Last week marked the end of Guillermo Rodriguez’s Dancing with the Stars journey, as he and dance partner Witney Carson were eliminated at the conclusion of Week 5 of Season 35. During his tenure on the reality competition series amid the 2026 TV schedule, Guillermo became a fan-favorite and amassed a lot of support, despite not receiving high scores. On that note, his talk show partner, Jimmy Kimmel, paid tribute to him after his elimination and, as sweet as it was on air, it turns out there are some even lovelier BTS details.
Kimmel paid tribute to his longtime sidekick’s DWTS run during his opening monologue on the October 14th broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and it was quite sentimental. While the host began by questioning Guillermo about what he might do with his newfound reality TV fame, Kimmel segued into a sweet montage chronicling the ups and downs of his buddy’s stint on Dancing. Later, Carson came out before the audience, and she and Guillermo danced. Carson later discussed the tribute, and shared behind-the-scenes insights:
I was really sad, I actually just came from Jimmy Kimmel, and they had a huge montage of our journey together. And all the producers were crying, and the audience did a full standing ovation. And I’ve got chills, I got so emotional, so today I’m feeling mixed emotions.
Carson – who’s currently pregnant with her third child – made these comments while speaking with ET (as seen on Instagram), and they’re so sweet. I thought the Kimmel tribute was sweet already, but it’s even more sentimental when someone’s aware that the producers were crying amid the proceedings. And, while viewers at home got some shots of the audience cheering, I love knowing that they all came together to give Carson and Guillermo a standing ovation. Check out the tribute during the monologue below:
The last leg of Guillermo and Carson’s DWTS stint was Super Bowl Night, which saw the pair perform a salsa routine to Bad Bunny’s “Tití Me Preguntó”. Ultimately, the two earned their highest score of the competition – a 22 out of 40. That ranking, however, was still low compared to the scores of their competitors and, by the time the night was over, their names were called during the elimination portion of the night.
Overall, Guillermo’s time on Dancing was filled with both highs and lows, from the army of fans who supported him on social media to those who were mad about him avoiding elimination despite low scores. There was also the supposedly shady comment from fellow competitor Jackson Olson regarding one of Rodriguez’s routines, though Olson later publicly apologized for that.
There was certainly a lot of anticipation for Guillermo’s involvement in DWTS after he was initially announced as a competitor. Needless to say, his tenure on the long-running series didn’t disappoint, and Guillermo himself expressed gratitude for his time on the program following his elimination. I love that he’s thankful for having had the opportunity to compete and that both he and Witney Carson got their flowers on Jimmy Kimmel’s show in such a sweet way.
Check out new episodes of Dancing with the Stars, which air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and can simultaneously be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. Also, Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weekly at 11:35 p.m. ET on the Alphabet network as well.
