Guillermo Rodriguez Goes Home as DWTS Celebrates First-Ever Super Bowl Night with Guest Judge Joe Buck

Dancing With the Stars celebrated the Super Bowl early for its first-ever Super Bowl Night, featuring routines inspired by historic musical halftime performances. Contestants paid homage to legendary acts including Shakira, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, Usher, Rihanna, and the Black Eyed Peas during the episode. ABC's Monday Night Football host Joe Buck joined the ballroom as the season's first guest judge, offering an opportunity for couples to earn extra points.

Joe Buck sat on the panel alongside the regular judges, bringing extra scoring opportunities for the competing couples. The episode also welcomed a few NFL stars who previously competed on the show, including season three winner Emmitt Smith, season 14 winner Donald Driver, DeMarcus Ware, and Danny Amendola.

Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas kicked off the night by earning an early score of 33 out of 40 for a tango. However, Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov quickly bested that score with a 34 out of 40 for a samba set to J Balvin and Willy William's track. Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa matched the 33 out of 40 mark with a jazz routine, as did Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson following their Usher-inspired samba.

Harry and Jenna's routine sparked a contentious on-air moment when a judge called out a potential lift. The judge, noted for strictly penalizing lifts, claimed one occurred during the performance, leaving pro dancer Jenna confused. Jenna later clarified in the skybox that she believed the restriction applied only while dancing in hold with a partner, while Harry had briefly been lifted by two male troupe members.

At the very top of the leaderboard, Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy earned all nines for a Paso Doble to Lady Gaga, finishing with a 36 out of 40. They shared the highest score of the night with Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, who also earned a 36 out of 40 for their salsa to Nelly's hit song.

At the end of the evening, Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson were eliminated from the competition based on the combined total of judges' scores and viewer votes. Earlier in the night, the pair performed a salsa to Bad Bunny's track, which landed them at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 22 out of 40. Reflecting on his time in the ballroom, Guillermo stated that he had a great time and thanked Witney for teaching him how to dance.

Looking ahead to the next installment of season 35, Alfonso Ribeiro announced that former pro dancer Kym Johnson will join the judges' panel for the upcoming Dedication Night episode. Dancing With the Stars continues to air weekly on Tuesdays, simulcasting across ABC and Disney+ while streaming the following day on Hulu.