'Dancing With the Stars': Don't Let Hump Week Get You Down

Photo credit: ABC/Eric McCandless.

Dancing With the Stars was a roller coaster ride on Monday night. It was hard to feel grounded as a viewer when the nerves were felt all over the ballroom. What was going on this week?

Let's take a look at some of the possible issues affecting the contestants on "Hump Week" aka Week 6:

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1. Stamina: Dancing With the Stars is a marathon, not a race. The excitement of doing the show is over. Anyone who is still competing is now in the thick of fatigue, injuries and chasing away self-doubt. This is when the mental game is the hardest. The mind wants to tell you to quit, but you have to find a way to keep on going and plow through the challenges.

2. Choreography: The pacing of the show felt different this week because the dances are no longer under a minute. Each piece ran about one minute and twenty seconds, so that adds more choreography to remember. Any contestant who has struggled with a one-minute routine was probably freaking out about an additional twenty seconds.

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3. Hello, it's a pandemic: We have to give credit to each and every person riding through the journey of Dancing With the Stars during unprecedented times. They aren't getting the normal DWTS experience of a skybox and fun after-show parties at Mixology. It's a more isolating season with the added stresses of a pandemic, an endless news cycle and an exhausting election. They all deserve major kudos for bringing so much joy to our televisions each week.

With the unexpected slip in rankings for Johnny Weir and Skai Jackson and the steady rise of Monica Aldama and Jeannie Mai, DWTS viewers better get ready. The surprise elimination is coming soon.

Don't miss our weekly Dancing With the Stars Aftershow. Available on Patreon.

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