Why Nick Carter Feared ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Elimination
Viewers of last week’s Dancing With the Stars might have noticed Nick Carter’s nervous look at the end of the program when it was announced he and Sharna Burgess would join Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough in the bottom two. For a moment, it seemed one couple would be eliminated, but host Tom Bergeron saved the celebrities for another week by saying no one would go home. Since Tamar Braxton had to withdraw for health reasons, everyone would proceed to the last week of competition.
But according to Glamour blogger Jessica Radloff, Nick had actually already been eliminated in dress rehearsal. Carlos PenaVega, who along with Witney Carson is also in the final four, told Radloff the producers always stage an elimination. Usually, whoever gets cut during rehearsal actually survives during the live show.
Carter himself told Radloff that stunned look on his face wasn’t about the rehearsal — it was because of the fact that no one went home at all. Producers had not tipped off the contestants to their plans to keep everyone in the game a little bit longer.
“It wasn’t that at all. My [shocked] face was because of the confusion that there wasn’t an elimination!”
Burgess revealed that sometimes the dress rehearsal gives the teams a bit of a heads-up about what to expect — in other words, a rehearsal elimination often means live show safety. But when the moment came during the Monday night broadcast, Burgess wasn’t even thinking about what had happened earlier in the day.
“In that moment, when we were called ‘in jeopardy’ tonight, I was not thinking of dress rehearsal! We literally looked at each other and went, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK. Whatever happens, this has been amazing.'”
Even if Carter falls short of the final three — viewers will find out on Monday night’s program, which will reduce the final four to the final three ahead of Tuesday night’s season finale — he’s had a remarkable run on Dancing With the Stars. His wife Lauren appeared on the program to discuss their struggle to have a child. The couple was surprised with the baby’s gender — a “Backstreet” boy — when show producers had Nick open a gift-wrapped box filled with blue balloons.
Since the competition is quickly coming to a close, teams are going to put their best moves forward during Monday night’s freestyle. Each couple is going to perform two dances, but judge Carrie Ann Inaba told USA Today that the freestyle is crucial to getting to the finals.
“That sort of makes or breaks anybody in this competition.”
As for Nick and Sharna, she singled out Carter’s tendency to intellectualize the dances. He’ll have to overcome his own self-doubt in order to give his best performance Monday night — and to avoid an actual elimination.
“If he stays out of his head, he’ll deliver a strong, solid, grounded performance.”
ABC revealed that each couple will get creative direction from one judge. Nick and Sharna will work with Julianne Hough, while Inaba will work with Bindi and Derek as well as Lindsay Arnold and Alek Skarlatos. Bruno Tonioli will work with Carlos and Witney.
Nick Carter has used his Dancing With the Stars appearances to jump start his new musical endeavors. He revealed on Instagram he’ll release a new album just days after the season concludes and will tour in 2016.
Dancing With the Stars airs at 8 p.m. Monday and 9 p.m. Tuesday on ABC.
[Main photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images Entertainment]
