Dancing With the Stars pro Witney Carson is leaving everything on the ballroom floor for the season 34 finale.
“Getting together this freestyle. I’m SO EXCITED, you guys,” Carson, 32, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Friday, November 21, sharing a handful of behind-the-scenes images with partner Robert Irwin and a crew of backup dancers.
In a follow-up slide, Carson revealed that a piece of her trademark blonde locks had fallen out while rehearsing her and Irwin’s routine.
“Well, this happened … and yes, that’s my real hair,” she captioned a social media pic. “[It] ripped out of my scalp. Blood, sweat and hair into this freestyle.”
Witney Carson Gets Real About ‘Mom Guilt’ as ‘DWTS’ Duties Intensify
Carson and Irwin, 21, will perform a freestyle to Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold” and Avicii’s “The Nights” during the Tuesday, November 25, finale. The ballroom contest will feature two additional rounds of competition: Judge’s Choice and Instant Dance. For the former, judge Derek Hough asked Carson and Irwin to tackle a quickstep to Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” Details of the instant dance, however, won’t be revealed until the live show.
Robert, whose sister Bindi Irwin won season 21 with Hough in 2015, is now hopeful to bring home his own mirrorball trophy. If he and Carson win on Tuesday, it will be her second victory. (Carson previously won DWTS season 19 with now-host Alfonso Ribeiro.)
“We’re going to have to start again from the bottom and work our way up,” Carson exclusively told Us Weekly earlier in November of the pair’s work ethic each week. “I think that in itself is already a challenge, but I think now, like Carrie Ann [Inaba] said, ‘It’s a good time to have this momentum,’ so we’re going to hopefully just take that momentum and keep working and keep pushing and do more challenging things and push you a little bit. I think that always pays off in the end.”
In addition to giving his all, Robert has a few superstitions up his sleeve that might also help.
“Every show day on Dancing With the Stars, I have two good luck charms that I bring with me. These things keep me close to home and to what’s most important to me,” Robert said in a November 16 social media video, referring to late father Steve Irwin’s worn T-shirt and gold ring. “I was going through his stuff and I found this shirt. It’s absolutely tattered and has holes and is missing buttons.”
While Robert fixed up the shirt, it still serves as an emotional connection to his dad. (Noted “Crocodile Hunter” Steve died in 2006 following a stingray attack when Robert was a toddler.)
Witney Carson Says She Feels ‘Protective’ Over ‘DWTS’ Partner Robert Irwin
“I like that it still looks and feels like him. This shirt definitely saw a lot. I guess it’s kind of a good example of how dad lived his life,” Robert added in his video. “It just keeps me close to home, it keeps me close to him. It feels like a big hug. Every time I step out into the ballroom, I represent my dad’s legacy, my home, my family.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, with new episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.
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