Vanessa Borck Eliminated from Let's Dance After Harsh Jury Criticism

Influencer and content creator Vanessa Borck, known as "Nessi," was eliminated from the German dance competition "Let's Dance" during Show 2 on March 13, 2026, after her Tango performance drew sharp criticism from the jury. Borck performed alongside professional dancer Victoria Sauerwald, forming the competition's only all-female pairing. Juror Joachim Llambi delivered a particularly blunt verdict on the performance, awarding just 7 points. The audience vote was not enough to save the duo from elimination, ending Borck's run in the show after just two episodes. According to web search results, Borck appeared composed following her exit from the competition.

„You can't dance” — Joachim Llambi via Focus

Llambi's assessment stood as the harshest judgment of the evening, and the low score reflected the jury's overall dissatisfaction with the Tango. Borck and Sauerwald's all-female pairing had drawn attention as a unique element of the 2026 season. Their elimination in Show 2 marked the second consecutive week the competition lost a pair, following the exit of Sonya Kraus and Valentin Lusin in Show 1 the previous week. The show continued to whittle down its field of 14 candidates competing in the 19th season of the long-running RTL program.

Let's Dance has aired on the German commercial broadcaster RTL since 2006, making the 2026 edition its 19th season. The format pairs celebrity contestants with professional dancers who compete across multiple live shows, with eliminations decided by a combination of jury scores and audience votes. The show has established itself as one of RTL's flagship entertainment programs over nearly two decades on air.

While Borck's exit dominated post-show coverage, Show 2 also produced a notable high point when Jan Kittmann and his partner Kathrin Menzinger earned the first perfect 10-point score of the season. Actress Esther Schweins, who according to the Person Registry began her career as a comedian on RTL Samstag Nacht in the 1990s and has since appeared in over 70 film and television productions, drew praise for her Rumba performance with Massimo Sinató to "Kayleigh" by Marillion. Web search results described her dancing as "elegance pure," with one headline singling her out alongside Gustav Schäfer as a standout of the evening. The contrast between Borck's troubled Tango and Schweins's well-received Rumba defined the narrative arc of Show 2, with the competition's early favorites and underdogs beginning to separate from the middle of the field.