‘Dancing With the Stars’ Just Sent Home a Fan-Favorite Couple

Another couple has left the ballroom and lost out on their chance to win the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. As Dancing With the Stars celebrated its 500th episode Tuesday night, the celebrations didn’t postpone a weekly elimination, with NBA champion Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach being sent home.

Tuesday night’s episode marked a big one for the long-running ABC dance competition, and the milestone 500th episode was celebrated accordingly. In addition to bringing back some familiar faces, the six remaining dancing pairs performed routines that paid tribute to past memorable dances. For their Argentine Tango, Howard and Karagach performed a routine inspired by James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess’ Season 23 performance to “Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)” by Gotan Project. To manage their notable height difference, Karagach even brought in a platform.

“Daniella, she was working! I tell ya, that was so clever the way you tackled the height difference,” judge Derek Hough praised the ingenuity and performance. “Dwight, that takes a lot of strength, a lot of trust in your partner. That was captivating.”

The pair earned 26 out of a possible 30 points for the routine, which was the lowest of the six performances. Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong’s Argentine Tango, inspired by Kellie Pickler and Hough’s performance in Season 16, to “Para Te” by Appart, earned them the highest score of the night with a perfect 30.

Following the initial round of performances, and just prior to the elimination, contestants then competed in DWTS’ first-ever Instant Dance round, in which they were assigned a song and style and given just five minutes to prepare before they took the stage. Howard and Karagach, however, suffered a list of slip-ups during their Paso Doble Instant Dance to the song “Victorious.” Although Hough offered some praise, telling the pair, “That was impressive because again, I can’t believe you guys are doing this. Insane,” he did note that “there were some timing issues there.”

The Instant Dance performance earned Howard and Karagach not just the lowest score of the night, but also the lowest score of their season with just 22 points. Kinney and Armstrong, meanwhile, once again scored perfect 10s across the board.

The six pairs ended the night with two scores and a possible 60 points: Howard and Karagach 48 (26, 22); Kinney and Armstrong: 60 (30, 30); Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson: 55 (28, 27); Danny Amendola and Witney Carson: 51 (27, 24); Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold: 54 (29, 25); and Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten: 52 (28, 24).

With their two low scores, Howard and Karagach were ultimately eliminated. Heading into the finals, only five couples remain. The semi-finals kick off next week, with the Dancing With the Stars Season 33 finale scheduled for Nov. 26.