'Dancing With the Stars' 2015: Paula Deen Eliminated, But She's Excited to See Her Grandbabies
The celebrity TV chef said doing "DWTS" has "been such a wonderful journey."
— -- The pressure was on in the ballroom for Famous Dances Night on “Dancing With the Stars.” The nine remaining couples recreated iconic dance routines, such as Paula Deen channeling her inner Madonna in a jazzy version of “Vogue,” Carlos PenaVega leaving it all on the dance floor, quite literally, as a male stripper from “Magic Mike” and Derek Hough going full-Swayze on Bindi Irwin.
Despite her best efforts to “strike a pose,” Deen was voted off in week six of the competition. She didn’t seem too disappointed, however.
“I’m so excited,” Deen said, laughing after host Tom Bergeron announced the news. “I get to go see my grandbabies.”
The 68-year-old said she’s thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Dancing’ experience, but was also looking forward to going home.
“Listen Tom, it has been wonderful,” she began. “I have been like a fish out of water for six weeks. It has been such a wonderful journey. It took them a long time to convince me to do this. It was wonderful. It was worth it. It was worth it.”
Deen and her professional partner, Louis Van Amstel, earned scores of 6s across the board from the judges, for a total score of 24.
“You look gorgeous,” tonight’s guest judge, the legendary Olivia Newton-John, told Deen after her performance. “You look like you’re having fun and you did Madonna proud.”Judge Cari Ann Inaba was a bit more critical of the jazz dance routine.
“I’m wondering what happened to that sexy little beast from last week?,” she questioned. “I thought the costumes overwhelmed you a little bit.”
Alexa PenaVega and her pro partner Mark Ballas were also in jeopardy of going home tonight.
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There were three top scorers in tonight’s competition, all earning a perfect score of 40 from the judges.
Tonight’s top scorer: Andy Grammer soared to the top of the leaderboard with his jazz version of “Good Morning” from the iconic 1952 musical, “Singing in the Rain” alongside pro partner Allison Holker. The dynamic duo “succeeded with honor,” according to judge Bruno Tonioli, as they earned perfect 10s from each judge on the panel. “Those are big shoes to fill and you filled those shoes with ease and grace,” judge Cari Ann Inaba added. Guest judge Olivia Newton John, who has actually danced with Gene Kelly, the star of the original film, said, “I actually danced with Gene Kelly and I’d be happy to dance with you any time. You were so good.” Grammer and Holker earned a standing ovation.
Tonight’s top scorer: Bindi Irwin and her pro partner Derek Hough had the absolutely “time of their lives” doing an incredible rumba to “Time of Your Life” from the classic movie, “Dirty Dancing.” They too earned top scores, getting perfect 10s from all the judges. “My little star has gone super nova tonight,” Tonioli said. Julianne Hough agreed, adding “Your legs were on fire. Gorgeous.” Derek said he was filled with fear before attempting the iconic lift that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray pulled off in the film, saying, “That was one of the most nerve-wracking moments for me.” But the dancing duo pulled it off with Irwin shouting, “We did it! We did! I can’t believe we just did that!”