Dancing With The Stars will feature a unique formula Monday night. Each celebrity and their professional partner will dance twice for a chance to score two extra points. One couple, however, will be immune from the dance-off, and they've already been chosen.
The reality show announced on Instagram that James Van Der Beek and his partner, Emma Slate, will be immune from the dance-off. This is because the couple's scores are the highest for the entire season. Van Der Beek has been sweeping the competition with high scores, so the choice likely won't be surprising for viewers.
Although they won't be dancing in the dance-off, they'll still perform their main number on the episode, and will be automatically given the two points they could have won from the dance-off, according to Gold Derby.
Van Derk Beek and Slate issued a video message on the Dancing With The Stars Instagram story Sunday. In it, they asked viewers to continue to vote for them. They revealed though they won't be participating in the dance-off, they can still be voted off the show. In order to keep Van Der Beek in the competition, fans must vote for his safety just like they did in the past.
This season has seen a variety of unpredictable eliminations. The first shock was Sailor Brinkley-Cook's send-off. She was tied for first place of the night, but ultimately went home over Ally Brooke. Fans were upset by Brinkley-Cook's elimination and questioned why Sean Spicer wasn't sent home. The former White House Press Secretary has been a controversial topic on the show all season. Though his scores skate near the bottom of the pack, he has yet to be in the bottom two.
The bottom two are chosen by viewers each week. After voting throughout the show, those with the lowest votes of the evening are then sent to the judges, who have the final say on which celebrity stays in the competition.
This formula has been nerve-wracking for viewers, who want to see their favorites succeed, as well as for the celebrities. Brooke, a former member of Fifth Harmony, explained how unpredictable this season has been in a conversation with Us Weekly. "You just really can't predict what's going to happen. I think it definitely is shocking," she said. "It has been shocking and all you can do is just literally—just if I know that I did the best dance that I could and worked as hard as I could, and that's all that I can take away from it and then hope that America loves it. I think the more and more I show [them] who I am, I hope that it helps."
Brooke also said this season it's "not just about the dancing."
