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Disney+ and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) season 32 released episode 8, titled Whitney Houston Night, on November 14, 2023. With 7 remaining couples on this iteration of the show, the episode was filled with a range of soulful performances on Houston's songs.
Like every week, DWTS also saw a brand new elimination, which means that only 6 couples will be left competing for the title starting from next week. Season 32 episode 9 will be titled, A Celebration of Taylor Swift, and will see similarly iconic performances on Swift’s songs.
In episode 8, Barry Williams and his partner Peta Murgatroyd were eliminated, leaving behind only 6 couples to compete for this season's title.
Barry Williams was eliminated from DWTS season 32 episode 8
The number of contestants vying for the Mirrorball trophy has progressively reduced every week. Episode 8 saw a performance by Billy Porter on the song How Will I Know, which initially set the stage for the contestants.
The first performance on the night took place by Harry Jowsey, who along with his partner performed to Houston’s I Have Nothing. The performance did impress judges who still thought that the kind of intensity that people have come to expect from DWTS was not apparent. This resulted in a rather ordinary score of 28 for Jowsey.
This was followed by Xochiti Gomez’s performance on Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The performance proved to be one of the strongest on the episode and resulted in a perfect 40/40 score from the judges. Gomez’s performance meant that he had made himself safe for the episode.
Season 32 episode 8 of DWTS also saw Ariana Madix perform Queen of the Night, which also immediately impressed judges due to the difficulty of some of the moves she pulled off. Madix got 39 out of 40 and was also effectively safe for the night.
The couple's performances were followed by the Dance-off for the night. The likes of Alyson and Sasha engaged in a rumba dance-off against Harry and Rylee. The former ended up winning comfortably which resulted in them winning 3 bonus points. The second dance-off took place between Barry and Peta, and Jason and Daniella. The third and final dance-off of the night took place between Charity and Artem, and Xochiti and Val.
With the latter having produced a perfect 40-point performance, they ended up losing the dance-off to Charity and Artem, while Barry and Peta ended up winning the bonus points in the second dance-off.
However, despite winning the dance-off, Barry and Peta’s overall score meant that they were eliminated on the night. The viewer votes failed to save the couple as Barry thanked everyone for what he claimed was one of the “most wonderful experiences” of his life.
The episode saw Xochiti and Val finish at the top despite losing the bonus points round. Ariana and Pasha were 2nd, while Harry and Rylee were 3rd after both the judges’ votes and the viewer's votes were considered.
Now, only the following 6 couples will compete for the titles over the course of DWTS Season 32:
- Alyson & Sasha
- Ariana & Pasha
- Charity & Artem
- Harry & Rylee
- Jason & Daniella
- Xochitl & Val.
Season 32 episode 9 of DWTS will see the rest of the couples perform various Taylor Swift songs. With the Grand Finale set for December 5, 2023, couples will be progressively eliminated as part of subsequent episodes. DWTS episodes are streamed live on ABC every Tuesday at 8 PM ET and are also available subsequently on Disney+.
