Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Kirstie Alley looked beautiful together on Monday night’s Dancing With the Stars… until his leg gave out early on in the routine. The actress fell to the floor, the audience audibly gasped, and both performers quickly scrambled to their feet. The dance -- this week, it was the rumba -- was flawless after that. Watch the performance in the video above. The judges admired Alley’s spunk and quick recovery; they each awarded her a 7 as a balm.

But Alley, an early front-runner, will probably dance right past her competition in spite of the slip. Some contenders are still receiving consistent criticism from judges (Wendy Williams and Ralph Macchio can’t do much right, in their eyes), and the front-runners are still scoring plenty of praise. NFL star Hines Ward was the top dancer of the night yet again. Ward earned the first 9 of the season courtesy of judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

Model Petra Nemcova managed to get in the judges’ good graces this week, however, perhaps rescuing herself from her bottom-of-the-voting-pack fate. Leon Goodman thinks she’s worth watching for the first time all season. Petra tied with Hines Ward for first place at the end of the round, earning 25 points from the judges.

Singer Romeo and wrestler Chris Jericho may take a hit in votes this week; both were only middle-of-the-road with their slow, emotional performances that felt more boring than heart-wrenching.  Reality star Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett got sexy on the Dancing floor, dedicating her sensual routine to husband Hank.

Disney star Chelsea Kane and partner Mark Ballas offered up an adorable storytelling performance, all set to the strains of a song written expressly for her ("Chelsea"). Along with Sugar ray Leonard’s boxing-inspired number, she became our favorite of the night. At the end of the episode, it was Wendy Williams who received the lowest (far and away) scores, raking in only 15 points from the judges.

Read all our Dancing With the Stars 12 posts to keep up with all the recaps and eliminations.