Dancing with the Stars eliminated Olympic gold swimmer Ryan Lochte and his professional partner Cheryl Burke during Monday night's Season 23 performance show on ABC.

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The former What Would Ryan Lochte Do? star and Cheryl became the seventh couple eliminated from the competition based on the combination of Dancing with the Stars judges' scores and home viewer votes they had received during last week's performance show.

"I learned a lot about myself, that I could -- no matter how hard I get knocked down, I can keep fighting," Ryan said following his ouster. "And this family, I love it and I'm sad that I'm going home, but everyone here has touched me in a special place right here, so I'll always remember that."

Ryan and Cheryl consistently landed towards the bottom of the judges' leaderboard during every show leading up to their Week 8 elimination, however, Ryan steadily improved over time.

Little Women: LA star Terra Jole and partner Sasha Farber were the other couple in jeopardy last night prior to the announcement Ryan and Cheryl would be going home instead, but Terra and Sasha were not necessarily one of the bottom-two couples based on judges' scores and America's votes.

The theme of Monday night's broadcast was "Halloween Night" in which each of the remaining seven couples performed a spooky routine in attempt to land the highest score from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli.

The couple to earn the highest score in Round 1 would win immunity, meaning they'd be safe from elimination last night, as well as five additional bonus points.

In Round 2, the couples who did not win immunity were required to participate in "America's Choice Dance-Off" in which two couples must go head-to-head at a time dancing either the cha cha, salsa or jive.

DWTS judges and home viewers voted for the winner of each dance-off, and each winning couple earned three bonus points on top of their first score. Solo moments were included in each dance-off and results were displayed live on the screen.

Despite having to switch partners because of Sharna Burgess' recent knee injury, professional race car driver James Hinchcliffe topped Monday night's judging leaderboard in first place with 35 out of 35 total points.

James and his new partner Jenna Johnson, a former SYTYCD contestant who was previously eliminated from Season 23 of DWTS, first took the stage with a Suicide Squad-themed Viennese waltz which received a perfect score of 30 points from Carrie Ann, Julianne and Bruno.

While other couples also scored 30 points in this Halloween round, James has achieved the highest cumulative judges' scores so far this season, so he was named victorious. James and Jenna therefore won five points and did not have to compete in "America's Choice Dance Off."

Olympic gold gymnast Laurie Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy finished in second place on the judges' leaderboard with 33 total points. The pair initially performed a 30-point worthy Viennese waltz inspired by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Laurie and Val later received three extra points for defeating retired NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. and partner Lindsay Arnold in their jive dance-off. Carrie Ann, Julianne and Bruno all agreed Laurie and Val had won, and 63% of home viewers voted for them to win as well.

As a result, Calvin and Lindsay fell into a tie for third place on the leaderboard with country singer Jana Kramer and partner Gleb Savchenko. Both couples earned a total of 30 points for the night.

Calvin and Lindsay originally took the stage with a fun quickstep routine in which they were dressed up as skeletons. They received a perfect score of 30 points from the judges for it.

Jana and Gleb first danced a 27-point worthy jazz routine inspired by The Little Shop of Horrors, however, they received three bonus points for winning their dance-off against Terra and Sasha. While only two judges voted for Jana and Gleb's victory, 54% of America determined they performed the better salsa.

Fifth place on the leaderboard went to Ryan and Cheryl with 26 total points. Their initial Halloween routine, which was a Maleficent tango, received 23 points from the judges. Ryan and Cheryl later won their dance-off against actress and former The Celebrity Apprentice contestant Marilu Henner and partner Derek Hough.

Only two of the three judges voted for Ryan and Cheryl to win the cha cha dance-off, but America decided with a 58% majority that they should receive three additional points.

Terra and Sasha finished the night in sixth place with a total of 24 points. Although they lost their dance-off, they performed a high-energy cha cha routine inspired by Beetlejuice.

And last but not least, Marilu and Derek landed in seventh and last place on the leaderboard with 23 total points. They may have lost their dance-off, but Marilu showed great improvement in her spider-themed Argentine tango with Derek.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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