‘Dancing With the Stars’ Kicks off Two Beloved Actors

Dancing With the Stars Season 33 has lost two beloved competitors after an emotional Hair Metal Night double elimination on Tuesday, Oct. 8. 

After back-to-back performances this week on Soul Train Night and Hair Metal Night, Reginald VelJohnson and pro partner Emma Slater and Eric Roberts and partner Britt Stewart were sent packing in a double elimination that took both nights’ scores into consideration.

Tuesday, the Die Hard star and Slater earned a 21/40 for their Cha Cha to “I Wanna Rock” by Twisted Sister, with VelJohnson admitting he didn’t “feel too good” and was pushing through pain in his legs. “I can’t dance as good as the youngsters can in the show. I had my knee replaced about a year ago so doing all those steps is kind of hard,” he said during Tuesday’s show.

Roberts was also struggling with his confidence going into his Paso Doble to “Cherry Pie” by Warrant, which earned him and Stewart a 22/40 from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Derek Hough and guest panelist Gene Simmons. 

After their elimination, VelJohnson told the audience that he especially valued his partnership with Slater throughout his DWTS journey. “This has been a very special, best occasion, and she’s been very special to me,” he said. Roberts added of his experience on the dance competition, “I have never had a better working experience in my entire professional life.”

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten also found themselves in the bottom Tuesday night after their Jive to Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel the Noize” ended in tears for the Olympian. “This was a really tough dance for me,” Maher told co-host Julianne Hough. “You do it so well in rehearsal and then you mess it up.” Ultimately, the duo was saved from elimination by America’s vote. 

The rugby player took to social media after surviving the double elimination. “Hello everyone, thank you for your support tonight. That was tough for me but I have a great partner and we have next week,” she said. “They spooked us, they spooked us a little bit but we have next week to improve. So thank you for all of your support; please keep voting. I’ll get better I swear.”

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with the episode available to stream the next day on Hulu.