Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was eliminated from ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” Monday.
“Thanks to everyone who supported me. Thanks to my family for everything they did. I loved being on this show,” Mr. Spicer said right after being ousted.
Mr. Spicer received 6th place in the competition after weeks of scraping by in the competition as viewer votes consistently saved him despite his low scores in actual performances.
The disconnect between Mr. Spicer’s lack of grace on the dance floor and his popularity with voters drew the ire of competition judge Len Goodman, who expressed his frustration last week by saying, “We keep throwing you out of the boat and the viewers keep throwing a life preserver.” Mr. Goodman also quipped that a mermaid onstage during Mr. Spicer and partner Jenna Johnson’s dance to Styx’s “Come Sail Away” had better footwork than Mr. Spicer.
Even so, Mr. Spicer’s elimination was met messages of support from many people, including President Trump, who tweeted, “A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!”
The president had previously lobbied on Twitter for his supporters to show their support for Mr. Spicer.
For his part, Mr. Spicer actively used his social-media presence to urge supporters to send a message to Hollywood by voting for him. At one point he caused a dustup on social media by calling on fellow Christians to cast their votes for him, saying it was a way to “stand with Christ.”
The tweet has since been deleted.
From the moment of his casting for the 28th season of the ABC network’s dance competition program, Mr. Spicer has been on the receiving end of criticism for his connection to the 45th President of the United States.
When the season’s cast was announced in August, host Tom Bergeron voiced his displeasure about Mr. Spicer’s inclusion, saying he wanted the long-running ABC show to be a “joyful respite from our exhausting political climate” and didn’t want “divisive bookings from ANY party affiliation.”
“I left that lunch convinced we were in agreement. Subsequently (and rather obviously), a decision was made to, as we often say in Hollywood, ’go in a different direction,’” he wrote.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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