'DWTS' fans stunned as A-lister’s wife sent home despite impressive Disney Night performance
Following last week's TikTok Night, 'Dancing With the Stars' season 34 is leaving no stone unturned to make the show grander than ever. With Lauren Jauregui's surprising elimination last week, it's clear that the stakes are getting higher than ever. While Whitney Leavitt and her pro partner Mark Ballas emerged as the highest scorers of the latest episode, at the end, the wife of an A-lister had to bid farewell to the dance floor, and honestly, it came out of left field.
Towards the end of the episode, host Alfonso Ribeiro revealed that the show had exceeded 40 million votes before announcing the bottom three contestants, Andy Richter, Hilaria Baldwin, and Danelle Fishel, as per Deadline. In a surprising twist, Baldwin was eliminated. Despite the shock, Alec Baldwin's wife remained composed and grateful, saying, "This has been an incredible experience. I'm so grateful to all of you. And I'm grateful to my children and my family! Thank you guys for this. I'm cheering on everybody in the cast because this has been an amazing time."
Notably, Baldwin lit up the dance floor with a fun and energetic quickstep to the iconic 'Star Wars' Cantina Song, performed with her pro partner Savchenko. Judge Derek Hough offered a bit of constructive criticism, suggesting that her routine "needed more quickstep" and could have leaned further into the technical precision of the style. However, the other judges, and much of the audience, disagreed, clearly won over by her performance. Bruno Tonioli, in particular, was thoroughly impressed, praising both her dance and her Carrie Fisher–inspired Princess Leia costume.
He said, "Princess Leia, the Force is still with you," he declared enthusiastically, while adding, "Whatever you did, it worked. I actually watched very, very closely what you did tonight, really analyzing. I was looking for something wrong. I didn't see it." Baldwin and Savchenko's performance ultimately earned a score of 23 out of 30, marking a strong showing and a sign that Baldwin is becoming more confident, but unfortunately, her journey was cut short.
After Baldwin's elimination, the 'Dancing with the Stars' lineup includes Jen Affleck and Leavitt from 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' Olympian Jordan Chiles, social media star Alix Earle, and 'The Traitors' Season 3 winner Dylan Efron, as per The Hollywood Reporter. In addition, actresses Fishel and Elaine Hendrix, Pentatonix's Scott Hoying, conservationist Robert Irwin, and comedian Richter are also in the race to win the prestigious Mirrorball trophy.
