Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry ended his second week on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" with a slightly higher score and a bigger smile despite remaining at the bottom of the leader board.
The former Texas governor took the dance floor Monday night with partner Emma Slater, dancing to the “Green Acres” theme for TV theme night, and Perry’s huge smile as they started their dance routine on a tractor was evidence that he was more enthusiastic coming into week two, the Austin American-Statesman noted.
“This has been magnificent. This is so much fun,” the former Republican presidential candidate said after his dance. “Last week wasn’t fun. This week was fun.”
Perry’s score Monday night was two points higher than what he received during week one, but it remains to be seen whether that score will be enough to make it past the first round of team eliminations Tuesday night.
The judges had mixed reviews for the politician.
“Your performances are very, very catchy,” Bruno Tonioli said. “It’s like a bad cold — you can’t get rid of it.”
Carrie Ann Inaba disagreed, saying that Perry is “not quite artistic yet, but perky and efficient.”
Len Goodman mentioned that Perry needs more polish, but added: “You were having fun on the farm and it wasn’t a crop failure.”
Perry is dancing as a salute to the veterans around the world, Fox News reported, noting that his "DWTS" appearance has gotten the nod from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Perry told Fox News of Trump, "I talked to him last week, he called and was flying between one stop and another and said, 'Hey, I just saw your performance.' I'm sure it was a delayed feed, but he said, 'You did a good job. Keep it up!'"
Despite a solid performance, Perry and Slater finished the night at the bottom of the leader board, which puts them at a disadvantage going into elimination rounds.
The results show airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ABC and will go for two hours.