‘Dancing With the Stars’: Joey Fatone Out, Hélio Castroneves Saved

(ABC)

Hélio Castroneves almost crashed and burned on the elimination episode of “Dancing With the Stars” on Tuesday night.

The Brazilian race car champ and his dance partner, Chelsie Hightower, saw themselves in the bottom two along with boy band singer and TV host Joey Fatone and his dance partner, Kym Johnson.

Fortunately for Castroneves, the judges were persuaded to keep him in the competition one more week, resulting in the elimination of Fatone.

“I am going to miss everybody out here,” Fatone said upon finding out he was going home.

“I’ve been in the bottom two before one time,” Fatone continued. “But you know, what is great about me is that I always keep punching and I always have a good time.”

Unlike Fatone, Johnson was not happy to let go. “I’m upset,” said Johnson. “I’m sad. I’m not going to lie. It’s the ‘All Stars,’ an amazing season to be a part of,” she said.

Castroneves, who seemed relieved to be around for one more week but sad to see Fatone go, said so far he’s been “having a blast” and was thankful that “the votes were there” to keep him around for a while longer.

“You know that we did everything we could,” Castroneves said.

The race car aficionado had never been in the bottom two when he appeared on the show back in 2007 and won the mirror ball trophy.

To lighten up the mood, former DWTS contestant and season 14 runner-up Katherine Jenkins performed a duet with opera royalty Plácido Domingo.

The two sang a rendition of the film Moulin Rouge’s song “Come What May.”

Jenkins sparkled in a golden gown and Domingo looked fresh in a black suit.

The singers filled the ballroom with high-pitched notes as violinists played in the background and dancers Val Chmerkovskiy and Anna Trebunskaya performed.