Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | October 1, 2026
This third week of Dancing with the Stars was “Yacht Rock” Week, which was weird because of the 12 or 13 numbers, only four or five were actually Yacht Rock songs because Hall & Oates, Fleetwood Mac, and Luther Vandross are decidedly not Yacht Rock. Then again, half the fun in this week’s episode was being audibly irritated about which songs were categorized as Yacht Rock in front of my teenage daughters, who were audibly irritated by my audible irritation.
We were not audibly irritated by many of this season’s contestants: It feels like Harry Shum, Jr., Maura Higgins, and Jenna Dewan are leading the pack, along with Paralympian Ezra Frech, who may be the season’s fan favorite. He is fantastic. Alas, Julia Stiles has struggled a little — she’s just very stiff.
Meanwhile, Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel continues to be a very bad dancer, but also clearly continues to put in a ton of effort, a great attitude, and a lot of spirit, which has gotten him through three weeks despite having the lowest judges’ scores in each week. He is the Andy Richter of this season, although I am pretty sure that Richter scored at least in the middle of the pack a few times during his run. I cannot imagine Guillermo ever faring better than any of the other dancers, though I can imagine fans saving him for a few more weeks.
That’s triggered rumors (partially fueled by Howard Stern, of all people) that Witney Carson — his dance partner — actually wants to be eliminated, not because she doesn’t like Guillermo (who could ever dislike Guillermo?), but because she is pregnant. A lot of folks speculated at the beginning of the season that Witney was paired with Guillermo because of her pregnancy because it would allow her to exit the show early.
Carson took to TikTok to address those rumors. “I do feel like I need to address some rumors going around or some opinions, speculations, whatever you want to call it. Every week, Guillermo and I have been put in the bottom three, which doesn’t necessarily mean all those couples have the lowest votes, but it does mean that you don’t get to celebrate that you’re safe. You only get to hear who’s going home.”
She’s not sad about being eliminated, however. She is sad for whoever is going home.
“Those two emotions are existing at once,” Carson explained. “But my first initial reaction is sad for whoever’s going home, and then obviously we celebrate, and they don’t really show that bit.”
She also added that she is “very happy that we’re continuing on.”
“I am truly so grateful to continue on in this competition week after week with Guillermo because he really deserves it,” she continued. “He is genuinely a kind person. He genuinely wants to get better. He never gives up.”
This is Witney Carson’s third pregnancy. She knows what’s best for her own body. I personally think that she was paired with Guillermo not because he’s expected to go home early (everyone saw how far Richter went last season), but because her dance routines would be less strenuous because Guillermo cannot do strenuous. Bless.
