It was a frightfully entertaining night on Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday (Oct. 27) when the show got into the Halloween spirit a few days early on a “Horror Movie Night”-themed episode. And nobody nailed the combination of scares and flawless steps more than Glee alum Harry Shum Jr. and his professional dance partner Jenna Johnson.
Shum hit the stage in a blood-soaked white shirt and tie, his face dripping with viscera as Johnson stalked him across the floor in a look inspired by the Saw horror franchise. Dancing to 2WEI’s cover of Britney Spears’ 2004 hit “Toxic,” the pair did a high-energy contemporary routine full of daring lifts, spins and one impressive move where Johnson sat on Shum’s shoulder and then lay down flat to form a human “T” shape.
The acrobatic routine rushed to a conclusion with Johnson grabbing Shum and ripping off his tie, sending the actor crashing to the ground, convulsing, as each attempt to get up was met by his partner repeatedly shoving him down with her foot. The dance ended on the creepiest of notes, with Saw‘s Billy the Puppet rolling onto the stage on his squeaky tricycle.
The dance clearly landed with the judges, with guest adjudicator Shirley Ballas saying she’d “never seen anything like it” and Bruno Toniolo dubbing it “perfect,” leading to the first 40/40 perfect score of the season so far.
Because there was no elimination during last week’s “Dedication Night,” two stars were sent packing on Tuesday, marking the last dance for The Bachelorette‘s Tyler Cameron and his partner Sharna Burgess — who did a Dracula-themed Viennese waltz to Annie Lennox’s “Love Song For a Vampire” — and Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson and professional partner Emma Slater, who did a Joker-inspired routine to Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life.”
DWTS airs live on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+ and streams the next day on Hulu.
Watch Shum and Johnson get “Toxic” below.
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