Danielle Fishel took the critique that judge Carrie Ann Inaba gave her and used it as fuel to have the comeback of the season on Dancing With the Stars on the show’s Wicked themed night.
After being told by Inaba last week that her dances started to feel the same, the Boy Meets World star and her pro partner Pasha Pashkov performed a killer Argentine Tango to the Wicked tune “No Good Deed.”
“I want direct feedback,” Fishel told TV Insider on the post-show press line, “even if it seems harsh. If there’s something that the judges think that I can be improving on, it means that they believe in me. It means that they have faith in me, and I know Pasha believes in me, and I know he has faith in me.”
“Carrie Ann specifically said to me, ‘I like you. I’m going to need something else,’” Fishel continued. “It was the fire under my butt that I needed. I said to myself, ‘If there’s going to be a breakthrough, it has to be now,’ and we did it.”
“It felt incredible,” Pashkov enthused. “Everything aligned. Everything worked out. It was a crazy week where it started, where we weren’t sure if we could do it, but we persevered. We pushed through. Danielle pushed through. It was crazy.”
Turning to his celebrity partner, the proud Pashkov said, “You’ve been using muscles that you probably didn’t know you have!”
Pashkov added: “Danielle pushed through the soreness, the fatigue…everything. At the end of the day, everything worked out. It just feels like such a relief…there’s happiness, pride, all of these things put together.”
While Daniella Karagach, partnered with reality television personality Dylan Efron, says it’s no fun being in the bottom three, she was beaming with pride when asked about her husband’s (Pashkov) comeback with Fishel.
“I’m so happy,” she said of her Pashkov scoring three 9s. “It was their best run. His choreograph is one of the best on the show.”
Voted off the show was Pentatonix singer Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold (who went to the finals last season). On Wicked night, the pair danced a Contemporary to “The Wizard and I,” scoring a mere 28 points.
Disney/Eric McCandless
Comedian/actor Andy Richter and his pro partner Emma Slater, who earned 27 points for their jazz to “One Short Day,” continue on in the competition, riding a wave of likability and improved scores.
“I’ll miss seeing Scott and [his husband] Mark on the days I got to see them,” Fishel shares. “They are genuine and have big smiles. The first thing they want to say to you is some sort of positive feedback from the last thing that they saw you do or the last interaction you had with them.”
“They’re effusive with their praise and their love,” Fishel adds. “That’s just the kind of people they are.”
Dancing With the Stars, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC
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