'Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro' determines its three finalists after most difficult challenge yet

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro has determined its Top 3 finalists and eliminated Allen Genkin after a difficult challenge involving current Dancing with the Stars pro partners.


"I'm very sad and devastated to be going home, but at the same time, I feel like I left it all out there," Allen said following his ouster.

"This has been the most exciting and phenomenal experience. I think my mom would've enjoyed watching me here. I hope I made her proud."

During Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro's seventh episode that aired Monday night on ABC, the four semi-finalists -- Allen, Adele Zaikman, AJ Pritchard and Selena Hamilton -- were required to choreograph two full dances.

The dancers were told their first dance would be with a Dancing with the Stars pro but they'd have full creative control over the choreography.


For the second dance, the semi-finalists were paired up with one another.

Allen was partnered with Witney Carson and tasked with performing a jive, Adele was paired with Gleb Savchenko and given the samba, AJ was partnered with Rylee Arnold for a cha cha, and Selena was matched with Jan Ravnik to execute a salsa.

"The pros will report your teaching and choreography skills directly to our judges, so they're going to know every single detail," Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro host Robert Irwin explained to the cast.

After just a couple days of rehearsals, the dancers were going to have to perform for Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro judges Shirley Ballas and Mark Ballas as well as guest judge Kym Johnson.

In the middle of rehearsals, the Dancing with the Stars pros sat down with the judges for a conversation.


Jan shared how Selena took the lead and did a great job of choreographing entertaining moves, and Gleb shared how Adele was so well trained in ballroom.

Witney praised Allen's energy and charisma but noted how he needed more confidence.

And Rylee admitted AJ was "kind of intense" during rehearsals.

"I don't know if he's going to be able to bring affirmation to somebody. It was constant critique," Rylee revealed to the judges.

Round 1 then commenced.


The judges told Allen that they would've liked to see more "wow" moments with Witney, but Mark said he disagreed and truly enjoyed all of the kicks, flips and shaping.

Selena was praised for showing off her experience as a commercial dancer, and Kym called Selena "a star."

Adele "absolutely nailed" her samba with Gleb, according to Kym, and Mark admitted the routine was "damn near perfect."

After AJ and Rylee performed, Mark said the danced lacked "a little soul, funk and grit," although the other judges loved the routine.

For Round 2, Adele and AJ performed the foxtrot, while Allen and Selena danced the quickstep.


Shirley and AJ were told that they both looked like bright lights on the stage, showing so much personality.

For AJ and Adele, Kym dubbed Adele "a star" and said she was "blown away" by their performance. Shirley agreed that AJ is "a star" and Adele is "the new generation of Dancing with the Stars."

Footage then showed Shirley and Mark discussing the performances. While Shirley noted it's a ballroom dance competition, Mark pointed out how a lot had changed about Dancing with the Stars and there's more to it than just great technique.

When it became time for the elimination, Shirley announced, "Having taken everything into account, there is one dancer who is ever so slightly under performed. And so unfortunately, this is going to be the last dance for Allen."

Mark appeared extremely disappointed on the judging panel, as if eliminating Allen was not his choice.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski