Dancing With the Stars Cancels Elimination on Dedication Night

All remaining couples on Dancing With the Stars will advance to the next round after cohosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro announced a surprise elimination reprieve during Dedication Night on October 20. The decision honored the episode's emotional focus on dances dedicated to loved ones, while scores and audience votes will carry over to the October 27 broadcast, when two couples are scheduled to leave the competition.

Hough explained that the judges' scores had been combined with live audience votes before Ribeiro revealed that every remaining pair was safe. The announcement changed the usual elimination format for the episode without removing the consequences of the night's performances.

Hough said the decision reflected the significance of Dedication Night, an episode centered on personal stories and tributes. The postponed elimination means the accumulated scores and votes will affect the next results.

The show's October 27 episode, titled Horror Movie Night, will feature guest judge Shirley Ballas. Ribeiro confirmed that two couples will be eliminated after the competition's one-week reprieve.

One of Dedication Night's emotional performances came from Tyler Cameron, who dedicated his dance to his late mother, Andrea Hermann Cameron. His fiancée, Tate Madden, also revealed her pregnancy during the routine, which he performed with professional partner Sharna Burgess.

Cameron praised Burgess's approach to presenting his family's story after the performance.

"Sharna is just an incredible storyteller," Cameron told Hough. "I've shared the story with her, and she made this story about my mother always having my back and still being there for me, bringing Tate into my life, and setting us off for the rest of our life. And this is a huge night that we'll celebrate forever."

The competition has already sent several contestants home, including Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson in week five after their salsa performance during Super Bowl night. The previous week, Ciara Miller of Bravo's Summer House and professional dancer Brandon Armstrong were eliminated following a jazz routine set to Mariah Carey's song Emotions.

Miller later explained why the elimination had been particularly difficult, speaking in a tearful Instagram video after initially discussing her disappointment on the show's companion podcast on October 8. She said she had hoped to win the Mirrorball Trophy for herself and wanted Armstrong to have an opportunity to win it as well.

"Obviously, I wanted to get a Mirrorball, not just for myself, but I really wanted Brandon to have a chance at the Mirrorball," Miller explained. "With the way that things have gone this year, I feel like I wanted to like trust in God and trust in the universe that I would be perfectly placed where I was supposed to be."

Despite the disappointment, Miller said the experience had personal value, particularly if viewers recognized aspects of themselves in her partnership with Armstrong.

"If anybody could even see themselves in Brandon and I," the 30-year-old continued, "It makes all the heartache and all the emotions and all of the crazy work in this industry so f--king worth it," though she conceded, "I am also so f--king competitive."