Watch Peta Murgatroyd, James Maslow’s perfect dance to ‘Let It Go’
Peta Murgatroyd and her “Dancing With the Stars” partner James Maslow “Let It Go” all the way to a perfect score Monday.
The dance pro and the Big Time Rush star performed in the lift-filled contemporary style to the Oscar-winning “Frozen” song, clinching Season 18’s first perfect score from the judges as well as guest judge and former champion Donny Osmond.
Former champ Murgatroyd, 27, was costumed as a plaited Queen Elsa and Maslow, 23, was a supportive tree trunk to the shimmering nymph. He lifted the ice queen throughout the routine, which was punctuated with some stunning ice palace animation.
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Judge Carrie Anna Inaba was in tears following the performance and Len Goodman said the dance “would melt the coldest heart, even mine,” according to Show Tracker.
The emotional dance came a week after the dreaded “switch up,” which saw Maslow separated from his rumored love interest and paired with dance pro Cheryl Burke.
“Cheryl returned him in fine form,” Murgatroyd wrote in her guest blog for People last week. “She cracked the whip on him, which was really good. She was harsh on him and he learned a lot. I had already taught him a lot before, she just brushed him up on it all. His skills are much better than they were on week one.”
And that perfect score definitely showed that Burke’s training paid off.
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“Im still on a high ;) I haven’t felt that amazing energy for a long time...thank u to @jamesmaslow you were everything tonight xo,” she tweeted after the show.
In the package introduction to the dance, Maslow revealed that he was busy making his own fairy tales come true. The boy bander had been asked to prom by an Ohio teen named Hannah Wackernagle in a video that went viral on Twitter. He couldn’t make it to her prom because of the show’s schedule, so he invited Wackernagle, who has Down syndrome, her mom and sister Lilli to Monday’s performance and also took them to Disneyland. (Hey, it’s Disney Week, there’s going to be a glut of wish fulfillment happening.)
“It was the perfect week, because I knew she was [not only] a big Big Time Rush fan, but also a big Disney fan,” Maslow told reporters backstage (via People). “So Peta and I got together and got her tickets and we went on a bunch of rides and we got Mickey Mouse ears.”
Prior to the show, Maslow snapped a photo with Wackernagle all dressed up and posted it on Instagram.
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“My beautiful prom date today. Keep an eye out for Hannah in the audience tomorrow at #DWTS!” he wrote.
Despite the week’s highs, one major low came in the form of the shocking elimination of YouTube star Cody Simpson and his partner Witney Carson following their “Lion King”-themed “Simba samba.” More on that here.
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