Diego Pasillas stumbled during the Newsies segment of Dancing with the Stars’ Disney-themed opening number on Nov. 2, but quickly got back into the routine. After the show, he addressed the fall in a social media video, joking, “I just ate it on national television.”
Pasillas demonstrated the choreography he had intended to do for “Seize the Day” before mimicking his actual fall. He added that “the show must go on” — and continued performing after the mishap.
The recovery drew praise from fellow dancers and viewers. Professional dancer Hailey Bills commented on how quickly Pasillas got up, while Val Chmerkovskiy joked about the move. Fans also applauded the way he returned to the routine, with one describing the fall as an “unexpected solo.”
Pasillas said the encouragement meant a lot after a fan told him they had shown the clip to their teenage dancer as motivation.
The episode also saw Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa leave the competition. Stiles said the experience had helped her discover abilities she did not know she had, and praised Sosa as an amazing person.
Sources: E! News.