Being at the bottom of the scoreboard can often galvanize a star’s fan base, so perhaps Kirstie Alley and pro partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who earned a mere 30 points for their entertaining Charleston, won’t be going home Tuesday night.
No matter. The dynamic duo’s not stressing on the possibility.
“At this point, what can we possibly do,” Chmerkovskiy rhetorically said in the post-show press line Monday night. “This woman does things that she shouldn’t be doing. And it’s not an age thing. We’ve had women on this show in Kirstie’s demographic before, and they don’t do anything near what Kirstie and I do.
“She goes from rehearsal to home, applies ice and then, heat. She sleeps and wakes up to take a hot bath. The scores do not reflect what she deserves.”
There are a few other things that Chmerkovskiy wants to make clear about the former "Cheers" actress.
“She was not (expletive) crying in the video package after she did the cartwheel,” Chmerkovskiy said. “She was dying laughing.”
“I was laughing,” Alley concurred. “It freaked me out.”
“There were reports that she fainted in rehearsal,” Chmerkovskiy said.
“Not,” Alley stated.
“And that she was taken away in an emergency vehicle,” he scoffed.
“Not,” Alley stated.
“And that she has kidney or liver failure -- one of those,” he added.
“Kidney, which isn’t true, but my dog did (have that),” Alley said.
Maks noted: “So for someone who’s passed out with kidney failure…”
“I’m doing great!” Alley joked.
Also doing great is Karina Smirnoff, who berated herself for a fall she suffered during a hip-hop routine with her star partner, Apolo Anton Ohno -- and for certain comments she made on the show.
“I apologize to the whole of America,” Smirnoff said. “Especially to my mother, who’s going to let me have it; you’d think that (expletive) was the only word I’d mastered in my ESL (English as a second language) class!”
Despite the slip, the couple earned decent scores -- totaling 34.5.
“I was relieved our scores were so strong,” Smirnoff said. “I hope we get to stay and can come back ever stronger.”
Perhaps they will. Besides, it seems some viewers didn't even spot Smirnoff's slip.
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