Heavy/Disney Alan Bersten and Ilona Maher dance on DWTS.
“Dancing With the Stars” fans are reacting to an expected terror on Disney Night.
On October 22, the annual tribute to all things Disney featured the usual magical performances paying homage to classics such as “The Little Mermaid,” “101 Dalmatians” and “The Lion King.” But a dance in honor of the movie “Encanto” left some fans thoroughly frightened.
On Disney Night, Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher and her pro partner Alan Bersten performed a jazz routine to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s song “Surface Pressure.” The song is from the 2021 Disney fantasy film “Encanto.”
Maher channeled the character Luisa Madrigal by wearing a white cropped top, blue shirt, and a red bow in her hair.
But Bersten had to spend extra time in the makeup chair for his costume. The pro dancer arrived onstage in an oversized prosthetic donkey mask so the two could reenact Luisa’s iconic donkey lift from the film. Several other donkey dancers also appeared in the background of the dance.
Fans Were Distracted by Alan Bersten’s Donkey Mask
Following the dance, DWTS host Julianne Hough jokingly asked Bersten to confirm it was him under the creepy donkey mask.
Maher and Bersten ultimately earned 25 out of 30 points from the judges for their donkey-themed jazz. The score included their first 9 of the season, courtesy of veteran judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
But fans gave Bersten’s mask a lower score.
“Please never let him wear that again 😭😭 it’s horrifying,” one viewer wrote on Instagram.
“Alan’s mask is actually terrifying 😂,” another added.
“Poor Alan, he looks straight up terrifying!😂😂😂,” another agreed.
“If I were Ilona I would’ve been too scared to dance with him or even look at him that close,” another viewer wrote.
“Alan babe this isn’t Halloween night,” another wrote.
“Maybe he’ll reuse it for Nightmares week,” another suggested on Reddit.
Bersten took the X app to apologize for his terrifying donkey look. “Sorry for the jump scare everyone #DWTS,” he wrote to fans.
Alan Bersten Teased His Donkey Costume Ahead of the Live Show
Shortly before the live Disney Night show aired on ABC and Disney Plus, Bersten gave fans a teaser of what to expect. “We’re giving the people what they want,” he told Parade magazine of his week 6 dance. “They want her to be Luisa from ‘Encanto.’ She will be Luisa, I will be a donkey. This is the most excited I’ve ever been for a dance.”
“It will be fun to embody that character,” Maher added of Luisa.
Following the live show, Bersten told “Good Morning America” he hoped he and Maher made fans proud. “Ilona absolutely crushed it,” he said. “I was a little scary as a donkey, I’m not gonna lie.”
“A little scary, a little spooky,” Maher agreed.
Bersten noted that his donkey makeup caused him to miss the other Disney dances. “I didn’t get to watch the show, I was in prosthetic makeup the whole time,” he said. “They literally put me downstairs and we walked out onstage. Like, it was just full-time out there. And then they took it right off!”
The “Dancing with the Stars” pro also revealed that it was his idea to recreate the donkey lift as part of the Disney Night dance.
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Victoria Miller is a contributor for Heavy specializing in TV and celebrity news. She can be reached at victoria.miller@heavy.com. More about Victoria Miller
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