Dancing With the Stars delivered one of Season 35’s most surprising results at the end of Yacht Rock Night when Taylor Hanson and professional partner Britt Stewart were eliminated — a decision that immediately drew an audible reaction inside the ballroom and frustration from viewers watching at home.
Taylor and Britt had just performed a foxtrot to The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes,” earning 18 out of 30 from Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
It wasn’t their highest-scoring position on the leaderboard, but the performance was widely viewed as a step forward for Taylor. Even after the elimination, coverage of the night described it as his strongest dance of the competition so far.
And critically, Taylor wasn’t the lowest-scoring contestant of the night.
Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson received 15 points, while Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess earned 17. Taylor’s 18 put him level with several other couples and seemingly gave him some breathing room heading into the results.
But judges’ scores are combined with viewer voting on DWTS, and that combination produced a result the ballroom clearly wasn’t expecting.
When host Alfonso Ribeiro announced Taylor and Britt were leaving, an audible gasp could be heard from the studio audience.
Britt looked stunned.
Her immediate reaction attracted almost as much attention as the elimination itself. She mouthed, “Oh my God,” before turning toward Taylor and apologizing to him.
Britt later explained that she was shocked because she believed their partnership was just beginning to gain momentum. Taylor shared a similar feeling, saying they were only starting to find their footing together when their season suddenly ended.
The reaction wasn’t limited to viewers. Fellow DWTS professional Ezra Sosa publicly expressed frustration over the result, while other members of the cast showed support for Britt and Taylor following their departure.
Online, many fans were considerably less restrained.
Some argued that Taylor had clearly improved and deserved another week, while others questioned how couples with lower judges’ scores managed to advance. There were also renewed calls for DWTS to bring back the judges’ save, which previously allowed the panel to rescue one of the couples facing elimination.
A number of particularly frustrated viewers even said the result made them consider stopping watching the season altogether — although those comments represent individual fan reactions rather than any broader measurement of audience sentiment.
Taylor became the fourth celebrity eliminated from Season 35, leaving 12 couples still competing.
Whether viewers agreed with the result or not, Yacht Rock Night delivered an important reminder about DWTS: leaderboard position alone cannot guarantee safety. Taylor and Britt appeared to be improving at exactly the right moment, but without enough combined support from the judges’ scores and public vote, their ballroom journey ended far earlier than many expected.
