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It was the end of the road for one couple on Dancing With the Stars on Monday night — and it certainly wasn’t smooth. Host Tyra Banks mistakenly revealed the wrong couple in the bottom two.
With three couples left waiting to find out their fate — Ann Heche and Keo Motsepe, Chrishell Stause and Gleb Savchenko and Vernon Davis and Peta Murgatroyd — Banks announced, “Anne and Keo and Vernon and Peta are at the bottom two.”
That last about one second, as she then revealed “there’s been an error.” “I’m looking right now, and we have three couples. So we need to clarify this for one second. The bottom two couples are Anne and Keo and Monica [Aldama] and Val [Chmerkovskiy],” Banks said.
“Please come back. Please have Monica come back,” the host pleaded, trying to locate Aldama and Chmerkovskiy, who had exited the stage after previously being announced as safe. “There’s been an error in our control room, but we’re making it happen.”
“This is live TV, right? This is the craziness of live TV!” Banks quipped.
With minutes before the broadcast ended, there wasn’t time to explain the blunder. Banks apologized, noting her cards were wrong, and then quickly asked the judges to name the couple they wanted to save. “Again, we apologize for this. This live TV, and we’re all human. It’s time for the judges’ verdict,” she said.
The judges saved Aldama and Chmerkovskiy, sending Heche and Motsepe home. “We’re going to hear it one more time for Anne and Keo. We love you guys so much. You guys go celebrate, Monica and Val,” Banks said, as Aldama and Chmekovskiy walked off the stage with confused looks on their faces.
Fans were just as confused, with some comparing the situation to Steve Harvey mistakenly crowning the wrong Miss Universe in 2015. Others said the mistake wouldn’t have happened with previous DWTS hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews.
This isn’t the first hiccup Banks has had as host of DWTS — though she hasn’t let previous flubs get her down. She took to TikTok following the season’s second episode to address fans’ criticism.
“Yeah, it wasn’t perfect,” the long-time TV host shared in a video that appeared to be shot in her dressing room. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun but I messed up, I said the wrong words, but I kept, kept going.”
“Forgive yourself when you mess up and keep going,” Banks added.
