Irish pro-dancer Tristan MacManus and his partner queen-of-soul Gladys Knight are safe for another week on ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ despite tying for last place on Monday’s competition show. Although the couple’s foxtrot on Monday received a respectable score of 24 out of 30, MacManus and Knight tied for last place.

Tristan and Gladys received a relatively high score considering it’s only week three for this season of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ However, the season is already amping to have bragging rights for showcasing the most talented couples of any season yet. With 8 points given to Tristan and Gladys from each judge, the couple still ended up in an almost unheard of five-way tie at the end of the competition on Monday.

On Tuesday’s results show, Tristan and Gladys were close to being sent home after it was announced that they were in the bottom three couples after America’s vote. They were ultimately safe along with other couple pop-singer Gavin Degraw and his pro-partner Karina Smirnoff. Actor Jack Wagner and his partner Anna Trebunskaya were sent home.

MacManus continued his weekly blog with thoughts on week three on Entertainment Weekly.

For Monday’s competition show, the couples were asked to create a dance that reflected on a memorable year for the ‘star’ of the couple. Gladys Knight chose to pay homage to her first year on tour with The Pips when she was only 13 years old, and picked Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid’ as the musical choice.

MacManus recounts Knight’s first time touring as “inspirational” and that he was “delighted” to dance to a Sam Cooke song as he’s a big fan.

Later in his EW blog, MacManus got personal and chatted about his array of tattoos, most of which connect to his Irish heritage.

“I’m Ireland,” said MacManus. “It’s just Irish mythology and history I guess. And then the ring on me hand is a history of Ireland ring that has all sorts of symbols of Irish things.”

The Bray native has no shortage of tattoos, and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon either. Says MacManus, “I’ve got one on me left arm that’s Irish writin’ that says  ‘My family, my friends, my heart.’ And then I have my surname down my ribs. On the other side then I have half a bull — that’s from an Irish tale — and that goes along with the other ones I have on me arm there. They’re all mythical characters, I guess. They’re all Irish literature. So I have one… two… three… I’ve got four on me right arm. The one on me forearm isn’t finished yet. I need to get that finished when I go back to Ireland. That’ll all tie it together.”

Next week, Tristan and Gladys are back for week four of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ for a “rock” themed competition! Tune in to ABC on Monday at 9pm to cheer on Tristan and Gladys.

Here, watch Tristan & Gladys’ foxtrot to Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid’: