Kellie Pickler on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 16: Week 7 Recap

Last night was Latin night on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” All of the stars were challenged by the show to take on two individual dances.

Whoever scored the highest after the first dance of the night will be safe from elimination. The couples were then set to dance in the “dance-off challenge.” Each couple had to prepare three extra dances. The couples with the highest score would pick who they wanted to dance against, and whoever they chose had to pick the style of dance.

Kellie Pickler and her partner Derek Hough danced the Samba to Ricky Martin’s “Shake Your Bon Bon” for their first dance. The couple had a rough time preparing their dance because Pickler had several shows over the weekend. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said she loved the dance, but couldn’t feel Pickler’s emotional connection to the dance. Head judge Len Goodman disagreed saying Pickler’s dance was “crisp,” “clean,” “hot,” and “spicy,” adding that “it was brilliant!” Fellow judge Bruno Tonioli agree with Goodman saying it was the “perfect balance of technique and performance,” then praised Hough’s dance by adding that the “content was out of this world.” The couple scored a nearly perfect score, with 29 out of 30 points.

With their score of 29, Pickler and Hough tied Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and her partner Mark Ballas. According to DWTS rules, the couple with the highest cumulative judge’s score would win the immunity. Due to this, Pickler and Hough are safe and cannot be eliminated from tonight’s results show.

Since Pickler and Hough won immunity, they were also exempt from dancing during the “dance-off challenge.”

The results show starts at 9 pm EST on ABC. Tune in to see who gets sent home. Michael Bublé will also perform.

Check out Kellie’s samba below: