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Welcome back to The Ballroom Dance Diaries! In this episode, Carole and Kim dig into the fallout from Dancing with the Stars Season 35, Week 6, and finally go there. Everyone is talking about Val Chmerkovskiy's one-week suspension, so we're giving you our honest, dancer-to-dancer take.

We talk about the social media pressure on the pros, how Jenna Dewan held it together on Dedication Night with Alan Bersten stepping in for Val (including that 10 from Carrie Ann), and whether the no-elimination twist was planned. Then we look ahead to Week 7. Shirley Ballas, the Queen of Latin, is guest judging Horror Movie Night with a double elimination on the line. What happens when Mark's mom sits at the judges' table, and who in the middle of the pack should be worried? ✨

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WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• Val's Suspension: A top pro and Mirrorball champ sitting out a week. It's never happened before, and we share what we think really went on.
• The Social Media Pressure: Why posting is a full-time job on top of rehearsals for the pros.
• Was It Planned? Dedication Night had no elimination, and we dig into how often the show has done that before.
• Jenna Dewan Steps Up: How she performed with Alan Bersten under all that pressure, and our reaction to Carrie Ann's 10.
• The Lift Debate: Why we'd rather enjoy the show than stare at someone's toe, and why the judges get to make that call.
• Did This Make It a Competition Again? With the front-runners shaken up, the race just got interesting.
• Stuck in the Middle: Tyler, Connor, Tatyana, and Julia Stiles sitting on straight 8s, and why the math says something has to give.
• Shirley Ballas Is Coming: The tiny shoes, the syllabus, and why week seven means no more excuses.
• Can Shirley Judge Her Own Son? Mark Ballas, objectivity, and why she'll get criticized no matter what she scores.
• Is DWTS Testing Shirley for America? Our theory on what her guest spot could mean for the future.

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JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Do you think Val's suspension was fair? Was the no-elimination week planned, or just good timing? And with Shirley Ballas at the judges' table for Week 7, which two couples did you think were going home? Drop

Photo credit: Disney / ABC Entertainment Press Site. Used for commentary and review purposes.

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