Triple Elimination! Dancing with the Stars: Athletes Says Goodbye to 3 Contestants in Semifinals
Dancing with the Stars has eliminated three more of its all-athlete contestants.
The reality dance competition sent home half of the six contestants who competed Monday in the semifinals episode.
After first performing individual dances with their pro partners, the six remaining competitors danced side-by-side against one fellow competitor in a ballroom battle: Jennie Finch Daigle vs. Tonya Harding, Mirai Nagasu vs. Adam Rippon, and Josh Norman vs. Chris Mazdzer.
For the live ballroom battle, three professional athletes and DWTS alum joined the competition as mentors for the third week of the competition — Nastia Luikin mentored Finch Daigle and Harding, Meryl Davis mentored Nagasu and Rippon, and Von Miller mentored Mazdzer and Norman — to help one contestant and their pro partner win bonus points from judges.
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Following a head-to-head battle for guest judge and DWTS veteran David Ross and judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli, Harding and Sasha Farber, Rippon and Jenna Johnson, and Norman and Sharna Burgess each won the additional points in the ballroom battle.
At the end of the two-hour live episode, co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews revealed the three competitors who will be competing in the championship — and the three contestants who were eliminated just one week shy of the finale.
“Chris and Witney [Carson], Jennie and Keo [Motsepe], Mirai and Alan [Bersten], you are going home tonight,” Andrews said after it was announced that Rippon, Harding and Norman will be dancing on next Monday’s final episode.
Next week, the three finalists will be dancing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy. Ahead of the DWTS: Athletes premiere, PEOPLE revealed photos of the revamped set — including a new screen on the main stage that can split open and a jumbotron — as well as the new special edition version of the Mirrorball Trophy, which reads “Athletes.”
The Dancing with the Stars: Athletes finale airs Monday, May 21 at 8 p.m ET on ABC.
