Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and that “Bachelor Nation” will rally behind their faves on “Dancing with the Stars.” But that didn’t pan out for Matt James, who was eliminated in 12th place at the end of “Disney Villains Night.” It was a close call, though. The judges had to choose between him and another reality star, “Real Housewives” alum Kenya Moore. Did you agree with their choice? Scroll down to vote in our poll at the bottom of this post.
There have been many, many contestants from the “Bachelor” extended universe on “DWTS.” That includes three Mirror Ball champions: “Bachelor” contestant Melissa Rycroft (season 15) and “Bachelorette” stars Hannah Brown (season 28) and Kaitlyn Bristowe (season 29). Men from the show haven’t had nearly as much luck, but they usually stuck around until around the midpoint of their seasons: Jake Pavelka placed seventh (season 10), Sean Lowe placed sixth (season 16), Chris Soules placed fifth (season 20), and Nick Viall placed sixth (season 24).
Then came “Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise” alum Joe “Grocery Store Joe” Amabile, who received consistently low scores but made it all the way to fifth place, showing the “Bachelor” fan base at its most powerful. But despite those solid results for “Bachelor Nation,” perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised by James’s early ouster. The writing might have been on the wall when host Tyra Banks announced that it would be a double elimination night. That has been kryptonite for “Bachelor” men for years: Soules, Viall, and Amabile were also sent home on double-elimination nights — eerie.
But it wasn’t just the judges’ scores and viewer votes that doomed James. On “Disney Villains Night” Banks revealed the bottom three: James, Moore, and Brian Austin Green. Because Green was dead last when scores and votes were added together, he was eliminated outright, so then the judges had to pick between the remaining two. Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba actually voted to save James, while Derek Hough and Len Goodman decided to save Moore. So it was a tie, but because Goodman is the head judge, his was the deciding vote, so Moore survived by the skin of her teeth while James met his fate. Were you sad to see him go?
Be sure to make your predictions so that the contestants can see how they’re faring in our racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs every Monday on ABC. You’ll compete to win a spot on our leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
