‘Dancing with the Stars’: Discussing that ‘Semi-Finals’ non-elimination twist, and who will win Season 33

“Dancing with the Stars” fans were (kinda) surprised at the end of last week’s “Semi-Finals” when Olympians Stephen Nedoroscik and Ilona Maher were in jeopardy only for it to be announced that no one was going to be eliminated. All five semifinalists, as it turns out, will be in the finals. That wasn’t the biggest shocker in the world, though. It’s exactly what happened last year in Season 32. Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery discussed that twist ending with contributors Jeffrey Kare and Cordell Martin. Watch the complete video slugfest above.

If they keep up these twists, “eventually they’re going to end up with like seven people in the finale and it’s going to be too much. Let’s make it an elite competition so that the top people actually get to the finale,” argued Montgomery. “Five is about the limit.”

Martin saw it coming “once they got to the results. Whoever was the last two that were left [in jeopardy], I was just like, I feel like they’re gonna fake out the audience and take everyone to the finale.” However, “I think all of the finalists deserve to be there. They each had a great season. So I think it just speaks volumes to this season, how competitive it’s been.”

Kare added, “In the end I’m not surprised at all, and I’m glad that all five are going to the finals because they’ve come so far in the competition and they each deserve to be there, I honestly don’t have much to complain about.”

So Nedoroscik and Maher are safely through to the final round along with “Bachelor” star Joey Graziadei (the first male “Bachelor Nation” celeb ever to make the finals), Disney actress Chandler Kinney (part of the first Black couple to make the finals), and football player Danny Amendola (who would be the fifth “DWTS” champion from the NFL). Which of them will take home the Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy?

“I’m still cautiously predicting Joey,” says Montgomery, “but I could easily see it being Chandler. It’s a little bit like last season with Xochitl [Gomez] versus Jason Mraz. She ended up winning, and in that case, it was like the legit best dancer of the season ended up winning.” This season Montgomery thinks Kinney is “the clear class of the field,” but in this case the “Bachelor” fan base, which has put two “Bachelorette” stars on top of the podium, may put Graziadei in the winner’s circle.

Martin agrees “it’s between the two of them,” with Graziadei “barely just inching out for the win.” He “would love for Chandler and Brandon to win. But just knowing how the show operates, I wouldn’t be surprised if Joey and Jenna won. Nor would I be disappointed because I think he’s definitely proved himself to earn the Mirror Ball Trophy just based on his dancing.” Martin also warns that Amendola is “a bit of a wild card” since it’s hard to guess how much support he’s been getting from fans. Maybe he’s been crushing the competition the whole time and we just don’t know it yet.

Kare hadn’t made a final prediction as of our recording, but “Joey wouldn’t surprise me given how strong ‘Bachelor Nation’ has been in the past, although he’d definitely be one of the more deserving alums to pull it out, so I wouldn’t have much to complain about if he were to win. Although Chandler’s really coming in hot on his heels, so this should hopefully make for a very exciting race to watch.”

We’ll find out what happens live on Tuesday night, Nov. 26, at 8:00pm Eastern on ABC and Disney+.