Rick Perry’s ‘Dancing’ fate rests with voters once again

If you ever wanted another opportunity to vote for former Gov. Rick Perry, here’s your chance.

In fact, his continued presence on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” depends on it. That’s because Perry was beaten in a dance-off by Vanilla Ice on Monday night’s program, which aired before the presidential debate — the stage for former GOP candidate for president hoped he would be on tonight, but he and a long list of other Republicans lost that contest to Donald Trump.

By virtue of winning Monday night’s dance-off, Vanilla Ice — a Dallas native whose real name is Robbie VanWinkle — is safe for the week. But Perry and five other losers of Monday night dance-offs are at the mercy of the show’s millions of weekly voters. The dancer with the fewest votes will be eliminated.

In an interesting twist, host Tom Bergeron noted how it’s surprised many involved with the program that Perry and Vanilla Ice have become fast friends in what he called a full-blown “bromance.”

“I’m the matador, he’s the bull,” Perry quipped on the show. He survived the first round of elimination even though he had the first week’s lowest scores from the judges. After Monday night’s loss, he immediately took to social media to remind Americans that a vote for him is a vote for veterans. All contestants play for charity, and Perry has chosen support for veterans.

“Vote #TeamDanceForOurVets by calling 1-800-868-3410 or online: dwtsvote.abc.go.com,” Perry tweeted.

Perry and Vanilla Ice actually tied at 23 in the scores given by the four judges, but judge Len Goodman held the tie-breaking vote and he went with the rapper from the 1990s.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba tweeted that “@vanillaice and @GovernorPerry both came out with passion & commitment — but one dance had content, the other had impact!”

Tuesday night’s results show begins at 7 p.m. on WFAA Channel 8 in North Texas.

John Gravois:

817-390-7734, @grav1

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Rick Perry’s ‘Dancing’ fate rests with voters once again."