EXCLUSIVE: Rashad Jennings & Emma Slater Open Up About Their First Perfect 'DWTS' Scores: 'It Feels Amazing'
Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater have been commanding the Dancing With the Stars stage for weeks, yet it took until the first night of the finals for the pair to earn their first perfect score -- only to follow it up with another flawless performance.
The couple opened up to ET after Monday's show, and reflected on what it was like to finally get a 10 from judge Len Goodman, and how it feels to go into the second night of the finals at the top of the leaderboard.
"It feels amazing," Jennings said. "We have not got a 10 from Len this whole entire season and when he kinda took the hesitation I was like, 'Is he going to do it? Is he?'"
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While the accomplishment is impressive in its own right, it might mean even more for Slater, as it was her first perfect score in the history of her time on the show.
This is Slater's seventh season as a DWTS pro, and aside from her season 17 team-up with Bill Engvall -- who inexplicably made it all the way to the semi-finals -- Jennings is the first star Slater has been partnered with who has what it takes for a real run at the Mirrorball trophy.
Jennings and Slater first came close to a perfect score during week four, when he dedicated his emotional contemporary performance to his father, and earned a 39 out of 40, putting him in first place for the night. They came one point away once again with their trio dance during week eight and for their quickstep during the semi-finals.
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However, the pair were able to bring the magic with their first dance of the finals --a romantic Viennese waltz set to The Weeknd's "Dark Times."
The couple really hit a grand slam with their second dance, an amazing freestyle routine set to "Uptown Funk," which Jennings choreographed.
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The partners are coming into the second night of the finals red hot and with a lot of momentum, and Slater said Jennings has worked incredibly hard to get here.
"He deserves this more than anybody I've ever met," Slater shared. "He works so hard -- especially this week... every day was like, grueling work -- and it's always so much fun [and] surprisingly not stressful … and he deserves it more than anyone."
She also explained that the pair don't let their place on the leaderboard -- or any of the other contestants' scores -- affect their outlook or the way they've been training.
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"We keep our eyes on ourselves, we don't look at anybody else… We just turn up and dance and do the best that we can," Slater said, adding, "I'm doing this for him, 100 percent."
Jennings continues to battle it out for the coveted Mirrorball trophy against Fifth Harmony singer Normani Kordei and former Chicago Cubs catcher David Ross in the second night of the Dancing With the Stars finale on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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