Maura Higgins found herself in "Tinker Hell" after narrowly escaping elimination on "Dancing With The Stars." Higgins, 35, finished last on the leaderboard with a combined score of 68 out of 80 following her individual jive and a group routine. She secured her place for another week after Julia Stiles was eliminated.
Higgins performed a jive dressed as Tinker Bell to "You Can Fly!" from Disney's "Peter Pan" with her partner Mark Ballas. Judges praised her ability to "sell" the performance and called it "magical," but noted a lack of technical precision. Bruno Tonioli advised more elasticity in her legs, while Derek Hough called for "more snap and sharper flicks." Carrie Ann Inaba observed dips in her energy, and guest judge Cynthia Erivo felt Higgins appeared "worried" at times.
Reflecting on the judges' critiques, Higgins stated, "I love everything about this show apart from the jive. I do not like it at all." When host Julianne Hough asked if she was having "Tinker Bell tantrums" with her partner, Higgins replied, "I was in Tinker Hell this week."
The audience reaction was divided, with some viewers feeling Higgins was marked too harshly compared to other contestants, while others agreed with the judges regarding technique and energy.
Julia Stiles was ultimately sent home following her paso doble to a song from the musical "Hamilton." Stiles had been dealing with a rib injury sustained earlier in the season. Despite earning a score of 33 out of 40 for her paso doble, it was not enough to keep her in the competition.
Jenna Dewan and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy earned their first perfect score of the season, tying for the top spot on the leaderboard with Harry Shum Jr. and his partner Jenna Johnson. Dewan and Chmerkovskiy performed a quickstep to "Be Our Guest" from "Beauty and the Beast," receiving a perfect 40. Dewan and Johnson performed a jazz routine to "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from "Mary Poppins," also scoring 40.
Other contestants included Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov, who performed a quickstep to "A Star Is Born" from "Hercules" and earned 34 points. Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik danced a contemporary routine to "Easy As Life" from "Aida," scoring 33. Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach received 37 points for their samba to "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid." Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold danced a waltz to "I See the Light" from "Tangled," earning 32 points.