Heavy/ABC The "Dancing With the Stars" ballroom.
Brandon Armstrong’s wife is standing by her man. A few days after Brandon’s surprise elimination on “Dancing With the Stars”, his wife, Brylee Armstrong, spoke out in an Instagram reel.
Brandon and his celebrity partner, YouTube star and actress Lele Pons, were frontrunners on the 32nd season of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition but were sent home during Music Video Night on November 7, 2023.
On the night they were eliminated from DWTS, Lele Pons and Brandon Armstong were one of the highest-scoring couples, while lower-scoring pairs such as Harry Jowsey and Rylee Arnold and Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd remained in the competition.
In her Instagram video, Brylee Armstrong called her husband’s elimination “shocking” and suggested that judges should be allowed to save one of the two lowest-scoring couples.
Here’s what you need to know:
Brylee Armstrong Said the Judging Has Been ‘Crazy’ on DWTS
Addressing the fallout on Instagram, Brylee Armstrong told fans why she wanted to talk about her husband and his partner Lele’s shocking elimination from “Dancing with the Stars.”
Brylee explained that defending her husband comes from her own days as a young dancer when her mom would worry about her. “I became kind of like … the mama wife, because I care so much about Brandon and Lele, and they worked so hard this season,” she explained.
Brylee said she will not “hate” on any of the other couples on the show, but thinks the judging has been off this season. “I think that we can all agree that the judging this season has been so crazy,” she said. “I should say the scoring has been wild. Not even just for Lele. The scores have just been wild for everybody.”
“No hate to the judges. I think it’s almost like a flaw in this system, in the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ judging,” she said. “I feel like every person is judged based off their performance prior or maybe even based on their age or ability,” she added. “But then it’s almost not fair because people that do have more of a dance ability or whatever, are held to a higher standard. …What people didn’t understand about Lele is she had no dance experience. She just worked really hard.”
Brylee also said her husband got Pons as his partner he thought this could be his year to win.
Brylee Armstrong Thinks It Would Help to Have ‘the Judges Save’ Back
ABC“Dancing With the Stars” judges.
Brylee thinks the elimination occurred because “people thought they were safe” so they didn’t vote.
“’Dancing with the Stars,’ a big part of it is a popularity contest,” she added. “So I think that we can all agree they need to bring back the ‘Judges Save.’ You never know what the judges would’ve said or who they would’ve saved. But at the end of the day, all that you can do is be thankful for the experience and that you had a good time.”
According to TV Line, the judges’ save debuted in Season 28, after Bobby Bones’ controversial win, spawned by his fans’ votes, not judges’ scores. With the “save” power, the judges were able to decide which one of the bottom two dancers would go home. An ABC rep told the outlet that the save “could return at some point.”
Brandon Armstrong Spoke Out About the Elimination
After the elimination announcement, Brandon addressed the ballroom. “That one burns. I definitely don’t think Lele should have gone home tonight,” Brandon said. “I think Lele was getting better. No dance experience coming in, she’s the best partner she could have been.”
Brandon also spoke out in a video posted to “Good Morning America’s” TikTok. “I just think it’s crazy that Lele went home today,” he told fans. “But at the end of the day, it’s about getting votes and it’s about making sure we’re connecting with people. Maybe we didn’t do as good of a job as we had hoped.”
He added that he had a “smooth” season with Lele. “We wanted to work hard and we wanted to create these moments on Monday nights.” He added. “That is what we’re gonna miss. Creating those moments.”
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