With the finale quickly approaching, “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro” is narrowing down its list of remaining contestants to just four after the latest elimination.
In Episode 6 of the competition series, out Aug. 17, the five potential pros — Adele Zaikman, AJ Pritchard, Allen Genkin, Nina Mayster and Selena Hamilton — were tasked with their most difficult challenge yet: teaching an amateur.
As all “Dancing With the Stars” fans know, helping a partner with limited dance knowledge learn a routine in a short amount of time is one of the most important skills a pro needs to possess.
Pro and two-time winner Witney Carson, who won the Mirrorball Trophy with host Robert Irwin last “DWTS” season, was announced as the guest judge for this week’s episode. She arrived in the ballroom and performed a seductive routine before explaining the challenge. (Her appearance comes as Carson announced that she is currently expecting her third child and will still compete on the upcoming fall season of “DWTS” alongside partner Guillermo.)
“This is a pro’s most testing role, and being great at it is just nonnegotiable,” she told the contestants. She informed them that they would each be paired with a “DWTS” fan and teach them a ballroom routine in just two days.
While all the influencers had some dance experience, none of them had any previous ballroom training.
Read on to find out which contestants made sure their partners nailed the choreography, and which dancer was eliminated.
Seconds into rehearsals, each contestant demonstrated their unique coaching styles.
Adele told Anthony and the cameras that she sets a high bar for herself and her partner. He noted her strict instructions when chatting about his progress.
Selena, who has a background as a commercial dancer, revealed that she had never taught a quickstep before. Jeremy voiced concerns that the routine didn’t highlight any of his skills. So, Selena added some twists and turns to show off his personality and strengths.
As for Allen, he opted for a more gentle teaching style. He said he wanted to keep his routine simple to help Zaira, who shared she was used to faster steps.
“AJ’s teaching style is fast,” Bailey said in her confessional interview. He shared that he has nearly 20 years of teaching experience and knows what each student needs to succeed.
Unlike her fellow competitors, Nina spent her first day with Jay perfecting his frame instead of going over the choreography.
After the second day of rehearsals, which included a check-in from Witney and judges Mark and Shirley Ballas, the influencers enjoyed a night out. Witney joined them and asked how confident they felt about their routines on a scale of one to 10. Jeremy was the most confident (8) and Anthony was the least confident (4).
On performance day, Nina and Jay were up first. Shirley complimented Jay’s personality but said there were “fundamental issues” with the hold and footwork. Mark agreed that the frame was incorrect. Witney said she enjoyed the fun hip-hop moments in the routine but noted that Nina could’ve managed her time better in rehearsals.