Dancing with the Stars Season 32 premiered earlier this week, and already, one celebrity dancer was sent home.
It was a rough week for Matt Walsh, who was announced as a cast member before putting his time on pause due to the then-ongoing WGA strike.
The strike ended just in time for Matt to take the stage, showing off his Cha-cha-cha that impressed no one.
Then, as quickly as he hit the ballroom floor, Matt was eliminated after bringing in the lowest judges’ score and combined fan votes on opening night.
The only thing more surprising than Matt Walsh’s exit was the lie that Mauricio Umansky’s hips were telling. RHOBH fans were shocked that Kyle Richards’ estranged husband was not that great on the dance floor — and he was the other dancer on premiere night in jeopardy of going home.
Now that we’re a few days out from the first episode — and the first elimination — pro dancer Koko Iwasaki is opening up about getting eliminated alongside the Veep star.
Koko Iwasaki defends Matt Walsh’s dance after DWTS elimination
While speaking to Entertainment Tonight after getting eliminated from Dancing with the Stars on premiere night, Koko Iwasaki shared her feelings, and she’s not happy they were sent home.
“I’m really bummed, you know? Quite disappointed, to be honest,” Koko said about getting eliminated. “But at the end of the day, this experience with Matt, we went through so much in the last few weeks, and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.”
“I’ve said this so many times, but I would have Matt every season if I could,” Koko said of her dance partner.
“I don’t think that he deserved 4s, I’ll be honest. He wasn’t the best dancer, you know, he’s never danced before, it’s something still new. But he was really great last night and he worked so hard,” Iwasaki shared.
“He’s been through a lot, we’ve been through a lot together, and our journey was short, but I don’t think he deserved 4s last night.”
“It wasn’t his time yet! He did so well, we did real cha-cha,” Koko said while suggesting that the judges really should go back and watch their dance again.
Mauricio Umansky also did not impress at the DWTS Season 32 premiere
One of the biggest disappointments on premiere night was The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills husband, Mauricio Umansky.
Kyle Richards’ estranged husband looked stiff on the dance floor and didn’t hit quite a few moves as he tried to do a jive with pro partner Emma Slater.
It didn’t help that, ahead of the live performance, he didn’t even know what a jive was, and we can only hope that when he’s assigned a Latin dance, he’ll show us better moves.
If not, Mauricio can count his days on DWTS because, even with RHOBH fans voting for him, there are way better dancers competing this season on the ABC dance competition.
Dancing with the Stars airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney Plus.