Britt Stewart and Taylor Hanson have spoken out following their surprising elimination from Dancing With the Stars Season 35, and Stewart admitted she was still struggling to process how quickly their journey ended.
The pair were eliminated during Yacht Rock Night after performing a foxtrot to The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes.” The routine earned 18 out of 30, with the judges telling Taylor it was his strongest dance of the competition so far.
That made what happened minutes later especially difficult to understand.
Taylor and Britt were left awaiting the results alongside Jackson Olson and Emma Slater and Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson. When Alfonso Ribeiro announced that Taylor and Britt were the couple going home, both appeared stunned.
Britt could be seen mouthing, “Oh my god,” before immediately turning toward Taylor and apologizing to him. She later explained that the apology came from knowing how much more she believed they could have experienced together.
After the show, Britt admitted she was “definitely still in shock.”
Then came the comment that attracted even more attention.
Britt explained that she had been saying since the beginning of Season 35 that viewers should expect the unexpected. After being eliminated herself, she joked that she now had to be careful what she wished for because she never imagined the season would become unpredictable for her and Taylor in this particular way.
The remark wasn’t evidence that Britt knew something unusual was coming. Instead, it appeared to be her way of acknowledging the irony of repeatedly predicting an unpredictable season only to become part of one of its biggest surprises.
Taylor was equally disappointed.
He revealed that one of his biggest goals coming onto the show had been helping Britt finally lift the Mirrorball Trophy. He admitted that failing to reach that goal was something he would struggle with after their elimination.
Taylor also praised the relationship they had developed during rehearsals, joking that Britt had sometimes become part dance teacher and part counselor as she pushed him outside his comfort zone.
For him, the hardest part was the timing. Taylor said he felt as though they were “just getting going” when their run suddenly ended.
Britt echoed that feeling while emphasizing that their friendship would not end with the competition. She described meeting Taylor as one of those rare experiences where two people immediately recognize similarities in each other and said she considers their DWTS partnership only the beginning of their connection.
Their fellow professionals were surprised as well. Sharna Burgess praised Britt’s work with Taylor and said she hopes Stewart eventually receives the opportunity to reach a finale and perform a freestyle, while Brandon Armstrong called Britt an elite dancer and professional.
So Britt’s “unexpected” remark wasn’t a hidden explanation for what happened. It captured how blindsided she felt: she entered Season 35 expecting surprises, but she never expected one of the season’s earliest major shocks to be the sudden ending of her own partnership.
