Dancing With the Stars Backstage Report: Romeo's Last Dance

He may have been the most surprising contestant in Dancing With The Starshistory. No one, least of all the judges, thought when the season started that they'd be falling in love with the son of Master P, and so disappointed to see him go.

"When we arrive here a week before the [first] show, they give us a folder with everyone in it," says head judge Len Goodman. "And this season, I look through it and I see:  'Romeo. Son of Master P. Rap Singer.' And I thought, 'He's gonna be all blinged up, with attitude and a backwards baseball cap. He's not gonna go for it, immerse himself in the competition.' But I was so wrong! He's really given it his best shot. Charming guy." 

No one was harder on Romeo's father than Goodman, who at one point stated flat out that he thought that it was time for Master P and the show "to separate." "It was terrible!" remembers Goodman. "I said to him, 'I can forgive anything but not trying. That is unforgivable.' He probably did two hours of training for the week. But Romeo, he's good at both ballroom and Latin. I did say last week, 'Unless you up your game, I'm afraid you're gonna be out of here.' That was a negative thing to say. But I think it did give him a jolt, because he came back and upped his game."

Adds judge Carrie Ann Inaba, "I'm very surprised by him. We all had a preconceived notion of what he would be like based on his father. And it taught us all a lesson not to judge a book by its cover. He has a really endearing personality, and a really interesting sense of style, which is kind of unbreakable. A little machismo, but humble. There's a vulnerability that makes you root for him. A sweetness that goes with the swagger."

"I would adopt him," says judge Bruno Tonioli. "Hard-working, with a great attitude.  Such a nice kid."

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