Dancing With the Stars pro Emma Slater and partner Jackson Olson are ready to put the judges’ feedback into action after Yacht Rock Week.
“It is rough when you work so hard,” Slater, 37, exclusively told Us after the Tuesday, September 29, episode. “That’s the hard part about Dancing With the Stars — you work all week on a dance routine, you build yourself up, you get that confidence, you feel really good about it. And then ultimately, you are being judged and it’s at the whim of the judges.”
She continued, “And if they don’t like it, or if they have harsh criticism to say, you got to just take it. So it could be a little disheartening, not gonna lie. Even for me as a pro — I’ve been here for so many years — but you just show them how to handle it, how to take it and bring improvement to the table, and don’t lose that fire, don’t lose that light, keep on going.”
Slater and Olson, 28, earned 18 points from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli after performing a paso doble to “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins on Tuesday. Their score placed them toward the bottom of the leaderboard, but the pair were ultimately safe from elimination. (Taylor Hanson and pro Britt Stewart were eliminated on Tuesday.)
In Olson’s mind, he and Slater worked “as hard as [they] could” leading up to Yacht Rock Night — balancing their DWTS rehearsals with traveling for his Savannah Bananas baseball games.
“It’s not an excuse,” he told Us, referring to their hectic schedule. “But I did feel today, where I’m like, ‘I’m feeling it a little bit. I’m feeling that travel a little bit.’ I think it’ll be really nice that we only have two games this week and one game next week, and then we’re done with our season.”
If the pair make it that far in the competition, Olson noted that they will then have a “full week in L.A. to rehearse” — which will be a welcome reprieve to their busy travel schedule.
“I have to think of it as a normal thing because if I think of it as, ‘Whoa, this is crazy,’ then I’ll be crazy, and I’ll act differently,” Olson said of balancing both commitments. “But I’m just like, ‘This is the most normal thing ever.’ Like, ‘This is easy.’ I have to think that. But then sometimes, I’m like, ‘No, it actually is really hard.’”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
