The Dancing With The Stars semi-finals last night brought on one of the biggest shockers of the season — and quite possibly in the show’s history.
Juan Pablo Di Pace was sent home despite having perfect scores for the night, and it wasn’t his first time receiving perfect scores either.
The Fuller House actor and partner Cheryl Burke were left in the bottom three at the end of the night, along with Alexis Ren and her partner Alan Bersten and Joe Amabile and his partner Jenna Johnson.
Joe was finally sent home after weeks of low scores, but fans couldn’t believe it when it emerged Juan Pablo was the other dancer out of the competition.
As we revealed in our live recap, many members of the audience were left booing while others yelled out in shock and frustration.
The contestants had to dance two dances last night, and the judges were speechless with Juan Pablo’s first dance.
Judge Goodman told Juan Pablo and Cheryl that he would remember it forever, while Bruno Tonioli couldn’t catch his breath, saying it was the best finale to a dance he had ever seen.
Carrie Ann Inaba said he was in a class of his own. With comments like that, why wouldn’t Juan Pablo be the winner? Needless to say, he got a perfect score. Relive the magic Argentine tango below.
And yet, at the end of the night, he was left saying goodbye to the competition. While Joe probably saw his exit coming — as the finale is just a week away — Juan Pablo’s exit was unexpected.
Viewers vented their frustrations on Twitter, with several describing it as the “biggest shocker” in Dancing with the Stars history.
Wow! Probably the biggest shocker in @DancingABC history. Sad.
— BlueWave (@LindaPr51394557) November 13, 2018
Can’t believe that @juanpablodipace and @CherylBurke got eliminated tonight after delivering the best Argentine Tango in #DWTS history!!! This is the biggest shocker I’ve ever seen on the show!
— Aaron Curley (@TheAaronCurley) November 13, 2018
The results are calculated using a combination of judges’ scores and the public’s votes, but some suggested that it was time for Dancing With The Stars to change the format of the show.
Wow. The single best dancer on Dancing With the Stars went home and the worst dancer on the show got to stay. Popularity contest FTL. #DWTS
— Jax (@saxgoddess25) November 13, 2018
My heart is broken. This couple was without a doubt the BEST of this season. So wrong. #DWTS pic.twitter.com/bWrlDa8kwu
— Heather Concannon (@hmmconcannon) November 13, 2018
This isn’t the first time that a format change has been brought up this season. Several dancers went home early, even though they had potential, because Joe Amabile continued to get the votes to bounce back.
He had the support of Bachelor fans, who ended up voting him through to the semi-finals even though his scores were lacking. This made the competition more of a popularity contest than a dancing contest.
While people were split on who should have gone home instead of Juan Pablo di Pace, it was clear that many viewers felt he was robbed.
Terrible terrible elimination. The show needs to decide if they be want to be a dance competition or a popularity contest. #DWTS
— The Bad & The Beautiful ?️ (@kitten4762) November 13, 2018
#DWTS I have loved this show since day one but tonight shows the world that it's now only a popularity contest not a true dancing competition. #JuanPabloandCheryl was, obviously the BEST dancers in the history of this program. Change voting to judges and audience only. So sad!!
— Diana Roland (@DirolandDr) November 13, 2018
Four couples remain for the finale of Dancing With The Stars next week — Bobby Bones and Sharna Burgess, Evanna Lynch and Keo Motsepe, Milo Manheim and Witney Carson, and Alexis Ren and Alan Bersten.
It will be interesting to see whether the judges’ scores and commentary has any influence in who the winner will be, or will there be another upset?
The Dancing With The Stars finale airs next Monday at 8/7c on ABC. Monsters and Critics will be covering it live, sharing all updates, scores and the winner as it happens.