Less than an hour after a dance mishap, country singer Jana Kramer found herself eliminated from "Dancing with the Stars" on Monday.
Kramer's pro dance partner Gleb Savchenko, who came down with a debilitating flu right before this week's two-part finale, was able to perform with her.
But he stumbled after her sheer white skirt accidentally blew up into his face during their live freestyle dance.
The number featured Kramer and Savchenko twirling each other around on a long white scarf, and one of the intricate moves appeared to trip him up when his eyes were covered by her skirt.
Afterwards, co-host Erin Andrews asked Savchenko what he had said to Kramer after their troubled performance, set to Sia's "Unstoppable."
"I said, 'I'm sorry,' " the emotional dance pro replied.
But Kramer told reporters backstage that after Savchenko had apologized to her, she said to him, "It's okay. The amount of times that I've messed up—I even did a little mess up in the routine, too, but it's okay. We had an incredible journey. It's not about the last thing. It's about the whole package and we had standing ovations and perfect scores [all season]. We killed it."
Savchenko agreed, saying, "We killed it every week—came out there, different characters, different routines. It was challenging. We never took a week and said, this week we're going to go easy because we know we're going to be through."
He said to Kramer in front of reporters, "Every week I pushed you over your limit."
Kramer, who scored a 35 out of 40 for their first dance, a tango, and 36 for the freestyle, was eliminated based on viewer votes and scores from last week.
Gymnast Laurie Hernandez, race car driver James Hinchcliffe, and former football player Calvin Johnson Jr. proved that athletes still have the edge on "DWTS" as they wound up the final three to compete in Tuesday's grand finale.
But Kramer insisted upon leaving in fourth place, "I'm so happy, honestly. We did everything we wanted to do. I shared every story I wanted to share which is why I signed up for the show. I danced with an incredible partner and I had a blast. It's something that I'll never forget…there's nothing to really be sad about."
The singer who relived her relationship hell on "DWTS" will be performing her single, "Circles," on the Tuesday show where the winner will be crowned -- and then plans to bask in life with her baby daughter Jolie: "I cannot wait for that mommy time."
Meanwhile, the final three excelled on a night featuring a "redemption" routine of a dance they had performed earlier in the season plus the freestyle number.
Laurie Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy led Monday's field by scoring 38 for their redemption Paso Doble and a perfect 40 for their freestyle set to the song "Brand New" by Ben Rector.
The cumulative total of 78 points put a smile on the gymnast's face even though she admitted on camera, "I was starting to get some Olympic nerves."
Partner Chmerkovskiy admitted in rehearsal footage before the freestyle, "I'm very stressed."
Their freestyle showed Hernandez dancing around a playground and using her gymnastics skills on a slide and a teeter totter, amongst other props.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said, "You brought tears to my eyes, I was so happy."
Hernandez told Andrews later, "It was like being a kid again," before realizing, at just 16, she IS still a kid.
Indy car driver Hinchcliffe stumbled during his redemption tango with partner Sharna Burgess. He earned 37 for that dance but scored big time with his freestyle that earned a perfect 40.
The number set to "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" by The Piano Guys had Hinchcliffe again exploring the trauma of the crash that almost took his life.
Hinchcliffe spoke in a first-ever "DWTS" voice over to begin and end his dance. He said, "They didn't think I would live, but here I am" after an emotional and flawless contemporary freestyle in which Hinchcliffe wore an unbuttoned white shirt and white pants.
Judge Inaba said that she'd never seen a better danced freestyle in 23 seasons.
Johnson Jr. and his partner Lindsay Arnold were in third place Monday, garnering 35 for their redemption Viennese waltz and later scoring a perfect 40 for their high energy R & B inspired freestyle.
Producers arranged for Johnson Jr.'s son Caleb, 2, to surprise him on camera in the night's most heartwarming moment.
And host Tom Bergeron pointed out an interesting "DWTS" audience member: 94-year-old TV producing legend Norman Lear.
On Tuesday, the final three vie for the big prize—the mirror ball trophy!
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