Dancing With the Stars Week 9 Recap: Bachelor star advances to next week's finals

We’re one episode away from seeing which star will claim the Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy this year. But Tuesday saw the semi-final episode as the final five stars showcased their skills in a double-dance presentation. Let’s see how it all turned out.

A Bachelor’s Perfect Score

Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson have been among the front-runners all season. But as Joey noted, a male Bachelor contestant has not made the finals and he wanted to be the first. He kicked off his night with the Foxtrot, earning a perfect 30. His Paso doble also scored well, earning him a 58 from the judges for the night, landing atop the leaderboard.

He wasn’t alone there, as Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong also had a strong night. Coming off two perfect scores, they earned a 29 for their Salsa then another 29 for a Foxtrot to end the night with a 58 from the judges. These two will likely be the favorites going into last night’s finale.

A Semi-Final Twist

The end of the night saw Chandler, Joey, and Danny Amendola named as entrants to the finals. Amendola had a solid Viennese waltz to start the night and a fun Salsa on his second night, earning a 54. While those three were safe, Ilona Maher and Stephen Nedoroscik waited to learn which of them would join those three in the finals. It was an emotional and tense moment, until host Alfonso Ribero declared everyone was safe and headed to the three-hour finale next week.

The two Olympians looked relieved as they celebrated. Ilona and partner Alan Bersten had a great night, earning a 28 for their Paso doble and a 29 for their Viennese waltz, which gave them a combined score of 57. Stephen and partner Rylee Arnold, meanwhile, struggled a bit. They scored the lowest first-round dance with a 25 for their Cha-cha, then earned a strong 28 for their Tango, still finishing with the lowest judges’ score of 53.

We’ll see all five couples next week during the finale, which airs Tuesday night on ABC.