Wanya Morris Brings Boyz II Men Classic to 'Dancing with the Stars' – Plus a Contestant Is Called This Season's Bindi Irwin

DWTS season 22 premiered with a bang Monday

Updated on December 1, 2020 10:27 PM

brightcove.createExperiences(); Dancing with the Stars is back, and as Carrie Ann Inaba said near the end of the two-hour premiere, there were a lot of good things happening in the ballroom.

Among the highlights: Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris brought the house down with his dance to his band’s 1991 hit “Motown Philly.” Deaf model Nyle DiMarco proved that even though he couldn’t hear the music, he could still wow the judges thanks to hard work and help from pro Peta Murgatroyd.
And Good Morning America weather anchor (and new mom) Ginger Zee got perhaps the ultimate compliment of the night, when Inaba said she reminded her of last season’s champion Bindi Irwin.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming into tonight,” Zee told PEOPLE afterwards. “I was nervous coming out here as this new mom with no dance experience, but it means so much that the joy I felt getting on that stage shined through and was felt by the judges and the audience.”

DiMarco, Morris and Zee go into next week’s competition leading the pack, tied with 23/30.

Unfortunately not everyone fared so well with the judges. Geraldo Rivera and pro Edyta Sliwinska are at the bottom of the pack, with 13/30, with Len Goodman slamming the TV journalist’s performance as not actually being a dance.

“It’s not in my nature to be nasty,” Goodman said … before getting very nasty. “That wasn’t a dance. That was walking. You were just walking. I can’t tell a lie.”

Rivera took it in stride.

“I sucked tonight, plain and simple,” he told PEOPLE afterwards. “But I did go out there and try to have fun. I have to put it into perspective. This was much better than covering a story in a war zone.”

Here are the standings going into next week’s episode, where a pair will be sent home.

Wanya Morris and Lindsay Arnold (23/30)

Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy (23/30)

Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd (23/30)

Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas (21/30)

Marla Maples and Tony Dovolani (21/30)

Antonio Brown and Sharna Burgess (21/30)

Von Miller and Witney Carson

Kim Fields and Sasha Farber (20/30).

Jodie Sweetin and Keo Motsepe (20/30)

Mischa Barton and Artem Chigvintsev (16/30)

Doug Flutie and Karina Smirnoff (15/30)