Terrell Owens was sent home from Dancing With The Stars on Monday but with a potential date to ease the pain.
The 43-year-old former NFL great was the latest competitor sent home from the ABC dancing competition show after finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard last week.
He also arranged a date with the show’s season one winner Kelly Monaco following outrageous flirting when she came back to help with a trio dance.
Final routine: Terrell Owens was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars on Monday ahead of next week’s semifinals
Terrell, 43, knew he would be in danger after his low scores last week, but pro partner Cheryl Burke told him: ‘I don’t think you deserve to be there. I truly do believe in you, I believe in this partnership and I think that our time is not over yet.’
But he was left in jeopardy along with Malcolm In The Middle star Frankie Muniz — who ironically finished top of the leaderboard the previous week — and seemed accepting of the decision as he was sent home before next week’s semis.
As he walked forward to huge cheers, co-host Erin Andrews said he had ‘become such a huge part of this family.’
‘I’ve known you for a while and I’ve never seen this side of you — it looks good on you,’ sports host Erin told him. ‘I loved everything about you coming here.’
Date bet: The former NFL star arranged a date with season one winner Kelly Monaco if they got all 10’s for their trio dance
Different side: Erin Andrews told Terrell that she was happy to see a different side of him
Not over: Pro partner Cheryl Burke earlier told him that their time was not over yet
‘I had a great time,’ Terrell smiled, pointing to Cheryl as he added: ‘She was a great teacher — I couldn’t have asked for anything more.’
Cheryl, meanwhile, told him: ‘Terrell I’m so proud of the dancer you’ve become but most importantly the person you’ve allowed us all to see. So proud of you.’
The decision came on a night where he had a vast improvement, getting all 9s for his first dance, a Charleston, with head judge Len Goodman telling him: ‘Of all of our celebrities nobody has improved from week one as much as you.’
So proud: Terrell listened as Cheryl said that she was proud of him
Charleston dance: Cheryl and Terrell opened with a Charleston dance
Big lift: Terrell lifted Cheryl high during their routine
But the real highlight of his week came when General Hospital star Kelly came and the flirting started immediately.
‘Kelly is very beautiful,’ Terrell admitted, smiling as he added: ‘I heard she is single, so am I. I hope she doesn’t get distracted by how handsome I am.’
Cheryl — who said she is good friends with Kelly — constantly threw sexual innuendos at them during rehearsals, telling Kelly ‘you’re throwing yourself at him, you’ve got to play hard to get’ and teasing Terrell: ‘One girl at a time, Terrell — don’t you know how to do a threesome?’
Former champ: Season one champion Kelly Monaco was brought in for a trio dance and hugged her good friend Cheryl
Trio dance: Terrell was excited about dancing with Kelly and Cheryl
Threesome advice: Cheryl gave Terrell threesome advice
Kelly then looked a Terrell, who had his shirt open for his routine, and gushed: ‘That man is sculpted out of heaven. He’s sexy, he’s sexy.’
‘After we get all 10s, then Kelly you have to go out on a date with me,’ Terrell insisted, with Kelly quickly agreeing: ‘Ok, Ok, OK, if we get three 10s I’ll go out on a date with you.’
While they fell short, getting all 8s instead, host Tom Bergeron said that ‘you didn’t specify from where the 10s would come’ — and pointed to three of the pros all holding up ’10’ scorecards in the skybox.
Date quest: Tom Bergeron noted that it wasn’t specified where the three 10’s would come
Perfect scores: Guys up in the balcony held up three 10’s to get the date in motion
‘Iiiit’s date night!’ Tom smiled, telling Terrell: ‘We take care of ya!’
With all the remaining competitors getting a fan favorite from previous seasons to help them in a trio dance, it was another star’s strong chemistry with his returning competitor that helped him soar to the top of the leaderboard.
Broadway star Jordan Fisher already had a perfect 30 for his first dance, a quickstep, when he was joined by season 17 runner-up Corbin Bleu — with the duo immediately bonding over how alike they were.
Good times: Tom, Cheryl, Terrell and Kelly had fun with it
First dance: Jordan Fisher and pro partner Lindsay Arnold got a perfect score for their first dance
The frontrunners: Lindsay and Jordan have been the frontrunners all season
‘From career, to the look, to personality — it’s like looking in a mirror,’ Jordan said, insisting that Corbin had inspired him to take up acting and singing, recalling: ‘I remember watching High School Musical and him coming on and going, ”Woah! He looks like me!”
As they rehearsed, Corbin said they needed to ‘be the mirror image of each other’ for the dance, smiling: ‘As we are! We’re the same person!’
Jordan again got a perfect score, with Bruno Tonioli gushing: ‘This dance I think will go down in Dancing With The Stars history.’
Mirror image: Jordan and Corbin Bleu immediately hit it off
Trio dance: Lindsay choreographed a strong trio dance
Flying high: Jordan and Cordin worked on flinging Lindsay into the air
He added: ‘That was phenomenal — it was two bodies responding with one soul to the music. I absolutely loved it.’
Carrie Ann Inaba was so enthralled she even cursed in her praise, getting bleeped out as she said ‘the unison was sick as f***!’
‘Hashtag amazeballs! Triple fire emoji! I have no words,’ she gushed, while Len told them: ‘Normally they say two’s company, three’s a crowd. On this occasion three’s perfect.’
The judges: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli critiqued the dancers
Perfect again: Jordan got another round of perfect scores for the trio dance with Corbin
Paralympic swimmer Victoria Arlen had the scariest night, shown having a spasm during the dress rehearsal that she called ‘the worst pain known to man. It’s like an extreme form of paralysis.’
Her pro partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy was shown carrying her off the dancefloor and pleading: ‘Can someone call her mom?’
She was later shown with tape on her back and legs to help control some of the pain, and also switched to wearing sneakers rather than shoes.
Muscle spasm: Victoria Arlen went down with a muscle spasm during rehearsal
Golden girls: Valentin Chmerkovskiy got together with his golden girls Victoria and former partner Laurie Hernandez
Past champ: Alfonso Ribeiro teamed up with former partner Witney Carson for a trio dance with Frankie Muniz
Long dresses: Erin and Carrie Ann wore beautiful long dresses
Purple men: Jordan and Corbin in purple flanked Lindsay
Most improved: Terrell was considered the most improved dancer with the help of Cheryl
‘I’m definitely hurting but I’m still here,’ she said after her second dance. ‘As much as my legs aren’t as sharp as I’d like them to be tonight, they’re moving and that’s all that matters.’
In her first dance, an Argentine Tango, she had admitted it was a challenge for her to appear ‘very sexy’, with Val warning it could ‘look comedic’ if she broke character.
‘We’re bringing sexy back,’ Victoria said, laughing as she added ‘I don’t know if I ever had it before.’
Sexy back: Victoria was determined to bring sexy back in her first Argentine Tango
Smooth moves: Val and Victoria got through the routine without any spasms
But the judges’ comments suggested she did not quite nail it, with Bruno telling her: ‘Now you have to act the part — become Evita the man-eater. Act it more.’
She got all 8s for the first dance, matching that same score for her trio with season 23 champion Laurie Hernandez.
Their routine started with a video clip of Val and Olympic gymnast Laurie, 17, winning their season — and Victoria coming out from the audience in a matching dress.
Former champion: Laurie and Victoria had fun teasing Val about pop culture
Golden moment: The trio dance built on Laurie and Val’s recent win
Mixed reviews: The dance got mixed reviews from the judges
‘It was good — not a gold medal performance, but you’re definitely on the podium,’ Len told the two Olympic stars.
Property Brothers star Drew Scott was safe after coming second last week — but was back once again to being bottom of the leaderboard despite him proudly saying in rehearsals: ‘I honestly think we are contenders for the Mirrorball.’
He had dedicated his first dance, a waltz to Both Sides Now, to fiancee Linda Phan, saying: ‘I had no idea what a relationship could be until I met Linda. When you find someone who completes your life, it changes everything.’
Podium performance: Len Goodman said Victoria’s trio dance was podium worthy
First dance: Drew Scott and Emma Slater opened up with a waltz
Solid performance: The dance was dedicated to Drew’s fiancee Linda
He then had tears when he said: ‘This song and this dance just makes me think about all the amazing things I have in my life with my fiancee, with Linda, and all the amazing things we have to come.’
He ran over to hug her at the end of the dance, having to reach over people in front of her, with host Tom quipping: ‘You have connections, we could move her to the front row.’
He got just 22 for that dance, with his overall score boosted by the show’s reigning champ, running back Rashad Jennings, joining him for an upbeat cha-cha to James Brown’s Get Up Offa That Thing, with both men in sparkly silver jackets matching pro Emma Slater’s dress as they got two 9s and an 8.
Trio dance: Reigning champion Rashad Jennings returned to dance with Drew and Emma
Upbeat dance: Drew was boosted by Rashad’s performance during the cha cha dance
After Carrie Ann called him the ‘Prince of Soul,’ Drew nodded to Rashad — who he also called his ‘swag coach’ — and said: ‘I had the guru of groove here helping me out.’
Violinist Lindsey Stirling bounced back from last week where she was badly hurt with a rib injury, having admitted: ‘I was in a lot of pain. I felt like my spirit was broken, my willpower, my fight.’
‘It’s looking like you’re all better now!’ Tom told her as she finished her first dance, a samba with a circus theme.
Circus theme: Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas did a circus-themed samba
Bounced back: The violinist bounced back after being hampered by a rib injury
God points: Bruno Tonioli enjoyed their routine
‘I loved the creativity — it was so cutting edge and bizarre, it’s like you brought out your inner Beyonce this week and let loose,’ Carrie Ann told them as they got two 9s and an 8.
Joking that she was ‘an awkward white girl,’ Lindsey insisted: ‘I had a pretty good time, I’m not gonna lie. I’m pretty proud of it.’
They did even better when Olympic ice skating champ Kristi Yamaguchi, the winner of season 6, joined them for a jazz routine to Let’s Face The Music And Dance, with Carrie Ann praising their ‘incredible synergy’ and insisting: ‘I’d pay money to go see that dance. It was so fantastic — classic, clean, and spot on.’
Past champ: Kristi Yamaguch joined Lindsey and Mark for a trio dance
Sweet routine: Mark choreographed a sweet routine for the trio dance
She gave a 10 to the other two judges’ 9s, with Len telling her: ‘On those two performances tonight, you’ve got no trouble. That was terrific.’
Lindsey and Kristi both teased their pro Mark Ballas — even pointing out that he smells their shoes, which he insisted was to see ‘how hard they’re working.’
‘Welcome to the TMI edition of Dancing With The Stars,’ Tom joked.
Good one: Kristi and Lindsey teased Mark about his teaching tendencies
Frankie Muniz had come top of the leaderboard last week — but was still plagued by doubts, saying: ‘I’m not saying I don’t belong there — but I feel like I don’t belong here.’
He also admitted he felt extra pressure now that he wants to win, having told his pro Witney Carson: ‘Before the season started I had the highest odds against winning the Mirrorball — I was completely counted out.’
When she asked ‘doesn’t it prove people wrong?’ he replied: ‘Yeah, but I still have to prove it to myself.’
Counted out: Frankie Muniz told Witney Carson how he had the worst odds to win the show
Season 19 champ Alfonso Ribeiro joined them for their trio dance, again having to push him to be more confident, telling Frankie: ‘Dude, you’re a contender and you’ve got to see yourself that way.’
Carrie Ann warned that she could ‘see the nerves’ and that Frankie ‘looked a little intimidated’ during the trio jive, while Len warned him off being so negative during rehearsals.
‘You’re a good dancer, Frankie — come out and perform,’ he told him, saying ‘the will to win’ was as important as ‘the skill to win.’
Trio dance: Witney, Frankie and Alfonso danced together
Letting loose: Frankie tried to his best to cut loose during the routine
‘Y’all need to keep telling them that with your scores!’ Alfonso teased the judges, who all gave 9s.
The judges had been torn by his first dance, a Viennese Waltz to Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, which Carrie Ann called ‘the closest thing to perfection’ — but Len insisted to boos: ‘It was far from perfection.’
‘Last week you were scary — this week it was all airy fairy,’ he said, giving an 8 to the other two judges’ 9s.
First dance: Witney and Frankie opened up with a Viennese Waltz
TV star: The Malcolm In The Middle star has become a surprising contender
Frankie’s confidence will undoubtedly have taken another knock at him being in jeopardy despite doing so well last week.
And he was also reminded of comments he made to Witney at the start of the season saying he would take off his shirt if he got this far in the competition.
‘We have a lot of bronzer — we have a lot of contouring on the show,’ Erin told him, with Frankie nervously smiling: ‘We’ll see, we’ll see.’
Shirt off: Frankie may being going shirtless in the near future