Why This Judge is Getting Major Heat From ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Fans

DWTS judges

ABC/Eric McCandless

Each week on Dancing With the Starsthe judges give comments to the contestants following their dances, and sometimes fans think those comments are too harsh. This week, fans are once again lashing out at Carrie Ann Inaba after her harsh comments toward contestant Kaitlyn Bristowe.

Bristowe and her partner, Artem Chigvintsev danced the Jive to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen last night, and Bristowe said she would be dancing for herself, though she still did want to impress the judges. In the package before the dance began, Bristowe was seen crying and saying she felt like she would never be good enough for the judges.

After the dance, the couple received praise from both Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough, though Carria Ann Inaba still had her reservations. Tonioli did say, however, that he wanted more passion in her dances going forward.


Inaba Was Hard on Bristowe After Her Jive

Though they did receive praise from both Tonioli and Hough, it wasn’t enough for Carrie Ann, as she deducted a point because there was a lift in the dance.

“I know last week was a tough week, but you came back with grace and energy,” Inaba told the couple, and she added that it was one of their best performances. Then, she seemed to turn on the couple a bit before giving out a score.

She questioned whether or not Bristowe would be able to do a standing back tuck by herself, and when Bristowe said she couldn’t, Inaba told them that she would be calling one part of the choreography a lift and deducting from their score.

Overall, the couple received a 25 out of 30 for their performance and Bristowe said she does respect the judges.


Fans Reached Out on Twitter in Support of Bristowe

Fans of Bristowe took to Twitter to express their frustration with Inaba’s judging of Bristowe and Chigvintsev.

“They are clearly judging Kaitlyn the harshest, especially Carrie Ann,” one user tweeted.

“Carrie Ann hates Kaitlyn lol. Kaitlyn wanted to tell her off so badly, ‘I respect all judges’ lmao,” another person said. 

Another wrote, “Once again Carrie Ann coming down on Kaitlyn pretty hard on a dance that looked awesome. She def has it out for Kaitlyn and [Artem].”

Other users insinuated that the reason she’s so hard on the couple could be because of Inaba’s past with Chigvintsev, as they were previously in a relationship.


Chigvintsev Said the Criticism Felt Personal

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight after the show, Chigvintsev shared that he felt as though some of the perceived animosity coming from Inaba might be personal.

“At this point it starts being a little personal,” Chigvintsev said. “I feel it’s definitely, maybe not a different standard, but I feel it’s different expectations. I don’t know. I’m watching back the dance itself, it’s like, ‘Oh, you can kick sharper!’ Well, I can say that about everybody who dances on the show today. I don’t know. It’s really odd.”

Bristowe joked that she would love to be able to ask Inaba more questions about her scores.

“It’s always reassuring to talk to other people and have them asking those same questions because we come back and we’re like, ‘Huh?’ We’re good at accepting constructive criticism,” Bristowe added.

READ NEXT: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Fans Are in a Frenzy Over Tyra Banks & Her Wardrobe