‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 21 Contestant Alexa PenaVega Responds To Shocking Elimination, Talks Her Battle Against Bulimia [VIDEO]
“Dancing With the Stars” fans witnessed their fair share of drama on the dance floor during Week 9 of the hit ABC competition. In addition to the show’s host, Tom Bergeron, revealing that Season 21 competitor Tamar Braxton was hospitalized (due to pneumonia and exhaustion), viewers also watched as the show’s married couple were forced to go head-to-head during the dreaded elimination.
That’s right, the elimination came down to Alexa PenaVega and her husband Carlos PenaVega. But ultimately, it was Alexa and her partner Mark Ballas who were sent home from the ballroom despite their night of perfect scores.
“It was [a shock],” Mark spoke of their surprising elimination on Tuesday during “Good Morning America," noting that if they had to go out, he’s glad they did it with a bang. “I was proud of her.”
In addition to stunning the judges during their team-dance routine (alongside Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough), which was inspired by the musical “Chicago,” Alexa also earned a standing ovation for her contemporary performance, which told the personal story of her battle against bulimia.
“I knew at some point in my life I’d talk about it,” Alexa told the hosts of “GMA,” revealing that she was fearful to unveil her past, thinking people would only see her as the girl who struggled with an eating disorder. “I feel like this show allowed me to gain that confidence to talk about it and help other people going through that and really put it to rest.”
After the chilling performance, judge Bruno Tonioli told Alexa that she danced like a “woman possessed” throughout the haunting routine. “It had all the emotional turmoil of a dark psycho drama -- images out of ‘American Horror Story’! And you’ve done it, Alexa. You danced like I’ve never seen you dance before.”
Unfortunately, fans will no longer get to see Alexa shake it out on the ballroom floor. But they will be able to catch Tamar and Val Chmerkovskiy! During the live show, Tamar returned to the dance floor (after getting hospitalized) to perform her group number, which earned the commendable score of 27 out of 30. The host revealed that if Tamar had missed the team dance, then she and Val would have been the twosome going home.
“I’ve seen injuries happen before. It was a close call. None of us knew if she was going to come back,” Mark revealed what was going through his head during Monday night’s show. “Injuries happen, people get sick -- It’s part of the process. That’s what makes the show exciting … its live.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
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