Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | October 21, 2026
This week’s theme on Dancing with the Stars was Dedication night. It’s the annual episode where the dancers dedicate their song to someone (or some country) and, generally, try to bring the judges to tears. It almost always works. Tatyana Ali dedicated her song to her Fresh Prince of Bel Air dad, James Avery, and even provided the vocals to her song (she’s an even better singer than dancer). One celebrity dedicated his dance to his late mom, then used that dance to announce his wife’s pregnancy, and then they even did a live gender reveal before scores. There’s a lot of earnestness involved.
And then there’s Julia Stiles. She dedicated her dance to her late 10 Things I Hate About You co-star, Heath Ledger. And then, she worked in a rendition of that Heath Ledger dance routine from the movie into her performance. And then she ended it with that tearful speech Stiles gives to Ledger at the end of the movie. And if that wasn’t enough, when Stiles ended her dance and turned around, all of her middle-aged co-stars from 10 Things About You (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt) were lined up on the dance floor to honor Ledger along with Stiles.
It’s an emotional performance. Try and keep it together, folks.
For what it’s worth, however, it was not my favorite of the night. That honor went to Maura Higgins, who dedicated her performance — set to the Dropkick Murphys — to Ireland, and just blew the roof off the dump.
