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'Dancing With The Stars': Is Nelly using the shirtless card to pull in votes? Fans say this ploy is working

Nelly did the Paso Doble on Monday night's double-elimination episode, shirtless, in all his muscular glory. However, some think this is his strategy to breeze through the competition

The semifinal episode of 'Dancing With The Stars' had the participants bringing in their A-game. Justina Machado, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Johnny Weir, Skai Jackson, Nev Schulman, and Nelly are the only contestants remaining in the competition and each of them strived to bring their best to the dance floor in order to secure their positions in the finale episode that is scheduled to air live next week. Audiences of the show might know, out of the remaining contestants, Nelly is the one who's yet to deliver a full-rounded performance, a routine that is good enough for the judges as well as the fans watching from home. The hip-hop star is high on charm, and it did work for the audiences in the initial weeks. However, as contestants began to get eliminated one after another, fans began to question Nelly's presence in the show and they took to Twitter to make their thoughts known. 

"I love Nelly but if he does not wow tonight and shocks me with some great technique I'm gonna have to withdraw my votes and give them to someone else. I feel like the finals should only contain true contenders who consistently improve #DWTS" wrote a fan before Nelly took to stage for his first performance on Monday's episode. "If Nelly isn't voted off tonight then #DWTS is officially rigged," wrote another.

Nelly did the Paso Doble along with his pro-dancer partner Daniella Karagach. Bruno Tonioli was present at the rehearsals to help him redeem himself with this style of ballroom dancing, the one that he failed at, earlier in the competition. Bruno asked him to ease out his shoulders, and give up the stiff "Megatron" look completely. 

Nelly took all that advice and incorporated it into his routine. His body was a little less stiff than the previous dances on the 'DWTS' floor, however, Nelly's facial expressions were not doing him any favors. All the stress of keeping his shoulders easy and soft showed up on his face and it was quite distracting. However, the judges did see his efforts and awarded him 26 points, five more from the first time he did the paso on the stage. His shirtless appearance on the show too worked well with the audiences who feel he uses it as a ploy to pull in votes and make it through the performance, and that it's working for him at this point. 

"I mean sure it’s such a ploy, but Nelly is pulling the shirtless card to get votes. I’m falling for it, whatever can get him there I guess," wrote a fan. "Whew Nelly dancing with his shirt off this show is a thirst trap," wrote another. "I'm convinced that nelly could just stand there with his shirt off and get 10s from Carrie and Bruno," read another tweet. "Nelly knows how to get CAI & Bruno's votes by having his shirt off," read another tweet.

'Dancing with the Stars' airs Mondays at 8 pm ET on ABC.