Dancing with the Stars forced Kim Zolciak and her professional partner Tony Dovolani to withdraw from the competition because the reality TV star missed Monday night's performance show due to the aftermath of suffering a mini-stroke last week.

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Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron gave the bad news in that the rules state a contestant can no longer participate on the show if he or she has an illness or inability to dance. Kim, who stars on Don't Be Tardy and is known for her time on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, revealed a blood clot had caused her mini-stroke.

Kim spent three days in the hospital but actually rehearsed her routine with Tony on Saturday. Still, under doctors' orders, Kim couldn't get on a plane and fly to Los Angeles for last night's show. Tony, although clearly disappointed, is glad Kim put her health first. He ended up performing their I Dream of Jeannie dance with DWTS Troupe member Jenna Johnson for the audience.

Kim and Tony therefore became the third couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars 21st season on ABC.

Based on the combination of Dancing with the Stars judges' scores they had received during last week's performance show and the home viewer votes that were cast immediately afterwards, two couples were in jeopardy of elimination at the conclusion of Monday's broadcast.

However, Tom revealed that since Kim had to withdrawal, the two following couples were declared safe for another week: Crooner Andy Grammer and partner Allison Holker as well as celebrity chef Paula Deen and partner Louis van Amstel.

Last week, Andy and Allison tied with three other couple's for third place on the judges' leaderboard, while Paula and Louis tied with another pair for tenth place. It's unclear whether they were actually the bottom-two couples based on scores and votes from that performance show.

Monday night's broadcast featured two new leaderboard toppers. Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter and Spy Kids star Alexa PenaVega tied for first place after receiving 36 out of 40 points from DWTS judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Julianne Hough as well as guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro.

The episode featured all the celebrity and professional pairings dancing a tribute to some famous television shows.

Nick and partner Sharna Burgess performed a Viennese waltz inspired by Downton Abbey. Alexa and partner Mark Ballas danced to the theme of Breaking Bad.

Train hero Alek Skarlatos and partner Lindsay Arnold finished tied for third place at 33 points on the leaderboard with singer and talk show host Tamar Braxton and partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Alek and Lindsay took the stage with a True Blood tango, while Tamar and Val danced a tango to a Mad Men theme.

Fifth place went to Bindi Irwin, the daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, and partner Derek Hough with 32 points. They performed a quickstep routine from The Jeffersons.

Big Time Rush singer Carlos PenaVega and partner Witney Carson landed in sixth place on the judges' leaderboard. They earned 31 points for their jazz routine inspired by The Golden Girls.

Internet sensation Hayes Grier and partner Emma Slater claimed seventh place with 30 points. They danced a jive from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Eighth place went to Andy and Allison. They reenacted American Bandstand by performing a quickstep routine that received 29 points from the judges.

Oscar winning actor Gary Busey and partner Anna Trebunskaya finished in ninth place on the leaderboard. After taking the stage with a tango inspired by The Adams Family, they earned 25 points from the judges.

Paula and Louis landed at the very bottom of the judges' leaderboard in tenth place with 20 points. They performed a samba to the theme of Gilligan's Island.

The scores and votes the DWTS pairs earned last night will carry over into next week's elimination.

About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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