The mom of three still nailed her sultry dance on Movie Night.
Who said a wardrobe malfunction has to be a bad thing?
Vanessa Lachey suffered a skirt slip while performing the quickstep with her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, during Dancing With the Stars' Night at the Movies on Monday, but you truly wouldn't have known it was intentional.
Paying homage to classic musicals, the 36-year-old actress started off singing with her "Lachey Sisters" -- a take on the Andrew sisters -- before gliding into her choreography with Maks. Her pro partner accidentally stepped on her skirt as they passed by the judges, causing her longer silk skirt to fall to the ground.
Vanessa handled it so gracefully, however, that the moment seemed planned. Not missing a beat, she hit all of her steps as she lip synced along to Smash's "Let's Be Bad."
Before even hearing the judges' scores, the mom of three turned to Tom Begeron and said, "Oops!" When the host asked why, she replied, “I swear that was not planned to lose my skirt right in front of the judges. It looks like drapery.” Then she gave Maks a hug and joked with judge Bruno Tonioli, "Hey, if it’s for extra points, I’ll take it.”
The judges clearly didn't see the missing costume piece as an error.
"It took me back to season one, when Kelly Monaco had a wardrobe malfunction, and it actually sent her over the top," Carrie Ann Inaba admitted. "What I saw was something happened, and you just let yourself go, and it was such a fantastic performance. You are the epitome of class and grace, and then it was freedom.”
Guest judge Shania Twain seconded the sentiment, noting, "For me, just on the entertainment value, it was sass, humor and class. And I wasn’t sure, when you lost the skirt, if it was meant to happen at that moment or not because you kept your composure. It didn’t matter and you went with it, and I loved it.”
As for Bruno, though he did note there was one minor foot hold he noticed, otherwise, he told Vanessa that she was "absolutely gleaming with that kind of theatrical, pizzazz, glamour of a ‘40s musical," adding, "You killed it. That was so delicious."
Len Goodman got boos, however, when he reminded Vanessa that he had given her 8s but was
"debating now whether that deserved less, the same, or more.”
Luckily, Len came around, agreeing with his other judges that the dance was worth a high score, with all four giving the duo 9s, adding up to a 36 out of 40.
“This dancing thing is working out for me!” Vanessa joked just before she got the scores.
Her husband, Nick Lachey, clearly agreed -- he was beaming after his wife completed her dance. But sadly, his number earlier in the evening didn't go quite as well.
The second dance of the movie tribute, he and partner Peta Murgatroyd performed a steampunk-meets-Mad Max samba to "Wild Wild West," but the awkward, stilted number looked labored and only earned them a 26 out of 40, and they were ultimately eliminated from this week's show.
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
