‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 pro pulls out of Disney Night performance
‘Dancing With the Stars’ pro Adele Zaikman withdrew from Monday’s Disney Night opener due to illness. Zaikman posted an update on her Instagram story on November 1, a day before the show aired, stating that she was unwell and would focus on taking care of herself. She also sent a message to everyone in the ballroom: “I’ll be cheering you on from home.”
Zaikman joined the ballroom as a new professional this season after winning ‘Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro’ on August 31. She choreographed and danced two dances with former ‘Dancing With the Stars’ contestant Nev Schulman during the finale of the spin-off. However, during the Season 35 premiere on September 15, she and her celebrity partner Conner Leavitt (‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’) were the first couple to be eliminated. They received 12 out of 30 from the judges. This came just two weeks after she won ‘The Next Pro.’ Notably, eliminated pros stay busy after they leave the competition. They dance during the weekly opener and also feature as part of the troupe during other performances. Zaikman was therefore scheduled to be part of the Disney Night opener alongside the other professionals.
This year’s Disney Night had a Broadway theme, with the eight remaining couples performing routines inspired by Disney stories and their stage adaptations. The panel included guest judge Cynthia Erivo, who played the Blue Fairy in Disney’s 2022 live-action version of ‘Pinocchio,’ as well as regular judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. Team Wildcats, consisting of Connor Wood, Ezra Frech, Jenna Dewan, and Harry Shum Jr., along with their professionals, received a perfect score of 40/40 during the group dance and won against Team Slaytopia. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough danced during the team numbers.
Shum and his pro partner Jenna Johnson received a perfect score of 40/40 for their jazz dance to ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.’ Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy also scored 40/40 during their quickstep to ‘Be Our Guest.’ Ezra Frech and his partner Daniella Karagach received a score of 37/40 for their samba to ‘Under the Sea.’ Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov received a score of 34/40 for their quickstep to ‘A Star Is Born’ from 'Hercules.' Heather Headley performed ‘Easy as Life’ live during Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik’s contemporary routine. Julia Stiles (‘Save the Last Dance’) and Ezra Sosa were eliminated after receiving a score of 33/40 for their paso doble to ‘Satisfied from Hamilton.’ Seven couples remain in the competition as they vie for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy ahead of the Season 35 finale on November 24.
