Skai Jackson & Johnny Weir Sent Home From ‘DWTS’ In Surprise Double Elimination

With one week left till the finals, the contestants of Dancing With The Stars faced a scary new challenge: a surprise double elimination.

Despite both performances bringing the judges to their feet, at the end of the night, the audience voted figure skater Johnny Weir and former Disney star Skai Jackson off of the show. The judges saved Justina Machado, unanimously agreeing she had the most consistent improvement week-to-week.

Weir, with his partner Britt Stewart, and Jackson, with her partner Alan Bersten, appeared together on Good Morning America on Tuesday to talk about the elimination.

“Of course, we are crushed and defeated not to have ended this journey in the way we hoped with the Mirror Ball Trophy, but the greatest gift that I was given from this process is my partner, Britt,” Weir said. “She’s become my friend, my family, my confidante and believed so hard in what we could do that she really brought everything that I could possibly give authentically out of me every single week. I’m so honored and happy that we have each other.”

Stewart echoed Weir’s words and spoke about making history on the show. “We really brought a different level of representation to the ballroom and so many people could relate to us,” she said. “I’m so happy that we were able to have such an inspiring journey and I will remember this for forever.” Stewart was the first black female pro dancer to grace the Dancing With The Stars stage.

Jackson said she was happy to have ended her time on the show with a performance she was proud of — she had earned a perfect score the night before for her Viennese waltz. “I feel like last night was one of my best performances that I’ve done, so even though I did go home I’m glad that I did go out on a high note,” she said.

In fact, as host Tyra Banks pointed out during the episode, both Weir and Jackson had earned their highest scores of the season.

The other competitors also earned very high scores throughout Monday night’s dance challenges. First, they had to revisit their worst routines of the season and redeem themselves with revamped routines. The stars rose to the occasion.

Catfish host Nev Schulman upgraded his foxtrot from the first episode of the season and earned a perfect 30 points, ten points up from his previous score. After that, he did a beautiful contemporary performance, stunning the judges and earning himself an insurmountable 60 out of 60 score.

Joining Schulman on the top of the leaderboard was The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe, who revamped her old paso double and went on to perform an emotional contemporary routine to The Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away” in honor of her childhood best friend who was tragically killed in a car crash at 18. Her performances earned her the second perfect 60 of the night.

One Day at a Time star Machado redid her tango to Moulin Rouge’s “El Tango De Roxanne,” then danced a tender contemporary to “Holding Out for a Hero,” dedicated to her partner, Sasha Farber. She left judge Derek Hough speechless and earned a final score of 58 out of 60.

Rapper Nelly also finished the episode strong. He fixed his paso doble and flaunted his sculpted physique dancing shirtless. His jive afterward was full of pizzazz and humor blowing the judges away and earning him a 56 out of 60.

The remaining stars will compete for the Mirror Ball Trophy on the season finale next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.