HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'Dancing with the Stars': Nelly pays moving tribute to late sister Jackie, fans thank him for 'happy tears'

Nelly danced the rumba tonight with Daniella Karagach to his late sister Jackie's favorite song 'Nobody Knows It But Me' by Tony Rich

Monday night was a double-elimination episode on 'Dancing with the Stars' and the eight performers — Johnny Weir, AJ McLean, Justina Machado, Nev Schulman, Chrishell Stause, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Skai Jackson and Nelly — took to the dance floor not once but twice. Jeannie Mai was supposed to be a part of this episode as well but she had to make an emergency exit from the show after her throat infection had started spreading towards her head, neck and ears, causing immense discomfort. Watching her relay her ordeal from the hospital bed was difficult to watch and host Tyra Banks was reduced to tears. However, that was not the only tear-inducing moment of the evening.

Hip hop star Nelly had danced his first dance of the evening, the rumba, with his partner Daniella Karagach to the song 'Nobody Knows It But You' by Tony Rich. This was his late sister Jackie's favorite song and Nelly decided to pay a tribute to her through his performance. 

In a video shot during rehearsal that played before Nelly and Daniella took to the floor, the former spoke about Jackie who died in 2005 after losing her battle to cancer. She needed a bone marrow transplant and unable to do so, she succumbed to her illness. He said she was the captain of the Nelly ship. He spoke about her being worried about her children right before she died and how he ensured her that they'd be taken care of. He got emotional speaking about her, saying that he wished she'd have gotten a chance to meet her grandkids as she would've been a great grandmother. He summed it up saying she'd have chuckled watching him dance. 

Coming to the performance, Nelly did score his best scores in the competition yet last week. The judges have been supportive of his growth throughout his 'DWTS' journey and even though it does seem like he lacks confidence while dancing, he's shown tremendous improvement with the help of constructive criticism from the judges. This week too the judges mentioned that he was yet not there where they'd like to see him — they'd like to see more variety in the shaping. However, they all maintained that he danced from his heart and it was amazing to watch. All three judges scored him a 7/10 each for the performance. 

The audiences watching at home loved his emotional tribute to his sister and wished he was scored more for this dance. "Nelly has me in my feelings tonight. I don’t know what ya got going on @Nelly_Mo but my heart is breaking for you! Hang in there buddy! I voted all my votes for you!" wrote a fan. "@Nelly_Mo that was a beautiful tribute to your sister. I am so sorry you lost your sister, but she will be with you always inside your heart. Lovely dance, God bless you and Happy Birthday!" wrote another fan.

"My husband loved #DWTS. He would have loved the song you chose and the story behind your dance tonight @nelly @daniellakaragach. Thank you for bringing me happy tears of remembrance of my love. #TeamDaNelly" read a tweet. "Nelly is crying and now so am I," tweeted another fan. 

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