Season 30 of Dancing with the Stars is winding down, and what a season it was! Social media influencer Olivia Jade joined the cast, and some DWTS viewers were unhappy about her participation. Olivia’s parents, actress Lori Loughlin and designer Mossimo Giannulli, were involved in the college admissions scandal.
Pro Artem Chigvintsev was paired with actress Melora Hardin. They were eliminated before the finals, along with Olympic gymnast Suni Lee and her pro, Sasha Farber.
Artem spoke to Page Six and other reporters after the double elimination. Melora, who is 54 years old, and Artem received the lowest combined viewer votes and judges scores and were cut immediately. I hate how they were hurried off the stage.
Artem remarked, “The one thing that I felt really sad [about] … I don’t think there’s been, for the past I don’t know how many seasons, a person of [her] age make it this far.” The pro dancer continued, “I don’t understand why people don’t get behind this. The people who are watching our show, the core audience, is that [age].” That is a very good point.
“It makes no sense in my mind, why women of [Melora’s] age would not get behind [her] and be like, ‘I don’t think I can do this. And I’m just so happy to see someone doing it … I’m gonna stand behind it, I’m gonna support it!’” Artem commented.
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Artem noted that Melora competed against contestants who were “three times less than her age.” The DWTS pro continued, “At the end of the day, dancing should not be just about visual effects; it should be about dancing, it should be about emotion, it should be about that. That’s why for me, it’s very hard to understand why sometimes [the] audience could easily be amused by a split and not be amused by true emotion that comes from heart,” he stated. “That to me is very hard to understand.” It does seem like routines laden with tricks often capture fans’ attention.
“When you see tricks and flips and these things it’s like, I get it, but you have to give some kind of appreciation and respect,” Artem shared. “She tried just as hard, worked just as many hours and matter of fact, really, it’s just as hard of moves.”
Melora was crushed that they didn’t make the finals, but she was proud of taking on the ballroom and making it that far. “I always knew I was a good dancer, but I don’t think I knew I was this good of a dancer at 54,” Melora remarked. I’m sad that Melora didn’t make it to the finals.
Jenna and JoJo are competing in the finals with Amanda Kloots and Alan Bersten, who narrowly missed being eliminated. Cody Rigsby and Cheryl Burke are also competing, as are basketball star Iman Shumpert and his partner, Daniella Karagach.
RELATED: Melora Hardin Says Her Scores Didn’t Line Up With What The Judges Said On Dancing With The Stars
TELL US- SHOULD DWTS VIEWERS GET BEHIND OLDER CONTESTANTS WHO ARE GOOD DANCERS? WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE MIRROR BALL?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Maarten de Boer]
