'Dancing with the Stars' leaderboard topped by Bindi Irwin and Nick Carter in premiere

Dancing with the Stars' 21st season got off to an incredible start for Bindi Irwin and Nick Carter during Monday night's premiere broadcast on ABC.


Bindi, the daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, and Nick, a member of the Backstreet Boys, tied for first place on the judges' leaderboard out of the 13 competing couples.

Bindi and her pro partner Derek Hough topped the leaderboard with Nick and his pro partner Sharna Burgess after they both received 24 out of 30 points from Dancing with the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Julianne Hough.

Bindi and Derek danced the jive, while Nick and Sharna performed a cha cha routine.

Third place on the judges' leaderboard also represented a tie between Tamar Braxton, a singer, talk show host and sister of the iconic Toni Braxton, and Big Time Rush singer Carlos PenaVega.


Tamar and partner Val Chmerkovskiy performed a quickstep routine that earned 23 points, while Carlos and partner Witney Carson danced the foxtrot which also racked in 23 points.

Two couples tied for fifth place as well. Spy Kids star Alexa PenaVega and partner Mark Ballas earned 22 points for their jive. Train hero Alek Skarlatos and partner Lindsay Arnold received the same score from the judges after taking the stage with a foxtrot routine.

Seventh place, at 21 points, was a tie between Internet sensation Hayes Grier and crooner Andy Grammer. Hayes and partner Emma Slater danced the cha cha. Andy and partner Allison Holker performed a foxtrot routine.

Ninth place was a three-way tie amongst the following couples: Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza and partner Karina Smirnoff, celebrity chef Paula Deen and partner Louis van Amstel, and Oscar winning actor Gary Busey and partner Anna Trebunskaya.

All three couples received 15 points from the judges. Victor and Karina danced the salsa, Paula and Louis performed a quickstep routine, and Gary and Anna danced the cha cha.


Iconic singer Chaka Khan and partner Keo Motsepe finished the night in twelfth place on the judges' leaderboard with 13 points after taking the stage with a cha cha routine.

Don't Be Tardy and The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak unfortunately landed at the bottom of Monday night's leaderboard with only 12 points after salsa dancing with partner Tony Dovolani.

The couple with the lowest total of judges' scores and home viewer votes from Monday night's performance show will be eliminated during next week's Dancing with the Stars broadcast.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski