‘Dancing With the Stars’: Nelly Totally Nails Backflip at Age 45, and Fans Go Wild

When the Dancing With the Stars celebrity cast was revealed, there were a lot of fans eager to see what Nelly would look like out on the dance floor. The Atlanta rapper lived up to expectations from an entertainment standpoint in his debut, nailing a standing flip during his performance.

While the flip was a perfect 10, the judges didn’t give him as much as love as some fans felt he deserved; even host Tyra Banks sounded like she thought the judge’s score was quite low. Nelly and his professional dance partner, Danielle Karagach, performed a salsa to one of his songs, “Ride Wit Me.” The routine picked up a pair of fives and one six for a 16, which was below average on a night that saw Skai Jackson and Alan Bersten lead the pack with a 21, followed by fellow celebs Nev Schulman and Kaitlyn Bristowe, who each scored 20s.

Heading into the competition, Nelly spoke with ET about whether or not he’d perform to one of his songs, suggesting he would but wouldn’t necessarily go out of his way to do so because he wants to “bring Nelly to a different genre.” With his first routine out of the way, fans on social media couldn’t stop talking about that flip of his throughout the evening.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​