This is later than normal, and it won’t be talking about the other dancers. I won’t be posting everyone’s scores or anything like that. Because AJ got sent home tonight so honestly? He’s all I want to talk about. I’m not even sorry about it. Tonight AJ had a Viennese Waltz and I’ll be the first to say it wasn’t his best dance. He came out so strong at first. His posture was great, his feet were nice, and his arms were smooth but then…I think he was putting too much pressure on himself. Steps were forgotten and my heart broke for him. Still, I thought he’d be safe. We all did. Though we voted our asses off anyway. Because Nelly did a worse dance where he almost walked through it and he also forgot steps. (Nelly also got overscored but I’m digressing.)
AJ came back though. He came back pretty damn strong in the dance off. He was set to face off against Johnny while doing a Jive. I was worried. I was so worried. But damn if AJ didn’t kill it! He didn’t just kill it, he won the dance off and had more points added to his score. So at this point I was less worried. But then he fell into the bottom two against Johnny. Which is crazy because there were others who deserved to be in the bottom instead. As soon as I saw who AJ was against, I knew what was about to happen.
AJ was sent home. The judges saved Johnny.
But here’s the thing guys, I know AJ was sent home too soon. I know it sucks that he won’t be on our TV every week anymore. (Though admittedly this season is a pretty bland one so had it not been for AJ I would’ve stopped watching long before. Especially with Tyra hosting. I only liked watching Skai, Justina and AJ.) At the same time though? It’s okay. It is. Because AJ got so much more out of this than some mirrorball. He grew with the show. He opened up about his new journey back to sobriety and has been a better and stronger AJ because of it. He has his podcast with Cheryl and their friendship is pretty awesome. Once the world is less crazy? He’ll be back on a sold out world tour.
I mean guys, he was literally the biggest damn star on the show.
Would it have been cool to win that mirrorball? Damn right. But, he didn’t need it.
It was fun while it lasted!
AJ if you see this, know that we fans are so proud of you. This isn’t a failure. This isn’t a loss. This was journey that we were happy to see you go on. Thank you for doing the show. Thank you for always being so open and honest. Thank you for being who you are. We love you.
The Dark Side 
The judges have to decide based on who is in the bottom two that night. And to be honest sometimes even the best dancer end up there based on the votes,. Johnny was better. If it was Nelly they probably would have saved AJd. However, it was a little unexpected as I thought the fans would have come out strong for him. Nine weeks is not bad. Congratulations AJ. You put it out there and you have a new friend in Cheryl.
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