After a spectacular night of dancing in the third episode of 'Dancing With The Stars SA' comedian Ebenhaezer Dibakwane and his partner, Nombulelo Hlathi, faced Eden Classens and his partner, Ash-leigh Hunter in the first Dance-Off of the season.
In the end, Ebenhaezer and Nombulelo became the first celebrity to leave the show after the first viewers’ vote.
The tension in the room was palpable as hosts Chris Jaftha and Tracey Lange read out one-by-one the names of the couples who were safe to dance again next week, leaving only Eden and Ebenhaezer to repeat their performances from earlier in the evening – dancing, as judge Tebogo Kgobokoe put it, for their lives.
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Eden Classens and Ash-leigh Hunter were up first with their Cha-Cha, followed directly by Ebenhaezer Dibakwane and Nombulelo Hlathi repeating their dramatic Tango.
Then it was up to judges Bryan Watson, Debbie Turner, Tebogo Kgobokoe, and Jason Gilikson to decide which of these two couples they wanted to see compete again next week. Bryan saved Eden and Ashley, Debbie agreed, Tebogo chose Ebenhaezer and Nombulelo because they brought their “all”, she said.
But it was when Jason made the call to save Eden and Ash-leigh, that Ebenhaezer become the first celebrity to leave the show. “It’s been an incredible journey,” Ebenhaezer said graciously, adding that he didn’t feel that he lost anything.
The vote count and ranking of contestants is done according to the international format rules and was independently computed by Deloitte and Touche, and confirmed against the vote results determined by M-Net.