Skai Jackson, 18, slipped for just a split-second and stumbled a bit during her samba with partner Alan Bersten, 26, on the Sept. 23 episode of Dancing With the Stars. Despite the mistake, Skai recovered and finished the dance strong. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Skai and Alan after the show to get the details about what happened and why.
“When we were doing the move, everything was totally fine before that,” Skai admitted. “It was, honestly, the floor was just really slippery. There was confetti before, which made it even more slippery. Because when we did it in rehearsal, we never fell or anything. But it’s totally fine. I mean, people stumble. Beyonce has stumbled before. I mean, of course, it’s a little bit upsetting but next week is going to be great.”
Alan raved over Skai’s ability to continue dancing and not let the slip-up get the best of her. “One of the most impressive things to me is that Skai didn’t stop,” Alan said. “That’s something that a lot of people would have stopped after, and the fact that she kept going, in my opinion, she even came back stronger.”
Skai is maintaining positive vibes despite getting knocked off the top of the leaderboard. She revealed it “never even came into my head” to stop dancing after the mistake. She knew she had to “keep pushing” and “keep going.”
Week 3 is the beloved Disney Week. Alan admitted that he’s looking forward to this week more than ever before. “I’m so happy about this. I feel like this next week is going to give us an opportunity to come back with a vengeance,” Alan continued. “You’re at the top of the leaderboard in week one, and in week two we weren’t at the top of the leaderboard. But week three, we’re coming back.”
Many contestants or dancers, in general, would get in their heads about a slip-up, but Skai is brushing it off and looking ahead. Alan loves that mentality in a partner. “One of the best things about Skai is her positivity,” Alan told HollywoodLife. “I’ve mentioned this before and today it really showed. I don’t look at today as something that went wrong. I look at it as something that was such an eye-opener to me. No matter what happens, Skai is so grateful to be here. I think that’s the most impressive thing.” Dancing With the Stars season 29 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.