Curtain falls of Castroneves’ “Dancing With the Stars” run
Castroneves and his professional dance partner, Chelsie Hightower, were eliminated from the celebrity ballroom dancing competition after their Week 3 performance. The three-judge panel each gave the couple 8.5s for a total of 25.5 (of 30) for their Quickstep, which tied for fourth of the 11 couples. But viewer/fan voting constitutes the other half of a couple's weekly total.
Team Helio was in the "bottom two" following their Week 2 performance of the Jive, which also received judges' scores that put them in the middle of the pack. Drew Lachey and his pro partner, Anna Trebunskaya, also were eliminated, leaving nine couples to contest for the trophy on the ABC show. Lachey was the Season 2 winner.
Castroneves' elimination drew boos from the studio audience. Castroneves, Lachey and Sabrina Bryan were all in danger of going home because they had the three lowest overall totals. The lowest scorer Oct. 8 was Bristol Palin, who earned 22.5 points for her Paso Doble, but she was not in the bottom two.
"I have to thank everyone; it was a lot of fun again," Castroneves said after the announcement as the cast moved to swarm the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion. "I want to thank my family, Chelsie, and I want to thank America … I couldn't be happier.
"As a person, I got a great opportunity to come over here and have fun and I'm thankful for having an incredible partner to teach me how to dance free, which was the best part."
Celebrities served as creative directors of the performances, in which couples recreated some of show's most unforgettable routines. The Team Helio performance evoked memories of the Season 4 dance performed by Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough. Castroneves won Season 5 with Hough as his partner.
"For me, it was a perfect scenario because I got to see incredible people again," Castroneves added. "That's probably what I'm going to miss most and it's special just to be with the All-Stars champions. It was an honor."