Dancing With the Stars First-Ever Partner Switch Up: Find Out How the New Pairings Did!

The ABC reality hit introduced viewers to the new pairings on Twitter right before Monday night's show

By Tierney Bricker Apr 08, 2014 2:02 AMTags
DANCING WITH THE STARS CastABC/Adam Taylor

Were the celebrities able to handle the ballroom's trickiest move ever?

Dancing With the Stars' new twist, the "Switch Up," which finds the ABC reality hit's celebrity contestants swapping professional dancer partners for one week (thanks to votes from the fans!), finally came into play on the April 7 episode, and it's safe to say it could be a major gamechanger in the competition.

When we chatted with the Season 18 cast before the swap, they had mixed feelings about the new twist. Professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy admitted he was "very upset" over the "Switch Up" and Mark Ballas said he "didn't like it." But Olympian Charlie White called it "exciting" and Derek Hough revealed he actually pitched the polarizing twist a few seasons ago!

And all of the new pairings were (finally!) revealed on  Monday night's show, which featured the return of former professional dancer Julianne Hough as a guest judge!

Here are the new pairings for week three and their scores for the night:

NeNe Leakes (originally with Tony Dovolani) danced with Derek Hough: 32 for their jazz
Charlie White (originally with Sharna Burgess) danced with Peta Murgatroyd: 33 for their rumba
Meryl Davis (originally with Maksim Chmerkovskiy) danced with Val Chmerkovskiy: 39 for their Argentine tango
James Maslow (originally with Peta Murgatroyd) danced with Cheryl Burke: 35 for their tango
Amy Purdy (originally with Derek Hough) danced with Mark Ballas: 34 for their salsa
Drew Carey (originally with Cheryl Burke) danced with Witney Carson: 33 for their cha-cha-cha
Cody Simpson (originally with Witney Carson) danced with Sharna Burgess: 31 for their foxtrot
Candace Cameron Bure (originally with Mark Ballas) danced with Tony Dovolani: 28 for their quickstep
Danica McKellar (originally with Val Chmerkovskiy) danced with Maksim Chmerkovskiy: 32 for their jive

And while no one was eliminated during tonight's show, the scores from last week will be combined with the scores from tonight's outing. Next week, the celebs will return to their original dance partners and the regularly scheduled eliminations will resume.

What did you think of the Switch Up twist? Did you like it or did you prefer the original pairings? Sound off in the comments!

PHOTOS: DWTS Season 18's official cast portraits!