Spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of Dancing with the Stars.
I'm a reality TV buff, but I'm currently watching Dancing with the Stars for the first time. I've been sat every Tuesday for new episodes on ABC (and streaming with a Disney+ subscription), and while I've complained about the hosts here and there I've loved watching the competition series. As a newbie I wasn't sure just how much the fan votes mattered, but after last night's surprise elimination, I see the power viewers truly have over DWTS.
Last night was Grammys night, which featured some killer dances, celebrity musical performances, and dance-offs. Arguably the most anxiety-inducing of the dance-offs came when Jenna & Val and Tatyana & Jan did cha-chas to Maren Morris' "The Middle." These two couples were the last two left when pairs started being promoted to the semi-finals, and I was shook when the Fresh Prince star was kept, while Jenna was eliminated. Considering the latter's scores (including their victory in the dance-offs), it's clear that she was essentially voted off by the American voting public.
There have been a number of controversies surrounding Jenna Dewan's time on Dancing with the Stars. In addition to Val's suspension a few weeks ago, I've seen plenty of discourse about the Rookie star, who is a professional dancer, having a huge advantage when competing against the other contestants who are just learning. It seems like the combination of those two resulted in them not getting enough votes to advance to the semi-finals.
Dewan and Val seemed to move on from their drama, but I think it might have negatively influenced the viewing public's feelings about the pair. Add in the wild advantage she seemingly had thanks to being a dancer, and it was curtains. Meanwhile, Tatyana has been arguably the most improved of the contestants still left in the competition, and fans can't get enough of her chemistry with Jan.
Jenna's dance to Janet Jackson's "All For You" was pretty incredible, and the pop star even sent in a message of love for her former backup dancer. While I loved this cameo from Janet, my fiancé actually saw this as a death knell for Dewan and Val. He claimed that voters weren't going to appreciate another reminder of Jenna's professional dance experience, and from the results it would seem that he was right.
Jenna and Val were in second place with scores, but Julianne Hough is right: no couple can be saved for another week without the fan votes. I wasn't sure how legit that was at first, but I see clearly just how important it is to win over America with both your packages and performances.
Dancing with the Stars airs new episodes Tuesdays on ABC as part of the 2026 TV schedule. The season will be over before we know it, and I'm personally not going to forget to cast my votes for my faves like Tatyana and Ezra.
