In a show of grace and humility, Ally Brooke asked Dancing with the Stars judges to send her home over James Van Der Beek. Brooke’s request was quickly and discreetly shot down by host Tom Bergeron.
The question was a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment at the end of the program, just after Van Der Beek’s untimely elimination from the ballroom. The stakes were high during the semifinals episode, and the show produced one of the most talked-about cuts of season 28. But in the midst of the tears and audible gasps from completely perplexed audience members, Brooke’s act of kindness - asking if she could go so Van Der Beek could stay in the competition as a tribute to his wife who just suffered a tragic miscarriage, was a sweet send-off to the fan-favorite.
Brooke said in an interview with Us Weekly after the gut-wrenching episode, saying, “I just felt it wasn’t right after everything that James has gone through.” She explained, “Being human and seeing that he’s been through one of the worst things in life … I felt like he had the strength to be here today, and that in itself is unbelievable and that took immense strength from him.” Van Der Beek’s partner echoed a similar sentiment about him, saying, “I think he’s not one to get defeated.” His dance partner, Emma Slater continued:
By some accounts, Van Der Beek was on track to win this year’s Mirror Ball trophy. He finessed viewers at home as well as the people in the studio audience with his fluid moves and charming smile. However, the surprising loss that his family faced when he and his wife suffered a miscarriage over the weekend, coupled with the technical mishaps in his redemption Cha-Cha put him and Slater in a vulnerable position. After completing his final dance to Hozier’s single “Take Me to Church,” Van Der Beek collapsed into Slater’s arms and began to cry. His young daughter, who was sitting in the audience, ran to him and started crying as well. He scooped her up and made his way to Erin Andrews for a bit of color commentary. Many of the other celebrities could be seen crying in the background as well. Van Der Beek seemed to have a hunch that his low scores were a huge liability. He handled the news in a very graceful way, almost as if he were relieved to head home to his kids so he could nurse Kimberly back to health.
“He’s got a very, very good head on his shoulders. He knows what’s important. He’s been through so much in his life and also recently, obviously. I think that put it into perspective. This is a dance show and, yes, I know that he’s upset and disappointed, but at the same time he’s an extremely smart, level-headed man and … he would be good at coping with things and dealing with things. And he’s the first person to offer up advice, so I hope he’s taking his own advice.”
Brooke volunteering to step down is one of those benchmark moments that truly redeemed reality television. In a moment of intense feeling and disappointment in that ballroom, she made a sweet knee-jerk reaction that no other celebrity thought to make. While Lauren Alaina and the other performers cheered the good news that they would dance another day, Van Der Beek attempted to make sense of his unfortunate luck in and out of the competition. It must have been disappointing to be so honest and vulnerable about his personal life and his wife’s desire to watch him dance, only to have a panel of three people rob her of another happiness. Thankfully, Ally Brooke showed a much-needed bit of kindness that served as the perfect punctuation to a very difficult episode.
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Dancing With The Stars airs Mondays at 8 pm EST on ABC.
Source: Us Weekly
