Jana Kramer Eliminated During ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Finale [Watch]
Jana Kramer's chances of winning Season 23 of Dancing With the Stars came to an end on Monday night (Nov. 21), when she and her partner were eliminated from the competition on the first night of a two-night finale.
Kramer and Gleb Savchenko battled their way all the way into the finals on the popular reality competition, where they faced off against James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess, Calvin Johnson and Lindsay Arnold and Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy for the Mirrorball Trophy. But they didn't quite clear the hurdles in front of them on Monday night. They were cut from the competition after turning in two performances, placing fourth overall in the competition based on the scores from the judges as well as fan voting from the prior week.
Kramer and Savchenko displayed great chemistry together throughout their run on the show, during which they fought through a number of obstacles. Kramer sustained an injury to her ribs in the very first week, and Savchenko later injured his knee and was forced to sit out most of rehearsals one week. He also had the flu the weekend leading into Monday night's finale.
Despite their setbacks, they impressed the judges with a series of performances that were very diverse in style, including a scorching tango that ranks among the hottest dances in the history of the competition, which earned them a perfect score that week.
Kramer appeared to have no regrets about her time on the show.
"This has been amazing," the "Circles" singer said after her elimination.
"Those people up there so deserve to be there," she added of the remaining teams. "It was our time."
She called her run on the program "so much fun," and lauded Savchenko specifically for helping her find her way. "He’s been the most incredible partner, and I’ve just learned so much about myself and what I can do, and how strong I can really be," she said tearfully. "He's given me all that, and all of you."
While Kramer didn't take home the Mirrorball Trophy, she certainly did what she set out to do when she announced she would compete on the show. The announcement came just after she separated from her husband, Michael Caussin, in August amid allegations that he was repeatedly unfaithful during their 15-month marriage, and she said that she was hoping to serve as an inspiration for her daughter Jolie Rae, and single moms everywhere. Her story became even more compelling when she later revealed that her first husband, Michael Gambino, went to prison for trying to kill her after abusing her throughout their marriage.
"I’m trying to manage it the best that I can and show single moms out there that we can do it," she said. "We can do it all, hear us roar."
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