LOS ANGELES – Former "The O.C." star Mischa Barton is having a disastrous time on "Dancing with the Stars."
After a stilted tango on the premiere that got a score of 16, Barton's cha cha on Monday night's week two with partner Artem Chigvintsev was even worse. Barton only earned 15 points out of 30.
The actress' behavior on camera also raised eyebrows, as she seemed to make excuses for not being able to follow the music during the live show.
First, viewers saw Barton struggling in rehearsal, sighing "whatever," and leaving the studio, causing partner Chigvintsev to wonder why there was so much drama.
They later hugged it out, but their live number on Latin night failed to impress, as Barton flailed around the dance floor off the beat.
"We've had a really rough day of me not being able to hear the song," Barton complained to host Tom Bergeron after the dance.
"It was different once we got [the song] live, to be honest. Everything changed today," she said.
Judge Bruno Tonioli asked sarcastically, "So that's what happened?" as Carrie Ann Inaba laughed and put her head down on the judges' table (however, Inaba later kindly told her, "You didn't look silly. You looked adorable").
Barton told hostess Erin Andrews, "It's been a really rough week. Today was a really bad rehearsal…the live band, suddenly today I was being thrown by everything. It is what it is."
After receiving her devastating score of 15, Barton pursed her lips and ducked past Andrews to quickly get off camera, causing Bergeron to quip, "They're already going off to rehearse for next week, I think."
Although Barton didn't speak to all of the reporters backstage, her partner Chigvintsev elaborated to FOX411 on their rough week.
"Where do I begin?" he said. "I think the goal is to be positive….and sometimes the dress [rehearsal] doesn't go according to plan…you psych yourself out. Maybe that's what happened to us. I don't want to blame the band because I feel like they've been told what to play and they did a good job.
"The difference is when you hear a CD (in rehearsal) it's very clean. Sometimes when you hear the actual live band, things are not exactly in that precision…sounds threw her off," he explained about Barton's confusion.
Luckily for the couple, Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera was eliminated instead at the end of the show. "I feel like we've been blessed with another opportunity to go through to another week. We'll try to make the most of it….I'll do my best," Chigvintsev said.
Barton's devoted partner added, "Since week one, when [Judge] Len [Goodman] gave her harsh criticism, I feel like it really did affect us and it's hard to just step out of that mode. It is scary being out there, being on the dance floor, doing something you've never done in your life. We have some celebrities on the show who are natural performers and Mischa's an actress where you have a second take, third take to get it right. Unfortunately, when you're doing live TV you don't do that.
"She's definitely trying. I can't say she's not….it's just not very natural for her to do that [dancing]. That's the struggle of it."
Sadly, Fox News' Geraldo Rivera performed his last dance on Monday night; he was later ousted from the show during the elimination ceremony.
He got an orange spray tan and donned a yuuuge wig to impersonate Presidential candidate Donald Trump in his salsa to "Ran Kan Kan" by Tito Puente. Rivera told the cameras he'd known Trump since 1974.
Rivera, the oldest competitor at 72, joked that his dance last week, which only garnered a score of 13, inspired President Barack Obama to tango in Argentina!
But seriously, last week's cameras captured the gutsy news hound, dancing with a bad foot due to back surgery, telling partner Edyta Sliwinska, "I suck."
On Monday, he proclaimed, parodying Trump's slogan, "We're going to make dance great again."
The number showed Geraldo as Trump in the oval office stripping off his suit and red tie to reveal a Latin-inspired shirt and then bust into salsa with Edyta (who started the dance aping Melania Trump in a fur coat on top of the "President's" desk).
Rivera ended the dance on the phone with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, saying, "Vlad, you still there?"
Judge Inaba declared, "You did NOT make dance great again," and Rivera received a score of 13, the lowest of the night.
It was no surprise when Rivera was eliminated, but he sighed to FOX411 after the show, "I'm disappointed that I didn't beat [fellow Fox commentator] Tucker Carlson, who also lasted one week. There's a pattern here. It's kind of embarrassing.
"Mostly I feel disappointed in letting down Edyta, who deserved a better partner because she's such an elegant and fascinating and talented young lady and her return to the show [after a long absence] should have been a more joyous and successful event."
Rivera said of portraying the Donald, "The Presidential campaign has become so trivial in many ways. We've gone from comparing penis size to whose wife is hotter so we thought we'd make a joke of it and I think people got the joke."
Rivera said "I'm sure I will be" hearing from longtime friend Trump about the dance.
Host Tom Bergeron yelled to Rivera backstage, "You get to keep the wig!"
Meanwhile, Rivera's friend Marla Maples told FOX411 about Rivera's impression of her ex-husband Trump, "I think he'd probably have fun watching it. He likes Geraldo. They've worked together; they've known each other longer than I've known him."
Maples and partner Tony Dovolani got a 20 score for their tango and Maples smiled backstage, "It felt good…[but] I've got a long way to go. Tony has taught me so many things, a few of which I did forget when I was out there.
"It breaks my heart," Maples said as Dovolani laughed.
However, for other stars, the night couldn't have gone better as martial arts fighter Paige VanZant and Boyz II Men singer Wanya Morris tied for first with scores of 24.
Deaf competitor Nyle DiMarco had a setback from last week, as judges felt he overdid his rumba with partner Peta Murgatroyd and only awarded him 20 points.
DiMarco told reporters through an interpreter, "We're a bit disappointed but we're trying to put a positive spin on it. They have a lot of belief in us."
Football great Doug Flutie was the comeback kid, getting a 20 with partner Karina Smirnoff for their Paso Doble and commenting afterwards, "I felt very comfortable. It was night and day from last week."
Among the other competitors, "Full House" star Jodie Sweetin scored a 21, "Facts of Life" actress Kim Fields 19, weather gal Ginger Zee 21, and football players Von Miller and Antonio Brown, nabbed 20 and 19 points, respectively.
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