RECAP: Drew Lachey, Helio Castroneves Kicked Off Of 'Dancing With The Stars,' Palin Survives

by uInterviewOctober 10, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

"What have you done for me lately?" seems to be the motto for this year’s Dancing With the Stars: All Stars, as the judges and viewing public have made it clear that past track record has no bearing on current votes. Round three of the competition sent two former DWTS champions home in singer Drew Lachey (2006) and race car driver Helio Castroneves (2007). Lachey, 36, and his partner Anna Trebunskaya fell to Kirstie Alley, 61, and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the elimination round. When the scores and votes were announced, Lachey was far from pleased.

"It really sucks!” Lachey told US Weekly. “I take pride in being a performer, and to me it's ironic that the two Broadway performers — me and Joey [Fatone] — are gone already. It's a little odd to me."

Lachey, while still upset, did express his gratitude for appearing on the show. “I can honestly say I would not change a thing. … We had a great time. I had an amazing competitor,” Lachey told ABC News.

Castroneves was much more reserved when he learned of his fate after losing to singer/dancer Sabrina Bryan, 28, and her partner Louis Van Amstel.

“I want to thank my family, [DWTS partner] Chelsie [Hightower], and I want to thank America,” Castroneves added to ABC News.

The controversy surrounding the departures of Lachey and Castroneves lies in the fact that a noticeably struggling Bristol Palin, 21, daughter of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, is sticking around. Palin has been near the bottom of leaderboard throughout both of her competitions, but she retains staying power, even in spite (or because?) of the highly publicized rehearsal snags she's had with partner Mark Ballas.

The remaining “survivors” include Palin, Alley and Bryan, along with Kelly Monaco, Shawn Johnson, Apolo Ohno, Gilles Marini and Melissa Rycroft. Dancing With the Stars: All Stars airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. est. on ABC. —Hal Sundt