Dancing with the Stars went back to the ’90s in the ballroom this week. It was a fun blast from the past until two couples were eliminated.
Heidi D’Amelio and her daughter, TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio, were the first mother and daughter to compete in the ballroom. Heidi, who stars on The D’Amelio Show, was paired with pro Artem Chigvintsev.
The duo was in the bottom two for the past two weeks. Artem urged Heidi to show more feeling, which was a critique by the DWTS judges. The couple performed a contemporary piece that was filled with emotion. They received a score of 35/40.
Heidi and Artem were in the bottom three couples, along with Trevor Donovan and pro Emma Slater, and Jersey Shore star Vinny Guadagnino and pro Koko Iwasaki. Artem and Heidi had the lowest combined judges’ score and fan votes. They were cut instantly.
Artem told Page Six via Zoom that he was “afraid to speak – because I might say something you don’t want to hear” after the elimination. “I’m definitely disappointed. I think what’s hard is, this show becomes your life,” Artem explained. “For the past 10 weeks, this has been every second of [our] day … I mean, you just breathe, and sleep, and even dream of this, of what’s happening on the floor, right?” he commented.
Because of all the time he invested in the show, Artem said it was hard not to take the elimination “personal.” Artem gave up time with his new wife, Nikki Bella, and their son, Matteo. The couple wed in Paris in August of 2022. Total Bellas star Nikki and Artem met on Season 25 of DWTS when they were paired together. His perspective has changed since becoming a married man. “It feels good to be married,” he stated.
What didn’t feel good was the judges’ score for Artem’s contemporary routine with Heidi. “I think this week [was] hard, because we work so hard to take in the correction from the judges and to, like, really deliver,” Artem told Page Six. “And when you work so hard to bring the emotion out, and then you actually do it, but you don’t get the score, that’s what’s hard,” he added.
Artem stated, “The emotional part, it’s more challenging than learning the steps – especially for a person who is not a performer. There’s a lot of people on the show who perform for a living … that’s what they do [on a] day-to-day basis.” He continued, “[Heidi] doesn’t, that’s not her job … so overcoming that and then kind of getting, like, ‘Bye, see ya,’ it does makes you feel a little bit like, ‘Ah, well this sucks.’”
RELATED: Nikki Bella Chose Her Wedding Dress 30 Minutes Before Marrying Artem Chigvintsev
Heidi was disappointed that she “didn’t really get the reaction” that she hoped for from DWTS judges. “I’ve come a long way. I poured my heart out there tonight,” Heidi stated. “I’m gonna try not to let that shut me down again. But, you know, I came this far. So, I’m happy,” she added.
Vinny and Koko were also sent home after dwelling on the bottom of the leaderboard for weeks. “It’s been an amazing journey,” Vinny said. “It looks like a dance competition, but I really did have to, like, overcome a lot of struggle during this that I’m going to keep with me forever,” he added. Vinny previously noted that he dealt with anxiety before he danced every week.
“We’ve had to keep fighting every single week, and we did. We kept fighting and we made it to week eight … like, the show’s almost over,” Vinny commented. “So, I’m proud and now I can be friends with Koko. She doesn’t have to teach me a new dance tomorrow!”
TELL US- DO YOU THINK HEIDI DESERVED HIGHER SCORES FROM THE JUDGES? WILL YOU MISS SEEING HEIDI AND VINNY IN THE BALLROOM?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Andrew Eccles]