Danielle Fishel is opening up about her surprise over Andy Richter’s “Dancing With the Stars” elimination. She called his anniversary-night performance one of his best yet. The “Boy Meets World” alum reflected on the 20th anniversary episode during her podcast, admitting she didn’t expect Richter and partner Emma Slater to go home after what she described as his “most impressive” routine to date.
The People’s Princess Eliminated on ‘Dancing With the Stars’
During the 20th Birthday Party for “Dancing With the Stars” last night, Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough revealed the results at the end of the episode. While many were shocked that Andy & Emma were still on the show, including Andy himself, they did make it to week 9. However, it was the end of the road for them last night.
Fishel, 44, talked about Andy’s elimination during the week 9 episode of her “Dancing With the Stars” recap. The podcast is released under the “Pod Meets World” podcast umbrella.
She said, “Of all the nights, I thought tonight was the most impressive night Andy had since he held the camera in his hand, when everybody fell in love with him.”
Fishel was a little worried about Andy & Emma’s routine when she heard they would be taking on a quickstep. She stated, “I know Andy struggles with his knees. He recently had just posted [that] he had a bunch of fluid drained from his knee.”
Because of that, she was thinking the dance wouldn’t “be that quick” and wouldn’t have “that many steps.” However, she was pleasantly surprised.
“I thought it had significantly more content than I thought it was going to. There were times that he really moved. I was impressed,” Fishel continued.
Despite Fishel being impressed by the routine, Andy & Emma fell short with the votes and judges’ scores this past week and were sent home. Fishel said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was somehow surprised that Andy went home tonight.”
One Major Grievance With the Show
She was probably equally as surprised after her elimination during the November 4 episode. Since her elimination, Fishel talked with Us Weekly and aired one major grievance about her time on the show.
During her last performance on “Dancing With the Stars” season 34, she and her pro partner, Pasha Pashkov, danced to “Dream On” by Aerosmith. However, they created a backstory for the performance, which the audience never got to hear.
“Our story is about the impossible standards placed on women both from society and from ourselves. If we pursue work outside the home and have a family, we’re told that we should be with our kids more,” she explained to Us Weekly. “When we stay home, we’re told we don’t work and are uninteresting. If we’re too thin, we’re told to eat a burger, and if we gain weight, we’re told to get off the couch.”
Despite all of that, Fishel wanted that routine to focus on “living out your dreams.” This was especially true after her 2024 breast cancer diagnosis.
She added, “When we were on the ballroom floor, I was like, listening to my package, and I was like … none of that was even mentioned, like, none of my story was even in the package. Those are just things that are completely out of our control.”
“Dancing With the Stars” season 34 airs live on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.
