Spoilers ahead for the Semi-Finals episode of Dancing with the Stars Season 32.
Only one more episode of Dancing with the Stars is left before the end of Season 32, and the Semi-Finals cut the celebrities a break by sending all five to the finale for the first time ever. While almost every single pair received at least one ten, Xochitl Gomez – a.k.a. the "Little Marvelette" of DWTS – and her dance bro Val Chmerkovskiy were the only duo to receive a perfect score for both of their dances. Those scores left me flashing back to my interview with Gomez earlier this fall, and what she said about dancing in heels!
Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy earned their perfect scores with a samba to – what else? – Gloria Estefan's "Samba" and a waltz to Lady Gaga's "La Vie en rose" from A Star is Born. The 17-year-old actress wore heels for both performances, as she has for many of her dances throughout the 2023 TV schedule. When I spoke with Gomez this fall before she rocked a Gwen Stefani look for a salsa, I'd asked what her experience was like dancing in heels in the Season 32 premiere, and she shared:
Well, I'm gonna be honest. When I go to a bunch of premieres and afterparties and stuff, I dance in five-inch heels, four-inch heels. They're huge stiletto heels, and I'll go out for like, three hours just dancing it up. So having a nice little ballroom shoe, I didn't mind it too much. I was like, 'I appreciate this.' It's actually made for you to dance in, unlike a stiletto. [laughs]
For such a young actress, Xochitl Gomez has appeared in some exciting projects, including Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club and of course Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She recently even weighed in on the idea of appearing in a Young Avengers project. Who knew that wearing "huge stiletto heels" to parties and premieres would be good training for Dancing with the Stars?
It's impossible to say if Gomez having an easier time dancing in ballroom shoes as opposed to stiletto heels gave her a major edge in the competition, but there's no denying that she's a frontrunner in DWTS Season 32. She did have a few stressful moments at the end of the Semi-Finals episode, when she and Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix were left as the last two standing, believing that one of them was about to be sent home.
Both celeb dancers were on the verge of tears while waiting for the bad news, only to learn that, for the first time ever, five pairs would compete in the finale! It's only fitting that DWTS does something extra special for the first-ever Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, and these are the pairs who have one more night to try and win the top prize: Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy, Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov, Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach, Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev, and Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber.
Whether all five dancers advancing results in fewer boos for the judges in the finale remains to be seen, but it should be an exciting night of action. Be sure to tune in to ABC on Tuesday, December 5 at 8 p.m. ET, or stream with a Disney+ subscription at the same time. You can also revisit every episode of Season 32 so far streaming with a Hulu subscription.
