Carrie Ann Inaba's 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 22 Blog: Week 3

Misha and Artem had a sweet breakthrough last night and I’m glad she left on a high note. It felt like she was in a good place with this experience. It would have been nice to see her stay one more week, to see how that breakthrough would affect future performances but I do hope that she will carry that on with her dancing as she moves forward. And stay in the place of joy. She’s such a sweet beautiful being and I wish her only the best.

Wanya and Lindsay had a fantastic performance. They stand out to me every time they get on the dance floor. He is so light on his feet and has such a flare for performance. He’s smooth as silk and to answer Maggie Fremont’s question (she writes the Entertainment Weekly’s DWTS coverage), to be “the Rocket’s red glare” someone must be an incredible light that bursts out of the darkness and shines their light upon us. I read the articles written and happen to love this writer’s take on the show. Even if we don’t agree on everything. Wanya has to keep this quality up and Lindsay just has to keep on giving him incredible choreography. She’s a real talent and a strong partner.

Finally, Nyle and Peta lit up the room both figuratively and literally. When the beat dropped into the song, I loved that the audience got involved with their lights and moved their finger lights to the beat. I wondered if that was one of the tools Peta used to help Nyle know when the music changed and got really exciting. I’m still so impressed with his movement quality. He’s got a flare and focus that makes him the one to beat at this moment. My suggestion to him is to breathe and find moments to relax. He’s in a constant state of readiness, and high alert. He dances full throttle every second of the dance. And when I speak about tonality of the music, I mean also for him to take those moments, to breathe into them. It’s a subtle note, but I think it will allow for a more natural phrasing of some of the choreography. Last night, he rushed a few of the steps, and I think it has to do with the breathing and relaxing into the movements that I am referring to here.  

So, those are my notes for every couple as promised last week. I want everyone to do their best and I look forward to next week, which is Disney Night!   

And on a more personal note, I wanted to share with you and confirm that I am in a new relationship with a wonderful man named Robb Derringer. I couldn’t be happier to share this news with you all. I feel very fortunate to be with such a wonderful human being and the love we share is something very precious to both of us. At this point, we aren’t quite ready to share the details of our love but just that we are happy to be in love. We wanted to thank all the people who sent us such positive thoughts and kind words of support upon hearing of our relationship. We were deeply touched at the kindness and love and we look forward to sharing more about it with you as time goes on. It’s a really happy time in my own life and I’m so grateful to be where I am.