'Dancing With the Stars': Why the Elimination is Not So Shocking

Photo credit: ABC/Eric McCandless.

Some fans are sitting with their mouths on the floor after tonight's elimination on Dancing With the Stars, but they shouldn't be shocked. Even though Sharna Burgess has been one of the show's most popular pros over the years, Jesse Metcalfe was struggling.

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He came in big on Week 1 with his Quickstep, more confident and rhythmic than we expected. Yet at the judges' panel, Metcalfe seemed to shrink. The comments were always constructive, but for some reason, he took them almost too much to heart.

The self-esteem left the building and the Week 1 performer was gone. It got progressively more noticeable week after week and our heart went out to him. He wanted to be there so badly, but the feedback got into his head out there on the dance floor.

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Burgess did everything she could to mold him into a dancer with strong routines. The content was there, but the frame and the dancing started to escape him — and we could see he was being too hard on himself. The shocking elimination became not so shocking in Week 5.

It was also evident in his social media views. On YouTube and Facebook, they started to drop more than we expected. The mentions slowed down in our social media feed and that's why he hit the weekly elimination poll list.

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Some followers questioned his appearance in the Twitter poll, but deep down that elimination was coming — and it was a sad one because we think Metcalfe had a deep desire to succeed on the show.

Hopefully, in time, he will realize that just doing Dancing With the Stars is a success. Dancing live on television in front of millions is a success. Learning something new at any age is a success. That's what we all need to learn. A Mirrorball Trophy is cool, but stepping outside of your comfort zone is the big win.

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