'Dancing with the Stars' couple Alfonso Ribeiro and pro partner Witney Carson top the leaderboard in premiere

Dancing with the Stars' nineteenth-season competition got off to an incredible start for Alfonso Ribeiro and his professional partner Witney Carson.


The actor and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star and Witney finished in first place on the judges' leaderboard during Dancing with the Stars' nineteenth-season Monday night premiere on ABC.

Alfonso and Witney topped the leaderboard after they received 36 out of 40 possible points for their jive routine from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Julianne Hough.

Fashion designer Betsey Johnson and partner Tony Dovolani finished in thirteenth -- and last -- place at the bottom of the leaderboard after they performed a cha cha routine which received only 20 points from the judges.

Second place on the judges' leaderboard went to Duck Dynasty star Sadie Robertson and partner Mark Ballas after they danced a cha cha routine worthy of 34 points.


Third place on the leaderboard was a tie between the following two couples: YouTube fashionista Bethany Mota and partner Derek Hough as well as actress and Back to the Future star Lea Thompson and partner Artem Chigvintsev.

Both couples earned 32 points from the judges during Monday night's performance show. Bethany and Derek danced the jive, while Lea and Artem performed a foxtrot routine.

Mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Randy Couture and partner Karina Smirnoff received 31 points for their foxtrot routine and therefore finished in fifth place on the judges' leaderboard.

Sixth place went to actor and Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett and partner Allison Holker with 30 points. They danced the jive.

Seventh place turned out to be another tie at 29 points between late-night talk show host Tavis Smiley and fellow celebrity Janel Parrish, an actress and Pretty Little Liars star.


Tavis and partner Sharna Burgess performed a foxtrot routine. Janel and partner Val Chmerkovskiy performed the jive.

Comedian Tommy Chong and partner Peta Murgatroyd finished in ninth place on the judges' leaderboard after performing a cha cha routine worthy of 27 points.

Tenth place was a tie between soap opera and General Hospital star Antonio Sabato Jr. and fellow celebrity Michael Waltrip, a professional race car driver.

Both pairs earned 25 points for their cha cha routines. Antonio is partnered with Cheryl Burke, and Michael is paired with Emma Slater.

Olympian Lolo Jones and partner Keoikantse "Keo" Motsepe landed in twelfth place on the leaderboard with 22 points after they took the stage with a cha cha performance.


One of the 13 nineteenth-season couples will be eliminated during Tuesday night's special Dancing with the Stars results show based on the combination of judges' scoring and home-viewer voting results from last night's performance show.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski