'DWTS' recap: Bindi Irwin reveals secret to her success

close

Video

‘DWTS’ wants proof Bindi Irwin’s dad died?

Judge makes odd request regarding her ‘Dancing’ contract

LOS ANGELES – Bindi Irwin continued her "Dancing with the Stars" dominance on Monday night as she performed in a box for an unforgettable routine.

But during the show, she relived the aftermath of the tragic stingray death of her father, Steve Irwin.

On a night in which the remaining four celebrities—Irwin, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, singer Carlos PenaVega, and train hero Alek Skarlatos, discussed people and places that impacted their lives--viewers saw Bindi's mom Terri recall how the youngster coped with the loss of the Crocodile Hunter.

And backstage after the show, the dancing doll elaborated to reporters how "every single day is a chance to be able to make him proud and follow in his footsteps and every day we get in life is such a gift and we have to use it to do great things. It's that old saying, you have to do things today because you never know what's happening tomorrow so you have to live each day as if it's your last. And that's sometimes tough to do. We all say it, but not all of us live it so that's something I'm constantly trying to remind myself."

Irwin, 17, also sees her dad in herself: "I'm not always a very patient individual and Dad wasn't either. If he had an idea in his mind, he had something he had to do, he had to do it right now and I think that in some ways it's a great thing I take after that and in other ways, maybe not so much…I'm always going, 'We have to do things now.' "

But her feisty spirit has benefited her in the "DWTS" competition and she highlighted Monday night's show, in which the final four celebrities all competed after Tamar Braxton dropped out due to illness last week.

In Monday's closing twist, the show decided that no one would be eliminated.

But Irwin was the one who still looked invincible, as she earned 60 points for three dances.

The best was her trio jazz number with partner Derek Hough and Mark Ballas, in which she danced within a box-shaped steel frame and threw a light on a rope around her neck.

"It was so exciting," Irwin told FOX411 backstage. "Derek comes in on Tuesday, he's like, 'We're going to get this steel metal box and this rope with a lightbulb…I don't know how he does it because he creates things that are so beautiful and so meaningful.

"For this dance, it was really just about how we're all connected and finding that light in everyday life and it was stepping outside of that box. We all put ourselves in these bubbles," she said.

Although Irwin is looking forward to the "DWTS" finale, she also admitted to FOX411 she can't wait to get back to her Australian Zoo home.

"I'm so ready to go sit in a tree!" Irwin laughed. "And hug all the animals I haven't seen in months."

Meanwhile, PenaVega and partner Witney Carson also earned an impressive 60 points for their three dances, including an energetic Charleston trio number that had him lifting both Carson and Karina Smirnoff at once!

PenaVega told FOX411 later, "I think tonight was my best of the whole season. I was so confident. The choreography that Witney did was great and I feel like I finally got to show all my strengths."

PenaVega, whose wife Alexa was eliminated last week, revealed in rehearsal footage that his parents divorced and he hadn't spoken to his mother in four years. "It's the truth," he sighed backstage. "I hope she's watching [DWTS and] she's proud. I have complete faith that one day our relationship will strengthen and we'll get back together."

On a happier note, Carson told reporters she's making plans with fiancé Carson Mcallister for their winter wedding in Utah in which she'll wear a long-sleeved lace couture gown by designer Rita Rivini.

"DWTS" pros Lindsay Arnold and Emma Slater and troupe members Jenna Johnson and Brittany Cherry will be Carson's bridesmaids because "I spend all my time with them, anyway. They're like my sisters."

While train hero Alek Skarlatos brought fans to tears by waltzing to "America the Beautiful" and earning a cumulative 57 score with Lindsay Arnold, Nick Carter had some difficulties with his first dance and wound up with a total of 54 points for the night.

With partner Sharna Burgess by his side, Carter explained, "We had a little slip from the arm grab which made it snowball a little bit."

Their timing got messy and Burgess was seen giving Carter a pep talk during the dance.

"I said to him, 'It's okay, I've got you.' And we just sang that lyric of that song together, 'I don't care if it kills me tonight.' And he came back from that move stronger than ever," she said.