Dancing with the Stars eliminated Jake T. Austin and his professional partner Jenna Johnson during Tuesday night's results show of the series' 23rd season on ABC.
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The Disney Channel star and Jenna became the first couple sent home from the competition based on the combination of the Dancing with the Stars judges' scores and home viewer votes they had received during the last two Monday night performance shows.
"It's been so much fun. I had a blast. Learning from Jenna was the opportunity of a lifetime. This was an incredible experience," Jake said following his ouster, before addressing the audience. "You guys are the best. Thank you to everyone watching. It's incredible."
Jake and Jenna finished tied for tenth place with two other couples on Monday night's judging leaderboard after earning 24 out of 40 points for their cha cha routine. Last week, Jake and Jenna tied with another couple for eleventh place out of 13 competing couples with 22 points.
Olympic gold swimmer and former What Would Ryan Lochte Do? star Ryan Lochte and partner Cheryl Burke were the other couple in jeopardy Tuesday night prior to Jake and Jenna's elimination, but they were not necessarily one of the bottom-two couples based on the judges' scores and America's votes.
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Like Jake and Jenna -- who was promoted to a pro partner from the DWTS Troupe this season and also competed on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation -- Ryan and Cheryl also landed in the bottom half of the judges' leaderboard two weeks in a row.
Tuesday night's results show featured backstage footage from the season's first two performance shows, guest musical performances and brief interviews with the cast members. DWTS veterans Cheryl, Derek Hough and Maksim Chmerkovskiy also took the stage with a powerful trio dance.
In addition to Ryan and Cheryl, the remaining 11 couples will live to see another week in the Dancing with the Stars competition.
Next Monday night, the special one-hour episode will feature the 12 couples dancing against one another in pairs. The winner of each face-off will win immunity and be safe from elimination. Another DWTS results show will then follow on Tuesday night, September 27, when another couple will be sent packing.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski