Whitney Leavitt shines on Dancing With the Stars, earning her first 10s on Wicked Night

Dancing With the Stars celebrated Wicked Night, with the ballroom glowing emerald green in soaring energy as the themed episode was inspired by the musical film franchise Wicked and its upcoming sequel Wicked: For Good.

The director Jon M. Chu joined as a guest judge alongside Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough.

In the episode, couples performed their different dance routines to iconic songs from the Wicked franchise itself.

One of the standout performances was of Whitney Leavitt and her professional partner, Mark Ballas.

They delivered a quickstep to Popular, channeling Glinda’s sparkling persona in a pink attire, with their performance surprising the judges and viewers.

Whitney and Mark earned their first 10s of the season when the scores came in. Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Jon M. Chu rewarded them with perfect 10s while Derek Hough gave a 9, bringing their total to a perfect score of 39/40.

The Wicked Night performance led Whitney and Mark to the top of the leaderboard in Dancing With the Stars season 34, week 6  

During her intro package, Whitney opened up on why this week’s theme resonated so deeply with her. She shared that she could relate to Glinda, saying,

"She’s super bubbly and happy and she thinks she knows it all, but she doesn’t."

Whitney stepped onto the dance floor, channeling Glinda’s vibrant charm, dressed in pink, alongside Mark, who also matched her in an all-pink costume.

Their dance routine was filled with fast-paced choreography, intricate footwork, and lighthearted humor, perfectly capturing Glinda’s playful spirit.

The crowd erupted as the couple hit their final pose, and even before the judges began to speak, it was clear Whitney had delivered something special.

As the performance ended, Derek Hough jumped out of his seat, visibly stunned, exclaiming, 

"What?! I feel like we are discovering a star before our eyes. That was jam-packed, advanced, fantastic."

Guest judge and Wicked director Jon M. Chu also praised the performance, describing it as,

"The perfect blend of technical prowess and fun, 

I was floating on air in a bubble, and I think the whole world was, too," she added.

Bruno Tonioli described the routine as

"insanely good… the campest, fastest, funniest — Glinda gone ballistic!"

While Carrie Ann Inaba called it unhinged in all the right ways, she further added,

"Even though you started as a great dancer, you are getting better with each performance. You are so exciting to watch."

Whitney and Mark nearly earned a perfect score with only one 9 from Derek and three 10s from other judges, making it the highest score of this season and the first 10s, leading them to the top of the leaderboard.

As this week's scores were combined with the scores earned in the previous week, their total was 72 points, placing them high ahead of other participants.

Whitney herself admitted that she had struggled emotionally during the previous week of Dedication Night, as she performed a heartfelt contemporary routine dedicated to her husband.

Her only goal was redemption, this time as she admitted, however, she achieved much more than that, giving the credit to her partner Mark, saying,

"I’m so grateful for Mark. He pushes me so much."

In this episode, themed Wicked Night, the remaining couples performed their dance sets to iconic songs from the Wicked universe, including The Wizard And I, What Is This Feeling?, Dancing Through Life, I’m Not That Girl, One Short Day, Defying Gravity, As Long as You’re Mine, No Good Deed, and For Good.

The episode also featured sneak peeks of upcoming Wicked: For Good and cast video messages from stars such as Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

Stay tuned for more updates.