Michael Irvin Stays ‘Dancing’ As Melissa Joan Hart & Louie Vito Leave The Ballroom

 
 
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  • Louie Vito, Melissa Joan Hart
  • Anna Demidova and Michael Irvin listen as Len raves over their waltz during Week 6 of ‘Dancing’
  • Chelsie Hightower and Louie Vito take commentary from the judges on Week 6 of ‘Dancing’
  • Mark Ballas and Melissa Joan Hart show off their waltz on Week 6 of ‘Dancing’

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  • ABC

    Louie Vito, Melissa Joan Hart

  • ABC

    Anna Demidova and Michael Irvin listen as Len raves over their waltz during Week 6 of ‘Dancing’

  • ABC

    Chelsie Hightower and Louie Vito take commentary from the judges on Week 6 of ‘Dancing’

  • ABC

    Mark Ballas and Melissa Joan Hart show off their waltz on Week 6 of ‘Dancing’

 
 

FIRST PUBLISHED: October 27, 2009 11:08 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: October 28, 2009 1:09 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Michael Irvin is still “Dancing With the Stars.”

The former pro-football player survived a Tuesday elimination round and will compete next week on the reality show. Instead, it was Melissa Joan Hart and Louie Vito who were booted from the ballroom in a double elimination night.

Melissa got the news first and was eliminated alongside her professional partner, Mark Ballas, after receiving the lowest total score (made up of viewer votes and the judges’ score) following Monday night’s competition show.

“That’s the game,” Melissa told “DWTS” co-host Tom Bergeron after learning the disappointing news.

“It’s tough, it’s tough,” she continued. “I was hoping to make it one more week. My husband was coming next week with my kids, but that’s all right, I’ll go home to them now. It’s OK.”

Michael and Louie had just a few minutes to collect themselves before they were both forced into an elimination dance off, for which the judges determined that Michael would stay to dance another day.

Only Bruno Tonioli voted to keep Louie and his partner, Chelsie Hightower, in the competition. Len Goodman and Carrie Ann Inaba both selected Michael as the elimination dance off winner.

“This is a lot harder than it looks, dealing with frustration [and] nerves because you’re doing something you’re not comfortable with in front of millions and millions of people,” Louie said before he and Chelsie took their final dance. “Every day I got out there and danced I was proud of myself just for getting out there.”

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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