PureDWTS Season 23 Week 8 – Media, Scores, And Interviews

I really love “Halloween Week”. The entire Production team of Dancing With The Stars out did themselves again last night. I loved all the dances as well for different reasons. More on that in Court’s new Power Rankings post later. For now, let’s review the scores….

James Hinchliffe and Jenna Johnson/Sharna Burgess: 10-10-10 from the judges for a total of 30.
Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy: 10-10-10 from the judges for a total of 30.
Calvin Johnson, Jr. and Lindsay Arnold: 10-10-10 from the judges for a total of 30.
Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko: 9-9-9 from the judges for a total of 27.
Terra Jole and Sasha Farber: 8-8-8 from the judges for a total of 24.
Marilu Henner and Derek Hough: 7-8-8 from the judges for a total of 23.
Ryan Lochte and Cheryl Burke: 7-8-8 from the judges for a total of 23. Eliminated

Now onto some media. First, Glamour has a recap and a few media tidbits. Note how it’s “Showstopper’s Week” next.

Below is what Ryan Lochte told People on his elimination. Be watching the link for more interviews later in the day.

“I knew it was going to happen eventually. The people, the friendships that I’ve made here we’re pretty much a second family now. Now I’m saying goodbye, it’s sad. I will be back into weeks for the finale so I can’t say all my goodbyes yet,” Lochte told PEOPLE after being eliminated. “I learned a lot about myself. No matter how hard people knock me down, I can still get up and keep fighting no matter what and keep moving forward and staying positive.”

From Fox News:

Hinchcliffe, who cheated death in a bad car crash last year, tried to take it in stride. He said, “You can worry about things but it’s not going to help the situation. I learned that time and time again in my career. This was the hand we were dealt and we had to make the best of it.”

Still, the driver, who has become close friends with Burgess, was devastated to lose her after seven weeks competing together and commented, “I wasn’t really expecting how different it is to step in with somebody else.” He was grateful Burgess coached him and Johnson the entire way.

Meanwhile, Hernandez brought her partner Val Chmerkovskiy to tears in rehearsal, as he was overcome with emotion about her blossoming on “DWTS.”

They soared again on Monday with a “Willy Wonka” themed Viennese waltz to the song “Pure Imagination.” The two also won their dance off portion of the evening against Johnson.

About her dance, she said, “It felt beautiful,” and shared of her rehearsal moment with Chmerkovskiy, “I was trying not to cry, too. It was interesting. From what I hear, I don’t think Val cries often. It’s great to be able to touch his heart like that.” Hernandez, 16, also announced that her inspirational memoir, “I Got This: To Gold and Beyond,” about achieving her Olympics dream, comes out Jan. 24.

Jana Kramer and partner Gleb Savchenko earned a 27 for their “Little Shop of Horrors'” jazz dance, and Terra Jole and partner Sasha Farber got a 24 for their cha cha. They lost out to Kramer/Savchenko in the dance off. But backstage, Jole was buoyant, telling reporters that next week, “I feel like we’re going to be coming back and kicking some royal tushy.”

More from Fox News…..

Lochte earlier told “DWTS” reporters that he doesn’t care how big the wedding is, saying, “I just want my family and my friends there and she wants the exact same thing so we might keep the wedding small– but the party afterwards is going to be big.”

Now he has plenty of time to make a guest list with Reid—but on Monday, the Olympian still said leaving “DWTS” was tough. “I feel sad. I didn’t want to leave but I knew it was going to happen eventually. The people, the friendships I’ve created are pretty much a second family here that now I’m saying goodbye to. I will be back in two weeks for the finale. I can’t say all my goodbyes [now].

“I learned a lot about myself. No matter how people knock me down I can still get up and I can keep fighting no matter what and keep moving forward and staying positive,” he added.

During the “DWTS” September 12 live premiere, two male audience members rushed the stage towards Lochte as he and partner Burke were receiving judges’ feedback. Studio security guards tackled them before Lochte or his pro were touched in the scary incident.

Other audience members also jeered Lochte for his Rio behavior and were ejected from the ballroom.

The next week, he admitted, “I wanted to quit.”

However, Lochte bravely weathered the storm and made it to week eight, telling reporters “DWTS” helped change his image: “I think my dance did. Throughout the [TV rehearsal footage] packages that go through each dance routine, the different dance types I had and being emotional and you name it. I think America definitely saw a different side of me.”

Don’t miss reading both Fox News links for more. I especially liked how Derek straightened out the reporter on his and Marilu’s package which you can read more on here.

E Online:

ET:

Stormy’s DWTS All Access coverage:

Keep checking back. We may post more later. Thanks so much for reading. ~ Vogue xx

ETA: Access Hollywood interviews….

Extra: