For the first time in “Dancing With the Stars” history, five dance duos will be competing in the Season 32 finale in hopes of winning the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
The unprecedented decision was revealed at the end of Tuesday night’s “Semi-Finals,” after producers left viewers shocked by making it seem like either Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov or Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy would be eliminated.
But, in a shocking twist, co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough announced that no one was going home – meaning the frontrunners would join already announced finalists Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach, Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev and Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber in one last showdown.
“That pretend elimination was the most terrifying thing. It was sick and twisted!” Madix, 38, exclusively joked to Page Six after the show. “I was like, ‘I love you guys, but also, I hate you guys for that!’”
The “Vanderpump Rules” star was near tears as she awaited her fate, telling us she was “fully convinced” in that moment that she and her pro partner were going home.
“In the pretend bottom two, it was between us and Xochitl and Val, and she has the power of teenagers on the internet,” she said of the 17-year-old Marvel star. “And I’m an elder millennial! I was like, ‘There’s no way!’ So that was where my head was at when my life was flashing before my eyes.”
Hannigan admitted that she also felt like she would be the one going home Tuesday night after placing at the bottom of the leaderboard for her waltz and jive. She and Farber were pleasantly surprised to hear they were the first couple announced “safe” from elimination.
“When [Alfonso] called my name, I thought he made a mistake. I was in total disbelief and I was waiting for him to correct himself,” the “American Pie” star, 49, told us. “And then he didn’t correct himself and I was like, ‘What universe are we in?’”
Meanwhile, Lawson told Page Six that she’s “still processing” what happened in those final moments.
“We are all deserving to be there and I think this is going to make it so much more special that we all get to share this moment together,” the “Bachelorette” alum, 27, said. “I’m stoked and so excited! I can barely talk right now.”
Chigvintsev chimed in, confirming this was indeed the “first time ever” that the show decided to send all remaining contestants into the finale. “Five freestyles!” he exclaimed of what’s to come. “That’s a lot, I hope you can handle it.”
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Next week’s “Finals” will feature the five couples each performing a freestyle dance, in which they have complete creative freedom to do whatever they want in one last effort to impress judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, along with viewers at home.
Hannigan, who is a diehard Taylor Swift fan, told us she and Farber will get the chance to dance to another song by the singer after previously paying tribute to her during the show’s “Taylor Swift Night.”
“[Producers] were like, ‘We know how much you love her, would you like to do another?’ And I was like, ‘Yes!’ They didn’t have to finish the sentence,” the actress shared, teasing that the dance will be “so enchanted.”
Mraz – who told us he’s “thrilled” to still be dancing after almost dropping out – joked that he plans to pull a Barry Williams by ripping off some clothes and showing skin for extra points.
“I’m going to have tearaway pants,” the “I Won’t Give Up” singer, 46, said. “Barry Williams pulled his shirt off and it went very well, they chanted his name. I might need something like that for the finale because my competitors are fierce.”
Pashkov teased that fans will get to see a version of Madix that they “haven’t seen yet” come out, while Lawson plans to pay tribute to “something that’s really relevant” to her life right now.
“It’s not going to be a lot of Bachelors showing up in the dance, that’s not gonna happen!” Chigvintsev clarified, laughing. “It’s going to be some epic things … in the air.”
The three-hour Season 32 finale of “Dancing With the Stars” kicks off Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.
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