Didn't anyone ever tell Dancing With the Stars that three is a crowd?
Facing a double elimination tomorrow, the remaining six contestants were tasked Monday with two dances apiece—the usual, except that round two was the show's first-ever "trio" round.
You might be asking what the heck that is. But first, who was crying before the judges even started talking?
Maria Menounos was overcome with emotion after she and Derek Hough danced the Viennese waltz.
"I loved the dance, and I love the music, and I love dancing with him," a tearful Maria said, as Carrie Ann Inaba noted that there's "something magical happening" between the Extra host and Derek. Neither Carrie Ann nor Bruno Tonioli found any fault with their routine, but Len Goodman was disappointed enough in the lack of hold to give them an 8.
But Maria wasn't alone in the downslide department—Katherine Jenkins got her first 8 in four weeks after being off her game during her Viennese waltz.
The judges deemed Melissa Gilbert's fox-trot her best dance yet (still only worthy of a 24, however), but even more momentous was Maksim Chmerkovskiy apologizing backstage for bringing his tyrant act to rehearsal again.
"Going forward, it won't happen," the seemingly humbled pro said.
William Levy, who, according to Bruno, "couldn't be more suave and debonair" if he tried, led the first round after scoring a perfect 30 on his fox-trot. Finishing a close second, after almost going home last week, was fellow fox-trot dancer Roshon Fegan, the recipient of his first-ever pair of 10s!
Then it was on to the threesome round! For each of the six dances, an ousted pro joined a still-in-competition couple, starting with Karina Smirnoff giving Peta Murgatroyd and Donald Driver a leg up on the jive.
We must say, when three pairs of legs are pulling off a proper jive—it's a sight to behold!
Derek predicted that he and Maria (and Henry Byalikov from the DWTS troupe) would get a 7 from Len based on his critique of their Bollywood-influenced samba—and, alas, they did. The round-two-worst 25 landed them in second-to-last place for the night.
Meanwhile, Maks and brother Val wanted Melissa "to shine in the middle of the two Chmerkovskiys," but that would have been tough for anybody. And pardon us if we barely noticed her, even though the judges declared it her best dance "by far."
"It obviously takes two to get the best out of you," said an admiring Bruno, who helped propel the Little House on the Prairie star to her season-high 27.
Katherine also rebounded with her two-man cha-cha utilizing the youthful vigor of both Mark Ballas and Tristan MacManus, who were handcuffed together to make the opera singer's icy blond thief look like even more of a tricky badass.
Roshon and Chelsie Hightower, meanwhile, ended up with an extra guy in their dance sandwich, troupe member Sasha Farber. "You were like two skinny fries chasing the ketchup!" raved Len of their paso doble.
Cheryl then invited Tony Dovolani to the paso doble party to pit William against a true professional. They fell out of sync once, but the routine was easily strong enough to keep Cheryl and William in first place for the night.
Here's how the leaderboard added up:
William Levy & Cheryl Burke: (30+27) 57
Roshon Fegan & Chelsie Hightower: (29+27) 56
Donald Driver & Peta Murgatroyd: (27+28) 55
Katherine Jenkins & Mark Ballas: (26+29) 55
Maria Menounos & Derek Hough: (28+25) 53
Melissa Gilbert & Maks Chmerkovskiy: (24+27) 51
Which duo do you think are done for after tonight? Share your thoughts in the comments!