Hitting a 500th episode like Dancing With The Stars is about to would be a landmark for the show on the 2024 TV schedule, but it shouldn't totally overshadow professional dancer Brandon Armstrong's own significant milestone. Should he and Chandler Kinney advance beyond this week, it'll be the furthest he's ever gone in the competition. CinemaBlend wanted to know if he was feeling the pressure heading into the big episode, and much to my surprise, he was largely unaware.
I had a chance to speak to Kinney and Armstrong before the big episode, thinking the possibly benchmark would be more in the professional dancer's head. Of the seven times he's competed, he's faced three Week 7 eliminations, but never advanced beyond that. As such, I thought he and Chandler might be using their Disney+ subscriptions to review their past dances to plan for and ensure their safety and progression to Week 8, but it turns out he was in the dark about his competition history.
But the dancer did tell me about past moments when he's felt worried about elimination on DWTS, but why he's never completely fretting between stages about when he may leave:
I think if I were to look back at all my experiences on the show, I think that there's maybe been two times [in past seasons] that I've really been like, ‘Oh, I don't know about that.’ One was obviously last season, and then my first season with Tinashe, of course, it was; it's insane to me. But it's never really [stressful] for me. Like I don't go to bed at night, and it doesn't keep me up that I'm like, ‘I gotta do this, this, this and this and this.’ I'm like a principles person. It's not about the action, it's like what's behind it.
While there are moments when he's no doubt surprised or disappointed by how he and his partner are scored, he's happy as long as his partner makes an effort. This is interesting to hear, considering my gut instinct was that all Dancing With The Stars pros are fiercely competitive and always track when they have to do the troublesome cha-cha or what the leaderboard looks like.
Brandon Armstrong is more about the dancing, so he's lucky to be saddled with one of the front-runners for Season 33, Chandler Kinney. He talked about why he's not too concerned about elimination on Dancing With The Stars and his faith in his dance partner:
And for me it's like, at the end of the day, I think this is Dancing With The Stars. I don't think it's like a pageant. I don't think it's a popularity contest, a cheerleading competition or an acting competition or a singing competition. I think it's Dancing With The Stars. And I think this year that Chandler is the best dancer. I really, really do. If I were to bet at the Kentucky Derby, this would be the person I'm betting on. And so for me, I just think of the principle, I think that we should make it further and I think we should continue this competition. Of course, I would selfishly love to win the show.
If Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong want to win the show, they'll need the help of the judges' scores to help get them there. Kinney has openly expressed her frustrations with judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who ruined her chance at a perfect 30 score during the Halloween episode and didn't give much reason for it. The incident, paired with others, has led to rumors Inaba might be leaving Dancing With The Stars before too long, but we can only speculate.
Scoring aside, I would say it will be a tough road for Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong to win it all based on just how strong the competition is at this stage of the game. In a season where someone like Dwight Howard can rocket from last place to the top with one performance, I think it's fair to say everyone remaining as an equal enough shot at winning.
It all sets the stage for what should be an exciting celebration of 500 episodes of Dancing With The Stars. Those who tune in can expect tributes to past iconic moments on the show, as well as a "surprise dance" round in which the contestants will be given the dance they're meant to perform the night of the competition. It's also said the show will bring back some fan-favorite stars, so I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see the first NBA veteran who won, Iman Shumpert, link up with Dwight Howard. I'm sure there are other past contestants fans would love to see, so hopefully, ABC has extended an invitation to as many people as possible to attend.
Dancing With The Stars 500th episode kicks off on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesday, November 12th at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm eager to see who will come out on top at the night's end, and I am rooting for Brandon Armstrong to finally see Week 8.
