Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't yet watched Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro on ABC or with a Disney+ subscription.Things got very real during the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, as the final four competitors had to perform two dances, one paired with pros from DWTS and one partnered amongst themselves. Teaching and choreography have been key to the success of the contestants, and will be what ultimately will be what makes or breaks their trajectory toward the live shows. It was really interesting to watch the pros, who are also choreographers themselves, not be able to offer any input for their routines, but instead just acting as a conduit for how the contestants wanted to shape their performances. Just like with the social media influencers on The Next Pro, judges Mark Ballas, Shirley Ballas, and guest judge Kym Johnson sat down with DWTS Season 34 winner Witney Carson (paired with Allen Genkin) and pros Gleb Savchenko (paired with Adele Zaikman), Riley Arnold (paired with A.J. Pritchard for a Cha Cha), and Jan Ravnik (paired with Selena Hamilton) as they spilled the tea on how things were going. After getting to know the competitors over the last six episodes, it made both the feedback about and the performances with the semi-finalists exactly what I expected. Still, we're getting to the point where the eliminations are getting tough. (Image credit: ABC)With Witney and Allen, they were a joy to watch together and delivered a thrilling Jive, but his need to believe in himself held him back a bit. Whereas A.J. had the confidence, but his Cha Cha with Riley lacked a little in the "wow" factor because he was so intensely focused. The fact Jan and Selena both came from a commercial dance background made their Salsa feel like something straight out of a music video, with a huge amount of personality and tricks. Whether Selena wins this competition or not, it’s clear she’s a star. In comparison, Adele was by far the fiercest technical ballroom dancer and she pushed the clearly out of breath Gleb for their Samba, with Shirley Ballas calling her a “masterpiece.” For their second dance, Selena and Allen had great chemistry and really delivered the fun with their Quickstep. Adele and A.J., the two most technically skilled on the show, partnered for a Foxtrot. Watching Adele, you got the impression she really was the type of dancer who lives ready to perform, compete, and win. The pressure was on to deliver and the bar was set very high because all four of the dance hopefuls have been super talented and could easily succeed on the main show. (Image credit: ABC)You could tell that this was the hardest elimination for the judges and that it was really tough to have to say goodbye to someone so close to the end. I personally thought it was an absolutely exceptional semi-final, but the dancer considered to have “ever so slightly under-performed,” according to Shirley Ballas, was Allen. When someone so talented and with such heart has been eliminated, it’s been tearjerkers all around. In fact, Allen caught my attention in Episode 2 with his dance tribute to his mother and wanting to honor her dream by making it onto DWTS. It’s hard to see that dream cut short. Next week, the finale of The Next Pro is on the 2026 TV schedule on Monday on ABC. Once the winner is crowned, we should then learn all of the celebrities officially confirmed for Dancing with the Stars Season 35 before its two-night premiere event begins on September 15th. We've already gotten one fun update that Witney Carson will be competing while pregnant alongside Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez. All the drama and dancing for the new season just can’t come soon enough!