Teamwork makes the dream work on Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro.

Collaborating is at the heart of Dancing With the Stars, which was evidenced just last week on The Next Pro when the contestants paired up to choreograph original routines that told their life stories. It was smooth sailing for the teams that got along well, especially for Adele Zaikman and Allen Genkin, whose routine commemorating Allen's late mother got rave reviews from the judges and left them teary-eyed.

But for Nina Mayster and Benji Castro, conflict during the creative process led to a disjointed number in front of the judges. Nina's strong opinions drowned out Benji's in rehearsals, leaving him with little to do in their finished routine besides a couple of backflips that were ill-suited to their rumba anyway. Nina and Benji ended up as the bottom two for the challenge, and Benji was eliminated, leaving nine gifted performers vying for a spot in the competition on DWTS Season 35 this fall.

The contestants were challenged again to work well with others in the third week of competition. Read on for our recap of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro Season 1, Episode 3, titled "You’re Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link: Group Work With Britt Stewart," which aired July 27 on ABC, with episodes available to stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

Britt Stewart, a DWTS pro since 2020, performed a group number much like the lavish opening numbers DWTS has become famous for. Then she gave the competitors their challenge for the week: dancing together to recreate that very same routine. But not everyone was happy about it. Group work was new to Adele, who had been focused on competitive dancing and was doubting herself about coordinating with her fellow performers.

Natalie Jolley and Selena Hamilton were excited for the opportunity, though. For Selena, it was a chance to demonstrate the group work skills she had honed in her career as a commercial dancer. Unfortunately, she had to rehearse with Nina, who took charge of the rehearsal space just like she did last week with Benji, resulting in his elimination. His ouster kinda was her fault, and she claimed to feel guilty about it, but that didn't keep her dominant streak at bay. Nina was surprised when Selena called her out on it later. "I'm trying to be as sensitive and as careful as possible," Nina explained.

For Stephani Sosa, the challenge was right up her alley. Like Selena, she came up as a commercial dancer, and on top of that she performed on DWTS Season 33 as a troupe dancer, giving her plenty of experience with exactly this kind of group number. But maybe she was a little too enthusiastic for her own good because on one move her right hand walloped Natalie in the eye, for which she needed immediate medical attention. I guess that's one way to eliminate the competition, but Stephani was visibly mortified about causing the accident, and Britt reiterated why it was so important to be aware of your physical space.

Then came a surprise, though not necessarily a welcome one. Britt had just given the contestants three hours to learn the choreography. It turns out that that's the same amount of time the actual pros have to learn the group routines and be camera-ready on the show. So Britt brought out judges Mark Ballas and Shirley Ballas to watch them perform it, right then and there. "I've never learned a dance, especially a group dance, this quick before. Now the pressure is really on." said Allen.

Given the dancers' trepidation, their rough draft performance was better than anticipated, but the eagle-eyed judges spotted the weakest links. Tristen Sanders was ahead of the music by a whole bar, according to Shirley. And Mark called out Nina for problems with rushing and spatial awareness. Luckily, that didn't mean elimination for either of them -- not yet at least. But Tristen took it hard. He broke down in tears and needed consoling from the judges.

The following day, there was still no Natalie. Host Robert Irwin announced the injured dancer was still "under medical supervision." But that didn't mean the other eight would get a break. They immediately proceeded to the second phase of the group work challenge, in which they split into two teams to create memorable dances. The bottom two from the group routine, Nina and Tristen, served as team captains.

Nina selected Allen, AJ Pritchard, and Adele to join her on the dance floor for a tango. But Nina finally decided to take a step back and delegate much of leadership responsibility to AJ, who was, shall we say, more than happy to be in charge. After competing as a pro on the UK's Strictly Come Dancing, he was confident -- maybe a bit cocky -- about giving the marching orders.

Tristen teamed up with Stephani, Selena, and last-picked Erik Linder for a paso doble. Was getting chosen last indicative of how Erik's doing in the competition? Thus far he hasn't gotten as much attention as some of his rivals, for better or worse. Regardless, Tristen's leadership strategy was for his team to be essentially leaderless and for each member to contribute their own ideas, though his passive style may have left his team without much-needed guidance.

On show night, the two teams performed, with Natalie's absence still a mystery.

Team Paso Doble: Britt thought the beginning was dynamic and powerful, but it felt like they were all dancing as individuals, not as a cohesive team, and Tristen looked especially lost. Mark felt Selena's spatial awareness was lacking. Shirley said that there was a directness missing, and multiple moves were out of sync, though Stephani and Erik stood out with their strong group work. Mark told them to imagine preparing and performing that kind of routine each with a different celebrity at different skill levels for an idea of how hard it can really get.

Team Tango: Mark starts with the obvious: Allen fell during the routine! But he got back up quickly and carried on as if nothing happened, which is what matters. Nina was greatly improved from the previous group work challenge and from last week's teamwork debacle, but she still had a little timing problem. Shirley was concerned about Nina's timing too, while Adele had a great musical ear, but the star of the routine was AJ, who wasn't as "self-absorbed" as he has been in the past. Britt thought the team pushed the boundaries and stepped out of their comfort zones.

After the performances, Shirley announced that the winner was Team Tango, who were thus safe from elimination despite Allen's little tumble. The two dancers from Team Paso Doble in the bottom two were Tristen for losing confidence and steam during their routine, and Selena for lacking the awareness in a group that she has had on her own.

But tonight was the last dance for ... neither of them?!

It turns out that poor Natalie was not medically cleared to return to the competition, so she had to be eliminated by default, leaving Tristen and Selena breathing huge sighs of relief. "I'm really sad and disappointed that I won't be able to continue in this competition, but the most important thing is to take care of my body so I can dance again," said Natalie when she was brought onto the stage to say her goodbyes.

Well, it wouldn't be DWTS without a surprise elimination twist.