridiculousness of it all with his first neon-green ruffled dance shirt. That was "DWTS" heaven. His ability to not take himself seriously was a huge, unexpected draw.
What happened Monday on 'DWTS': Sean Spicer was eliminated
Whatever you might think of Spicer's previous job as White House press secretary and its polarizing politics, you had to admire his guts and desire to succeed on a competition show in which he showed zero aptitude. This was Rudy Ruettiger with a spray tan, a guy who used to sit at the bar drinking and watch everyone else dance at weddings.
How he lasted: 'Dancing with the Stars': Why Sean Spicer survives despite the lowest judge scores
Suddenly, he's doing a paso doble in front of millions of viewers, a live audience and three critical judges.
It boggles the mind that he was out there hoofing every week with a perma-fixed smile on his face. He worked hard, put in the time and tried to make up for the lack of talent. Spicer was at the bottom of the judges' board each week. He didn't care.
He was affable and popular with the other celebrities, becoming friendly with Karamo Brown of "Queer Eye." Inspiring. He did the press line with politeness and gave some sort of answer to any kind of query (his most inspiring footwork was seamless pivots from even remotely tough questions).
But in the past week, it was starting to get ugly.
Spicer, buoyed by fan votes – many seemingly politically motivated – had continued without even reaching the bottom two (which would have left his fate in the hands of the judges). With folks following closely on both sides of the spectrum, the show was being pulled into the country's political hate vortex.
“If the Democrats can't get Sean Spicer off ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ how are they going to win 2020?" Trump told "Extra," summing up the sad state of the ballroom show's direction. "They got a lot of outrage that they can't get him off of this show. So it's pretty funny to watch."
The judges made little effort to hide their exasperation with Spicer's stubborn persistence. Judge Bruno Tonioli told me last week that watching Spicer survive at the expense of others more talented dancers "was like banging your head against the desk."
The death knell was Spicer's Argentine tango Monday night, which this layman observer thought was verging on not-bad. The judges were over it and joylessly harsh. Amazingly, Spicer only grew combative.
"Don’t cry for Sean, Argentina," said Tonioli, adding it was "more an Argentine straggle." This brought an exasperated "Oh, come on," from Spicer, who had smiled through every critique before this.
"The best thing about it, it wasn’t very long," said judge Len Goodman, which elicited a broad Spicer eye-roll. Goodman eventually just gave up his rant. "Nah, I can't even comment."
It was time to go before this whole situation devolved to a place nobody could want in a fun show.
When Spicer found himself in the bottom two Monday, it had all the suspense of a election with President Putin on the ballot. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba and Tonioli politely bade him adieu.
Spicer took the news with class, and spoke highly of his experience to anyone who asked afterwards.
In terms of his departure performance and timing, he earned his first 10 of the season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Dancing With the Stars': Why it was time for Sean Spicer's elimination
