It wasn’t shocking that Kirstie Alley was one of the two celebrities sent home in Tuesday night’s double elimination on "Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars." Despite her loyal fan base, the actress was trailing 20 points behind leader Melissa Rycroft.
Rather, it was Gilles Marini’s ouster that took everyone by surprise. Marini and his pro partner, Peta Murgatroyd, last season’s winner, were one of the highest scoring teams all season. But the duo told reporters after the show that they saw it coming, especially after Emmitt Smith and his partner Cheryl Burke were called safe.
Marini suggested that the low score he and Murgatroyd received in the crucial swing marathon dance in week seven of the show ultimately cost them a spot in the semi-finals. The actor pointed out that he and Murgatroyd were one of the first couples eliminated in the dance, and it became an uphill battle to regain those lost points.
“Even if I had scored three 10s on Monday’s show I wouldn’t be (going to the semi-finals),” he suggested. “The marathon just did me in.”
Marini said that he has no regrets about having participated in the all-stars season because he got to dance and strike up a friendship with Murgatroyd. An they plan on staying in touch.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg for us,” he said.
Alley was philosophical about her exit, which was announced earlier in the show.
“It was a great run,” she said. “Maks (Chmerkovskiy) tried his hardest but come on! The bottom line is that there are extraordinary dancers here.”
Chmerkovskiy said it came down to the numbers. “Mathematically, there was a 20-point difference between us and first place. The next couple ahead of us had 10 more points than we did.”
“Do we need to say this stuff?” Alley joked. “It was so close!”
“Well, you are not the boss of me anymore,” Chmerkovskiy playfully shot back.
“It was so close,” Alley continued to insist. “You have no idea. The difference between first place and us was, like, nothing!”
“She is insane,” Chmerkovskiy said with a smile.
Both ejected stars are returning to the television screen. Marini continues to film his role on the ABC Family series ‘Switched At Birth’ while Alley will film her sitcom, ‘Giant Baby,’ for TV Land on Dec. 10.
“I’m excited about that,” she said, confirming that Chmerkovskiy will appear on her new series at some point. “But he is not playing a dancer.”
There’s one silver lining for the two ejected dance pros. Since Murgatroyd and Chmerkovskiy (who are reportedly dating) don’t have to report to the dance studio they can spend a little time together.
“We’ll probably get to sleep in tomorrow and (then) go out for breakfast,” Murgatroyd said. “We have not done that for months. So, yeah, there’s a plus side -- even though we’re both sad to go.”
Related content:
- Kirstie Alley and Gilles Marini eliminated from 'Dancing With the Stars'
- Derek: A low score from Len is good for us
- Monday recap: Judges melt down over Shawn's samba
- Slideshow: Worst 'DWTS' costumes of the all-star season ... and beyond!
More in The Clicker: