"DWTS" Week 5: The Switch-Up

April 18, 2016

Ah, the “Dancing with the Stars” Switch-Up Night #strugz: They’re real, guys. And “DWTS” hall of famer Maks Chmerkovskiy, on hand last night as a guest judge, is here to tell you exactly why you and your new partner aren’t measuring up. (Seriously, dude is TOUGH.) But not every mixed-up couple flopped: A few of our favorites pushed through the potential pitfalls, and Len Goodman, of all people, even gave out the first 10 of the season. Len as the cheerleader of the judging group? Now THAT’S a switch-up.

The evening kicked off with a cute little opening number introducing the new partners—and putting Divine Leg Goddess Edyta Sliwinska, partnerless but still fabulous, front and center. We miss you, lady!

Mark Ballas
brought a little MJ-meets-mambo magic to his spicy salsa with Ginger Zee, which loosened Zee up nicely and resulted in a fun, high-energy performance:

Jodie Sweetin, recovering nicely from last week’s slip-up, found new confidence in her super-sharp paso doble with Val Chmerkovskiy—who, bless his heart, still hasn’t recovered from his childhood crush on Stephanie Tanner:

And in by far the strongest performance of the night, Nyle DiMarco and Sharna Burgess—with an assist from Tyra Banks that we can’t stop smizing about—floated through a dreamily perfect Viennese waltz. It brought Carrie Ann to tears and had Len reaching for his 10 paddle. (And Maks and Bruno reaching for theirs, too—though, awkwardly, not writing 10s on their official scorecards? NylNa, you were robbed.)

The happiest news of the night was that nobody was sent home, yay! And next week everyone will be back with their regular partners, double yay! (Though, to be honest, we wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of that Nyle-Sharna chemistry.) What did y’all think of the switcheroo madness? Let us know in the comments—and check back here next week for our recap of Round 6.


Want more
Dance Spirit?