‘Dancing with the Stars 21’ results preview: Are Paula Deen, Carlos PenaVega in danger?

Sometimes, the biggest surprises come as a result of thinking that you know for sure what is going to happen.

Going into Monday night’s new episode of “Dancing with the Stars,” one of these said certainties appears to be that Paula Deen is going to be going home. She’s on the bottom of the leaderboard, she is the oldest Star of the season, and she has a history of controversy that makes her somewhat polarizing. Even just on the show itself, she tends to take up more airtime than many of the other celebrities.

So where is there a good chance that she somehow makes it out of this episode still a part of the show? We feel like there are two things working in her favor.

A dedicated base – For all of those who do dislike Paula or think it is her time to go, she also has a unified group of supporters who may treat this as an us-against-the-world sort of situation. Just look at Tommy Chong, Bristol Palin, or Master P for examples of people who somehow made it much further than anyone thought that they were going to before the start of the season.

Stars with smaller dedicated bases – Carlos PenaVega was “in jeopardy” this past week, and while it may not mean he was in the bottom two, we worry about people like him of Hayes Grier, who are not exactly well-known to the majority of the show’s older following. (These people, by and large, are the ones voting.)

If you missed it, we recently ranked the remaining contenders on “Dancing with the Stars” over at this link. Check it out! Also, you can sign up here in the event you want some further TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)