Night of tributes to Britney Spears sees second contestant eliminated from 'Dancing with the Stars'
LOS ANGELES -- It was a "Toxic," "Crazy," and "Outrageous" night for round three of "Dancing with the Stars." All 14 couples performed to the music of Britney Spears.
Thirteen of the duos returned to the ballroom, but Cody Rigsby and Cheryl Burke each performed their jazz routine remotely and solo in the spotlight.
Both Cody and Cheryl tested positive for COVID so they have been safely in quarantine, utilizing all that technology has to offer in order to stay in the competition. They received the lowest judges score of the night, but the fans voted them through for another week.
Judge Derek Hough sat out Monday night's live performance due to a possible COVID exposure.
Amanda Kloots, JoJo Siwa and Olivia Jade all tied for the top spot on the judge's scoreboard with 24 out of 30 points.
In the end, it was reality star Christine Chiu who was eliminated in week three. And she leaves with no regrets.
"It's been a 15-year dream, and I was able to dance three times on the ballroom floor of my dreams. I think I'm winning. I'm absolutely winning," said Chiu. "And I'm stronger today than yesterday. I will be stronger tomorrow than today. It's just been such a great experience."
The cast and crew had to experience something brand new in this 30th season: one couple quarantined due to COVID. Cheryl Burke had to teach her partner Cody Rigsby a jazz routine via Zoom. And then they performed for the judges, not in person, but remotely from their individual homes.
"We put in a lot of hard work this week not only battling COVID, we were sound techs, lighting techs, had to build the set," said Rigsby. "And then once it came to the performance, we gave it our best Britney VMA energy!"
Fellow pro dancers were impressed.
"I'm rooting for them," said Val Chmerkovskiy. "I'm glad he has a chance to get back to the ballroom. I thought they did a great job within the circumstances."
"I think it gives us all hope that in case we end up getting it as well that we will have a shot to remain in the competition," said Jenna Johnson.
There's a double dose of Disney on "Dancing with the Stars" next week. Monday night we'll see Disney heroes and on Tuesday it's Disney villains.
