Drama is taking center stage on Dancing with the Stars as Season 34 of the popular competition show heads to its finals this month.
Tuesday’s shocking elimination of actress Danielle Fishel and professional dancer Pasha Pashkov left viewers furious. Many viewers believed that Fishel was unfairly criticized by Judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
“The judging was very biased,” one person told the Post, noting that Inaba was especially harsh on female contestants.
Even Fishel’s co-host on the podcast Pod Meets World (who also co-starred with her on the sitcom Boy Meets World) expressed suspicions that something was amiss.
“It’s starting to feel like a personal vendetta at this point,” Rider Strong said on a recent episode of his podcast. “Does (the judge) accept the possibility that Daniel is doing his best?”
Co-host Will Friedle specifically singled out Inaba, who fans of the show have long speculated would be easy for certain contestants.
“Carrie Ann has her favorites, and no matter what she does, she might walk on stage or trip or bump in the face, she’ll have two or three. And she’ll be like, ‘Good job, 9!'” he said, referring to the show’s 1-10 scoring system. “Then Daniel does the best thing, doing a triple flip, and[Inaba]says, ‘You have to change the way you hold your shoulders, too.'” So what does that mean?
The source also pointed out that the show’s judges “will be very critical of Daniel, while praising[Season 34 contestant]Andy Richter. If they were actually judging, Andy would be held to the same standard.”
Comedian Richter, 59, has been the epitome of the show’s underdog this season, defying the odds once again on Tuesday and making it through the qualifying round unscathed, while Fisher was ejected. (Contestants will be saved or eliminated based on a combination of judges’ scores and fan votes.)
Summarizing the sentiment circulating on social media, one fan posted on Instagram: “Carrie Ann has a long history of bullying ‘popular girls’.”
After this week’s performance, Fishel drew a connection between “DWTS” and the “impossible standards placed on women by both society and ourselves” in “Pod Meets World.”
A week earlier, Inaba had told Fishel, “You’re a little woman, so you need to use the entire (dance) space.”
“I’m a little woman, but she’s big on the inside,” Fishel responded on this week’s show. Inaba apologized for hurting her.
Earlier in the season, dance pro Pashkov criticized Inaba’s criticism as “unfair” after saying that his routine with Fishel “made me feel like I was watching the same dance over and over again.”
And last season, former show pro Maksim Chemerkovskiy overruled Inaba’s decision.
“I’m a fan of constructive criticism. I’m a fan of criticism where there’s a foundation that I can take and make better. Right?[Inaba]doesn’t have anything like that,” he told The Sun. “I have no idea what Carrie Ann is talking about.”
However, the drama has proven to be a ratings beneficiary.
ABC drew 6.63 million viewers for its “Wicked”-themed night of programming on Oct. 21, the show’s largest same-day audience since the start of the 2020-2021 season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Since its season premiere five weeks ago, “DWTS” has grown in viewership each week.
What’s more, the 20-year-old’s show is proving popular with younger viewers, with the report saying it has received its highest ratings in recent years from viewers ages 18 to 49.
However, Mr. Inaba’s awareness of unfair screening is nothing new.
Last season, contestant and Disney actress Chandler Kinney faced similar criticism from Inaba when she and her partner Brandon Armstrong performed an impressive Viennese waltz, only to be told flatly by Inaba, “It wasn’t perfect.”
What upset fans even more was the idea that Inaba favored NBA veteran Dwight Howard, even though Kinney’s dancing seemed more technically proficient.
In 2023, Inaba was the only judge not to give Fishel and fellow Pashkov partner Ariana Madix, a star of Vanderpump Rules, a perfect 10 for an “awkward moment” during a dance routine, but was booed at a ballroom.
And the judges often criticized ‘Bachelorette’ contestant Hannah Brown, who won on ‘DWTS’ season 28. Brown said he was frustrated by the feedback he received on the show and at one point refused a hug from Inaba, tearing up.
Two weeks ago, Inaba cheekily defended herself from haters by posting a TikTok of herself lip-syncing to Taylor Swift’s song “Actually Romantic.” “But it’s actually sweet/All the time you spent on me/It’s honestly wild/All the effort you put in/It’s actually romantic/I really have to hand it to you, oh/No one’s ever loved me as much as you.”
Sources told Page Six that part of the problem may be that in the social media age, “DWTS” is turning to contestants who appear on the show with already-formed fan bases who are more susceptible to criticism.
A source said, “The casting has changed.” “They’ve always had athletes, they’ve always had older celebrities, they’ve always had people that everyone recognizes and maybe the audience knows somehow… They didn’t have social media stars back in the day, but now they have them.
“The younger generation is really paying attention now. They’re watching it. They’re voting,” the source added. And DWTS casting directors, along with (contestants) like influencer Alix Earle, who is appearing this season, “tailored the show to fit the moment.”
And if your fans on social media aren’t on your side, your tenure on the show can be rocky and short-lived.
Just ask famous con artist Anna “Delvey” Sorokin. He competed on season 33 with professional dance partner Ezra Sosa and was the first to be eliminated from the competition.
Sorokin told Page Six this week that people working on the show were nice, but “the worst part was the people on social media and the fans.”
The official pointed out that it’s not easy to serve as a judge on any competition show, as fan favorites can be seen as spoilsport every time they air.
“I imagine they feel some pressure, not just to please the audience, but they’re making judgments. That’s their job. They have to judge it, and they have to be honest about it. They can’t really protect other people’s feelings,” the source said.
“It’s a TV show, after all.”
And a good reality show needs a villain.
