Dancing with the Stars Recap: Switch Up!

Their styles are very different as to how they teach.

Tom Bergeron was back after a week-long absence as host, former “Dancing With the Stars” bad boy Maks Chmerkovskiy served as a guest judge and Alfonso Ribeiro was nowhere in sight – making for a great night of “DWTS“. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba even gave them a standing ovation before their flawless score was announced. Derek Hough turned out to be just the cheerleader she needed, and the two performed a tango that hit it out of the park, earning a remarkable 40 points. There was no elimination this week, but next week someone goes home based on the combined scores (and votes) from this and last week.

It’s comparing apples and oranges, but I think Carlos’ quickstep was every bit the ideal routine that Alexa’s tango was. Inaba and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who was a guest judge were all praise for the couple.

While there were good performances, there was no denying that the week belonged to the PenaVega couple, who wowed with new partners Lindsay Arnold and Derek Hough.

Singer Andy Grammer stepped up his game, earning the fourth highest score of the night for his Argentine tango with Sharna Burgess (his Season 21 partner is Allison Holker), a routine that saw him spin the Aussie pro as her legs wrapped around his head. This week, she partnered with Val Chmerkosvkiy.

But not everyone wowed the judges. Grier received mixed reviews for his Viennese Waltz performance with Alison Holker.

Carrie Ann said Bindi took herself “to another level” with the 37-point scoring cha cha.

At the end, Paula Deen flashed up the rear to reveal the word “Shake”, which was blinged across her bottom.

Meanwhile, other contestants shone in their new pairings include Bindi Irwin, who continued her streak of unbelievable performances. I get it now, you know? During his practice video with Emma Slater, the global hero admitted he was “getting distracted” by his partner’s appearance. “I can’t keep my cool under those circumstances”. “Can we get a date?”

In her People blog, Alexa shared how easy she found working with Hough saying, “I feel like we could not have asked for a better switch up”.