What you need to know
Dancing with the Stars guest judge Flavor Fluff insisted he had no intention of ruining Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy’s perfect score on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Night.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Nov. 4, following the latest episode of the contest in which the remaining eight acts from Season 34 dance to classic rock hits in honor of the upcoming 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 8, Fluff, 66, said he intended to give Earl and Chmerkovskiy a 10 instead of a 9.
“It was a coincidence that I gave them a 9. I really wanted to give them a 10, but they wouldn’t let me change it,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer tells PEOPLE.
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Flav added: “I was like, ‘No, no, that was an accident. I don’t want to give them a 9. I want to give them a 10.'” But they were saying, “Flavor, it’s already fixed. You can’t change it.” It’s like, “Oh, oh.” ”
“This is how the game goes, you know what I’m saying?” the rapper admits.
When it came to getting a perfect score, Fluff says he was looking for “accuracy” and “preciseness.”
“I looked for perfect timing, you know what I’m saying? And I looked for perfect teamwork. Each of these couples tonight had that and more,” the musician tells PEOPLE.
In Week 8 of the popular dance competition, Earle and Chmerkovskiy danced a paso doble to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” This ties back to the content creator’s New Jersey roots.
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After the performance, Flav said, “The timing was great,” as Earl and Chmerkovskiy were ushered into the skybox, where music played and before it closed. All the judges gave them a 10, except for Flav who accidentally gave it a 9.
Tuesday was the latest time the couple achieved a near-perfect score, with Week 7 receiving a total of 39/40 points for their tango to Billie Eilish’s song “Bury a Friend.”
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Judges Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba all gave Earl and Chmerkovskiy 10 points, while guest judge Cheryl Burke gave them 9 points, putting them at the top of the leaderboard.
The latest episode saw Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov perform a contemporary routine to Aerosmith’s “Dream On” before being sent home.
Inaba and Flav gave the pair 9 points and Hough and Tonioli 8 points, giving them a score of 34/40 for their final performance.
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After his exit, Fishel claimed that the experience “meant everything,” adding that the show was “truly life-changing and I enjoyed every moment of it, including this one.”
Meanwhile, Mr Pashkov told his partner that she was now a “lifelong friend”.
New episodes of Dancing with the Stars air Tuesdays at 8pm ET on both ABC and Disney+.
