‘Dancing With the Stars’ Icons Night Ends in Heartbreaking Elimination

Dancing With the Stars celebrated icons on Monday night’s episode of the show. But, one of the program’s iconic celebrities got the boot at the end of the episode. In the end, Johnny Weir and AJ McLean found themselves in the bottom two. Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli then shared who they wanted to save, which ultimately led to McLean and his partner, Cheryl Burke, being eliminated.

The previous episode of DWTS, which aired on Nov. 2, was originally a double-elimination episode. But, after The Real co-host Jeannie Mai was forced to drop out of the competition after she was diagnosed with epiglottitis, the show simply said goodbye to one other couple. After finding themselves in the bottom two, Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause and her partner, Gleb Savchenko, got the boot. On Instagram, Mai spoke out about ending her DWTS journey and shared even more about her frightening medical diagnosis.

“What simply started as a sore throat had unbeknownst to me become a dangerous infection that already closed at least 60% of my airway and resulted in a throat abscess that spread in a matter of 3 days,” she wrote on Instagram. “Although I am grateful to be recovering safely, I can’t lie … I am devastated by the fact that my journey with #DWTS will end this way. Dancing on this show has been the most exhilarating adventure. I’ve gained both beautiful friendships and loving supporters.” Mai also issued her gratitude to her partner, Brandon Armstrong, for supporting her throughout her time on the ABC competition. She added, “To my partner, [Brandon Armstrong], I’m sorry you don’t get to make fun of my moves anymore while I gift you life gems on how to be a grown up Love u so much lil bro, and will ALWAYS cherish the memories we made!!!”

Of course, Stause, who was the most recent contestant eliminated on the show, had a lot to say after her time on DWTS ended. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Netflix personality said she was “grateful” to have had the experience. She also said that despite knowing that it was a possibility that she could go home, her elimination still came as a bit of a shock. Stause said, “We knew this was gonna happen at one point. At this point I just feel like everyone is so great. Everyone is giving 100 percent. And so it really did feel like anyone could go, and it would be shocking whoever went home.”