Spoilers ahead for the November 4 episode of Dancing with the Stars Season 28.
Another episode of Dancing with the Stars has come and gone, meaning that one more celebrity dancer has gotten the axe. The November 4 broadcast was particularly fun thanks to the dance-offs that pitted couples directly against each other, but the fun came to an end for the judges when the time came to reveal who would stay in the competition and who was up for elimination. Kate Flannery, with pro dance partner Pasha Pashkov, and Ally Brooke, with pro partner Sasha Farber, were in the bottom two, and it was Flannery who went home.
Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli were visibly shocked and unhappy that Kate Flannery and Ally Brooke were the bottom two, and I'm guessing plenty of people watching from home were as well. Before they announced their decisions, Inaba said this:
It's confusing for me at this point that these are the two couples in the bottom two. Absolutely confused and a little irritated.
Len Goodman applauded her comments and went on to agree that these were not two couples who belonged in the bottom two, and Bruno Tonioli didn't exactly look thrilled. While all three did vote to advance Ally Brooke, they clearly would have preferred to send somebody else home other than Kate Flannery, and it's not all that hard to guess who they want to send home.
Sean Spicer, who was a divisive member of the cast even before he first strutted his stuff and showed how he compared to the rest of the celeb dancers, has consistently received some of the lowest judges' scores throughout Season 28, and he was on the bottom of their rankings by the end of the dance-offs episode.
While most viewers from home probably aren't professional dancers, it is relatively easy to see that Sean Spicer can't keep up with the other celebrity dancers, and I know I'm not the only one who was shocked when Spicer was announced as the first person saved from elimination.
Carrie Ann Inaba could actually be heard reacting to the reveal, and the rest of the contestants had various expressions of shock and unhappiness on their faces, but the judges' faces were by far the easiest to read. Just take a look:
I'll be the first to admit that I've been consistently wrong about Sean Spicer's longevity on Dancing with the Stars, as I didn't expect him to last beyond his fluorescent salsa.
Still, now that we're past the point when the rougher celebrity dancers should have been cut and viewers should be into only the best of the best, Sean Spicer is still in the mix. Even his partner was visibly surprised when the announcement came that Spicer was safe for yet another week.
Is this just the latest example of the voting practices for Season 28 being unfair, or does Sean Spicer deserve to have outlasted dancers like Kate Flannery, Karamo Brown (who thinks the judges weren't on his side), and Sailor Brinkley-Cook? Fair or not, Spicer will dance for at least one more week.
Tune in to see if the judges get to send him home as they would seemingly prefer, with new Dancing with the Stars episodes airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
