‘Dancing With the Stars’ Fans Are Furious Nick Lachey Hasn’t Been Eliminated

Warning: Spoilers from Monday’s episode are ahead.

Dancing With the Stars held what some are calling season 25’s first surprise elimination Monday night.

After all 10 couples danced to themed routines on Disney night, Pretty Little Lies actress Sasha Pieterse and partner Gleb Savchenco were sent packing at the end of the episode.

This upset had fans reeling on Twitter, wondering how Pieterse was eliminated over other celebrity contestants. As disappointed fans offered up who they thought should’ve been eliminated in the actress’ place, it was nearly unanimous: former 98° frontman Nick Lachey.

Lachey and partner Peta Murgatroyd were the last couple to be called as safe from elimination during the previous two rounds of competition, but the partners, who danced a quickstep to The Jungle Book‘s “The Bare Necessities”, didn’t make the bottom two this week.

Keep scrolling to see what fans thought of the former boy band heartthrob’s routines and where they think the competition should go from here.

Nick over Sasha:

After Monday’s elimination, some fans were stunned when Pieterse’s name was called after she and Frankie Muniz stood as the bottom two competitors. Instead, they say Lachey should’ve been the person who exited the show in 10th place.

As fans speculate every season, some say Lachey is being kept around by producers to keep a hot storyline alive. This time, it’s the husband vs. wife battle between Nick and Vanessa Lachey. 

Vanessa has already expressed that fans will be seeing the husband and wife competitors in the final round, revealing that they plan to play nice until the very end.

“We just want to get to the finals, and then apparently that’s when they say the gloves come off,” she told Entertainment Tonight.

His dancing ability:

Other unhappy fans cite Lachey’s less-than-professional dancing as the reason he should’ve been eliminated on Monday’s episode.

With his dancing ability in mind, some are begging Twitter followers not to vote for Lachey. “You know better than that” is the only explanation they’re offering up, though.

Prior to this year, Lachey had openly said he would never compete in Dancing With the Stars, but he already feels like he’s accomplished what he set out to do this season.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t do the show because I wanted to win necessarily or thought I would win. I did it more because I was, frankly, very uncomfortable dancing for my entire life,” he told Business Insider. “I’m a big believer in trying to challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things.”

“At the end of the day, the scores are the score, the results are the results, but I feel like I’ve gotten what I’ve wanted out of this experience no matter what. That feels good,” he added.

Looking to next week:

Some optimistic fans have shifted their focus to next week’s episode, where the remaining nine couples will compete with “A Night at the Movies” themed dance.

Looking at the judge’s scores for each couple since the premiere episode, Lachey and Murgatroyd have an average performance score of 20.2, the lowest of all remaining couples. Close behind them are Terrell Owens and Cheryl Burke with a 20.7 average score.

Tune in next week to see where the couple’s fall during elimination.

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

Photo credit: Instagram / @nicklachey