Dancing With the Stars threw Jenna Dewan a curveball this week, and she turned it into her best moment of the season. Val Chmerkovskiy sat out Tuesday’s Dedication Night, serving a one-week suspension after a since-deleted TikTok joke referencing Will Smith’s Oscars slap. The joke followed a harsh critique from judge Carrie Ann Inaba aimed at his wife, fellow pro Jenna Johnson, which made the whole situation twice as awkward.
With her partner benched, Dewan rehearsed with fill-in pro Alan Bersten for only two and a half days before performing a Viennese waltz to“Unchained Melody”dedicated to her mother. The result: a 37 out of 40 and her first 10 of the season.“The show must go on,”Dewan said, and she delivered on that in a big way. Chmerkovskiy watched from home, publicly thanked Bersten, and rejoins rehearsals Wednesday.
Next week raises the stakes again with Horror Movie Night and a double elimination, meaning two couples go home in one night. After the week this cast just survived, the leaderboard pressure is about to get very real. Do you think Dewan’s first 10 was a turning point or just a lucky night?
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Local Lawton
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