Season 30 of ABC’s ballroom dance competition “Dancing With the Stars” is in full swing following the first elimination episode of the season, but some professional dancers weren’t exactly happy with how the scoring was handled.
During the episodes, judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli hand out scores that are later combined with votes from viewers in order to determine who is eliminated.
Sometimes, it’s not clear to couples why certain scores come out the way they do.
Emma Slater Said Len Might Need More Sleep
For episode two’s dance, Emma Slater and partner country singer Jimmie Allen danced the Rumba to “Make You Want To” by Jimmie Allen. The judges liked the song choice and said that they believed it helped with the dance overall.
At the time, Inaba said that it was “amazing” and was the “first time this season that I actually felt my heart attach to what you were doing.” Goodman said that the footwork was hit or miss but the upper body was great, and Hough agreed.
Ultimately, they scored sevens from Inaba, Hough and Tonioli but received a six from Goodman, putting them in the middle of the leaderboard with a 27 out of 40.
“It seems like he might have missed out on a lot of sleep last night because his comments were all over the place,” Slater joked to Us Weekly following the episode about Len Goodman.
Artem Chigvintsev was asked about the scores as well in the interviews with Us Weekly.
“He’s very traditional, he wants to see more traditional steps,” Chigvintsev told the outlet. “The question of ‘Could I have put more steps into it?’ Yeah, I could have. Did it need it? I didn’t think so. I think the dance was beautiful.”
Lindsay Arnold Joked She Had ‘Beef’ With the Judges
Pro dancer Lindsay Arnold and her partner Matt James also experienced scores they thought were low.
For the second episode, they were the first to perform. They danced the Samba to “Levitating” by Dua Lipa. The dance featured James removing his shirt while dancing for judge Bruno Tonioli, which judge Len Goodman did not appreciate.
After the dance, Goodman told them that “instead of worrying about taking off your shirt,” James should have worked on his hips, which he claimed were “allergic to music.” Derek Hough shared he thought James still needed to work on his footwork.
They received two fives and two sixes, giving them a total of 22 out of 40, the second lowest score of the night.
Later, Arnold uploaded an Instagram story from where she and her partner Matt James sat on the side of the ballroom after their performance.
“Mama bear Lindsay coming out and I got some beef with the judges,” she wrote alongside four laughing emojis. “I think he killed it! What do you guys think?”
In the video, Arnold says, “I was a little upset with the comments, but maybe that’s just the mom mode in me, getting all p***ed because you talked about my boy like that.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern daylight time on ABC.
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‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro Emma Slater Throws Shade at Judge Len Goodman