Tuesday’s Dancing: What You Didn’t See

Lip Service: Thirty minutes before show time Gilles Marini strode across the ballroom floor and walked over to where his wife Carole and some friends were sitting. The crowd erupted into applause for the Frenchman, who was solely focused on greeting his guests. Especially Carole, who received a soulful kiss on the lips from her hubby of eleven years. It’s a pre-show ritual that seems to be bringing Marini a lot of luck. “I always kiss my wife before every show,” Marini told PEOPLE. But last week, Marini kissed Carole after he and Cheryl Burke completed the jive. Why the on-camera buss? “It’s very simple. 19 million messages about ‘something is going on with Cheryl. You always kiss her and not your wife. What’s going on?’” said Marini, rolling his eyes. “They don’t understand, I kiss my wife before the show and when it’s on and after. Guys, look, I do kiss my wife A LOT!”

Bye-Bye Dance-Off?: For the second week in a row, there was no dance-off on the results show. Is it gone for good? Nobody knows, but everybody is hoping so. “When Lawrence and I had to do the dance-off with David Alan Grier we did not like it at all,” Edyta Sliwinska said. “It was unfair. David got higher scores from the judges and he still went home. We didn’t understand why we had to do that.” Gilles Marini, who’s never had to do a dance-off with his partner, Cheryl Burke, has his fingers cross it’s a thing of the past. “I hope it’s gone. In the end it did not make too much sense,” he said.

Saying a Little Prayer: It’s great to survive results night, but Ty Murray and Cheslie Hightower are grateful for every night that they have on the show. “We pray every night before the show,” Hightower said. “We pray to God that we do well, to dance to the best of our ability and have fun.” Said Murray, “I committed to Dancing from day one… I don’t want to let Chelsie down. We’re going to continue to work hard and give it everything we’ve got until they send us home.”

The Daily Grind: Generally on results night the dancers get to take a break, grab a relaxing dinner and enjoy visiting with family and friends. But immediately after Tuesday’s show the couples were in a frenzy to change out of costume and head straight to the dance studio for rehearsal. That’s because next week each couple will have to dance two dances — one with their partner and one with a team (made up of three couples) that will also be scored by the judges. “We are going back to work immediately,” said Lil Kim. “I mean immediately. Tonight we have to prepare for the team dance so we’ll get no rest at all.” Still ailing from a bruised ribcage, Melissa Rycroft had no complaints. “We have two dances to learn so we have to get to it,” she said, adding, “That’s just how it is.” “Yes,” chimed in Ty Murray. “That’s all we do. Dance, eat, sleep.” — Monica Rizzo

Chelsea Lauren/WireImage; Kelsey McNeal/ABC

Tuesday's Dancing: What You Didn't See