Dancing with the Stars took a spooky turn for week six, as the ballroom enjoyed a Halloween theme — and some unexpected shocks.
Mauricio Umansky and partner Emma Slater were clearly surprised to be going home, while Xochitl Gomez left fans in suspense when it appeared she had injured herself during the performance; she later revealed she had hit her knee on the altar towards the end of hecr routine.
There was one major treat this week, however, and one that HELLO! columnist Cheryl Burke couldn't get enough of: guest judge Niecy Nash-Betts…
© Eric McCandlessNiecy Nash-Betts on Dancing with the Stars
Niecy Nash-Betts did a spectacular job. She knows what it feels like as a former celebrity contestant, and she was actually pretty spot on with her comments and wasn't just commenting to comment. She gave some useful advice and was pretty accurate with her scoring as well.
Mauricio Umansky's exit
© Eric McCandlessWhat hurts my heart the most was how shocked and sad Mairicio and Emma both were.
They've obviously developed a great bond and friendship but the competition is tough this season and with the travelling that they did this week though, visiting New York, and the attention with what was happening in his personal life, it isn't easy.
He looked tired tonight – and at this point, it really is all about the details.
Why Xochitl Gomez needs to be more vulnerable
At this point it's survival of the fittest. You can tell people are starting to break down physically, and Xochitl was professional to not focus on the injury but this is a reality show – it would have been nice to actually hear how she really feels.
© Eric McCandlessThis is part of the process and we want to be part of her journey and it's ok to struggle. There's nothing wrong with struggle.
I really hope that she is ok physically but I would love to have her be more vulnerable. Vulnerability is strength; it's courage, it's not weakness. We know how physically demanding it is.
What Alyson Hannigan does next…
Alyson definitely stepped it up this week, and her eight from Bruno Tonioli was well deserved. I thought also Sasha Farber choreographed a phenomenal Pasa Dobles but to really step it up, I think she needs to work on the in-betweens, the transition steps so it's not just about the execution of the step that is being taught to her but it's about how you come out of that step and go into the next step.
You also don't want to just get through the routine, you want to live in the routine; Are you just learning the mechanics or are you really learning the dance itself?
Harry Jowsey: Step away from social media
Rylee and Harry were great, and I thought that with what he was given, it was the best dance he's done.
© Eric McCandlessHis movement was a lot better and I think, in a way, being hidden with the makeup – and I want to give a beautiful shout out to the makeup department for doing an amazing job – helped Harry because whenever I see him dance, there's a moment of defeat and I think it's because he's reading comments on Instagram, and listening to the haters instead of just looking at the facts: You've never been in the bottom and so obviously, people are behind you.
I highly suggest that you either turn off the comments or put your accounts on hold, and stay present and focus on why you're here.
What is a 'true' Argentine Tango?
You can really see the difference between the Argentine Tango that Pasha Pashkov choreographed versus Rylee.
Rylee's was almost a ballroom Tango with an inspiration from Argentine, but that's not the challenge. The challenge is to do an Argentine Tango dance, which is why when this dance was added onto the show many years ago, I decided to go to Argentina and take part in an Argentine tango group called Forever Tango because I didn't want to fake it anymore.
Pasha was not faking it. Pasha was doing authentic Argentine Tango and if you see the difference, there were less steps for the man than the woman, and they portrayed a story. Pasha loves body weight; when a man tells you, 'Give me body weight,' don't be scared to give them body weight, you're in good hands.
A lot of the pros could look at him when it comes to week six; he has been lacking content in his choreography and I wasn't very happy with it, but he just blew my mind this week. The dance was phenomenal, I got chills up and down my spine. He is truly making the ballroom community proud.
No more Converse please
© Eric McCandlessCharity's Converse sneakers affected her dance tremendously. The challenge with Jive is you need to have the tick, and in order for you to have the tick and the bounce that you need, it needs to come from your legs, feet and ankles.
Artem Chigvintsev can be a drill sergeant all he wants, but with Converse on it's almost impossible to execute the technique of Jive. She looked like she looked flat footed the whole dance.
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