Jenna Dewan walked into the Dancing With the Stars ballroom on November 10, 2026, ready to honor the woman who launched her dance career. What she did not expect was that the woman herself would show up on the screen.
Janet Jackson appeared in a surprise video message during the show’s Grammys Night episode, telling Dewan she was “so excited” and “so honored” that Dewan was performing to “All For You” — the 2001 hit that won Jackson a Grammy and helped turn Dewan into a professional dancer more than two decades ago. The message left Dewan in tears, and it came just moments before she and partner Val Chmerkovskiy were eliminated in one of the most shocking results of the season.
A full-circle moment built over 25 years
Dewan’s connection to Jackson goes back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. As a teenager, Dewan watched Jackson’s Velvet Rope Tour on HBO and decided she wanted to be a Janet dancer. She auditioned for Jackson’s “Doesn’t Really Matter” music video in 2000, landed a spot, and was soon invited to join the All For You Tour, performing across North America and Asia from 2001 to 2002.
She also appeared in the music videos for both “Doesn’t Really Matter” and “All For You,” credits that she has repeatedly called the start of her career. Dewan has described Jackson not just as a boss but as a model of how a powerful woman can lead with kindness.
“She showed me just how powerful a woman can be while still having unwavering kindness and respect for everyone around her,” Dewan wrote in a 2022 Instagram tribute.
That history made Grammys Night personal. Dewan chose “All For You” for her jazz routine with Chmerkovskiy, and the show’s pre-dance video package framed it as a tribute to Jackson. “Putting Grammys and Janet Jackson together, this is a full circle moment,” Dewan said in the package. “It makes me really, really happy and emotional that I get this opportunity, so this dance cannot be anything but perfect”.
What Janet Jackson said in the message
The message aired after Dewan and Chmerkovskiy finished their routine. Cohost Julianne Hough told Dewan that a friend had recorded something special, and the screen cut to Jackson, wearing oversized round glasses, a black hoodie, and a “Funkbox NYC” cap.
Jackson’s words were direct and warm. “Hey Jenna, I am so excited. I cannot wait to watch you perform tonight, and you’re performing to ‘All For You?’ I feel so honored,” she said. She kept going: “I really do feel honored, though. I know you’re going to do an incredible job. Weren’t those such fun times we had back then in those days? During the All For You Tour. I miss you, I love you, I can’t wait to see you tonight”.
She closed with a plan: “Let’s get together when I’m back in L.A.”.
Dewan stood speechless as the message played, visibly wiping tears from her eyes. When Hough asked for a reaction, Dewan could not answer right away. She later said that “dancing for Janet 25 years ago was a dream come true”.
The routine and the judges’ score
Dewan and Chmerkovskiy danced a jazz routine to “All For You” that featured acrobatic lifts, spins, and the fluid style Dewan built her career on. The judges responded strongly. Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli gave the routine a 10, a 9, and a 9 — 28 out of 30.
Inaba was clear about what she saw: “I expected greatness, and you delivered,” she told Dewan.
The couple also won a dance-off against actress Tatyana Ali and her partner Jan Ravnik, which added two bonus points to their total and pushed their combined score to 30. By the judges’ numbers, Dewan and Chmerkovskiy finished as the second-highest-scoring couple of the night.
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Elimination shocks the ballroom
The strong scores did not protect them. At the end of the episode, Dewan and Chmerkovskiy were eliminated, finishing in seventh place for Season 35. The result stunned the studio audience and the judges’ table, especially because the couple had just delivered one of the night’s best-received performances.
The elimination came in the quarterfinal round, one week before the semifinals. Dewan and Chmerkovskiy had also earned a perfect 40 the previous week for their quickstep to “Be Our Guest” on Disney Night, which made the sudden exit even harder to explain by scores alone.
Fan reaction online was immediate. Some viewers questioned the voting results, and the term “rigged” trended among frustrated comments. Others focused on the Jackson moment itself, calling it the emotional high point of the episode.
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Why the message mattered beyond the show
Jackson has stepped back from the spotlight in recent years to raise her 9-year-old son, Eissa Al Mana. Video messages like the one that aired on November 10 are rare for her, which is part of why the moment landed so heavily.
For Dewan, the message was not just a celebrity cameo. It was a public thank-you from the person she credits with teaching her how to build a career in dance. Dewan went on to dance for NSYNC, Celine Dion, and Ricky Martin before breaking into acting with Step Up in 2006, but she has always pointed back to Jackson as the foundation.
“She’s the pinnacle,” Dewan told Billboard in 2018. “She really changed the game for being a dancer with an artist”.
Jackson’s message reversed that praise for a moment. “I feel so honored” — a pop icon telling a former backup dancer that the tribute meant something to her too.
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Where to watch ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Dancing With the Stars airs live on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu. The Grammys Night episode, including Jackson’s video message and Dewan’s final dance, is available on those platforms for viewers in the United States. International availability varies by region and streaming partner.
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