"I jumpscared America"— Alan Bersten talks about his donkey costume on Dancing With The Stars

Dancing With The Stars season 33 has highlighted some interesting themes so far like Oscars night, Hair Metal night, and even an emotional Dedication night where Joey Graziadei dedicated his dance to fiancée Kelsey Anderson. Episode 6, titled Disney Night, aired on October 22, 2024.

In the latest segment, the dancers and their celebrity partners dressed up as a beloved Disney character. While the Olympic medalist Stephen Nedoroscik appeared as Hercules, The Bachelorette's Jenn Tran transformed herself into Ariel.

Meanwhile, rugby player Ilona Maher and her pro-dance partner, Alan Bersten, took inspiration from the film Encanto. Ilona donned Luisa's costume, a character from the 2021 animated film. To the shock of the live audience and people watching at home, Alan dressed up as a very realistic-looking donkey from the movie.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight after their performance, Alan was asked about the same and whether he FaceTimed anyone in the getup. Alan revealed that the makeup was finished just moments before the actual act but he was happy to show the makeup to everyone in the country.

"I jumpscared America! They were still painting my hands as we were coming downstairs. And the second we finished, they just ripped it off," stated Alan.

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Ilona felt confident while lifting Alan on Dancing With The Stars

During their performance in Dancing With The Stars, Ilona Maher picked up Alan in the donkey costume and lifted him on the shoulders. In the same interview with ET, Ilona revealed that due to the move, her shoulders were sore but she felt better as time went by. She was later lifted by Alan in the act as well which made her feel confident about the dance routine.

The sports personality also put the comparisons of training for rugby and practicing for Dancing With The Stars at rest. She claimed that while dancing for the competition was difficult, the pro rugby training was tougher.

"I do say that training for Olympic rugby is very, very hard. But this week was tough to do the two dance. We were, like, eight hours rehearsal one day, so it has been tough," stated Ilona.

Continuing the conversation about the comparison, Ilona said that dancing is different from rugby as there is mentally more pressure on the dancers to not look tired, while it is okay to look exhausted during rugby matches.

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What happened in the Disney Night of Dancing With The Stars

Disney Night included two dances from each couple and they had to perform their individual routine along with group pairings as the eight couples formed a group of four. In addition to this, Emmy-award winner Mandy Moore choreographed an opening dance to Aladdin's theme song. Britt Stewart also choreographed a dance on a Moana 2 song, We’re Back.

With only eight couples remaining, the competition got tougher as they danced in the styles of samba, jazz, and paso doble among others. Here's how the judges' leaderboard looked like after six weeks.

1. Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong (Paso Doble) — 27 + 27 = 54
2. Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson (Samba) — 25 + 27 = 52
3. Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten (Jazz) — 25 + 27 = 52
4. Danny Amendola and Witney Carson (Jazz) — 27 + 24 = 51
5. Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber will (Rumba) — 24 + 27 = 51
6. Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach (Tango) — 24 + 24 = 48
7. Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold (Charleston) — 24 + 24 = 48
8. Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy (Jazz) — 24 + 24 = 48

By the end of the episode, Stephen, Jenn, and Phaedra ended up in the elimination zone. Ultimately, it was announced that Phaedra would be departing the show, and Dancing With The Stars was left with seven couples in the running to win the Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy.

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Watch Dancing With The Stars at 8 pm ET on ABC and Disney+.