It was the end of the road for Jaleel White as Dancing With The Stars continued its relentless whittling down process. With the exit of Gavin Degraw a couple of weeks ago, it really meant that the calibre of star facing eviction from then on was going to be markedly high, and so it's proved with Gladys Knight leaving last week despite impressing earlier in the competition and now Jaleel White going, despite earning consistent plaudits from judges.
The blow for White was doubled with the knowledge that it wasn't even he who received the lowest points total on Monday night - that dubious accolade going to the far more consistently poor Melissa Gilbert, who has been flirting with the bottom two for several weeks now. Reuters reports that the actor was nevertheless magnanimous in defeat though, saying "I really only thought I'd last about three dances in this competition. I wanted to get three good dances off. That's what I told my mama."
Despite earlier reports in the competition suggesting that he'd been disrespectful to his professional partner Kym Johnson, White insisted that he'd had a great time with her and added "I've made incredible friends. The fans have been incredible." He'll now go back to being remembered as geeky child character Steve Urkel, probably for the rest of his days.