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“Dancing With the Stars” fans are up in arms about the latest episode where Jessie James Decker and Alan Bersten were crowned king and queen of the “prom” after the dance marathon because not only do they think she lied about being bullied in high school, but they think the judges unfairly saved the pair from elimination by picking them to win the dance marathon.
Here’s what fans are saying and why we don’t think Decker was lying about being bullied:
Fans Say the Fact That Jessie James Decker was Homecoming Queen in High School Means She Lied About Being Bullied
During the “Dancing With the Stars” prom night episode, Decker became emotional during her video package, telling Bersten about being bullied in high school.
“Up until my junior year of high school, I was definitely bullied a lot. They would wait for me after class and chase me with scissors and cut my hair off,” said Decker. “People knew that I wanted to be a singer and I had stars in my eyes. I’m sure it made me not fit in. It was not the best at all. So I switched schools my senior year, I was so ready for high school to be over. For me, it was kind of a closing of a chapter and kind of breaking away.”
On Reddit in 2021, fans were calling her out for claiming she was bullied, with one user posting a screenshot of Decker celebrating being crowned homecoming queen in her Instagram stories and writing, “I love how she claims she was bullied in high school but went on to be homecoming queen… it’s a no from me.”
In another thread, a poster who says they knew Decker in high school posted a screenshot of their yearbook and wrote, “Mean girl high school Jessie. Miss Homecoming Queen. Guys, don’t believe the bulls*** that she was bullied in school. She was the bully. I went to high school with her and can attest that she was treated WELL! So well she was voted Homecoming Queen. REALLLLY BULLIED.”
On Twitter, one user wrote, “Lied about being bullied” and another added, “Friendly PSA that Jessie James Decker just claimed on national TV that she was bullied and didn’t fit in in high school when she was really prom queen.”
Decker Cleared This Up Years Ago in an Instagram Post
On an episode of her reality show “Eric & Jessie: Game On,” which aired from 2013 to 2017 on E!, Decker attended a women’s summit where she was one of the speakers and in her speech, she talked about being bullied but also moving around a lot because of her father being in the military.
“[I went] to different schools and the girls weren’t always very nice to me. That was really, really hard and kind of a traumatic experience for me, I think,” said Decker, adding, “I would describe it as, and I’m not being dramatic, I was tortured.”
She continued, “I think the worst point in my life was my freshman year when I was at a sleepover. We’re all hanging out and all of a sudden I feel this big bucket of slop being poured on top of me .. it was like ‘Carrie,’ literally. I remember just rushing off to the shower and crying. It really messed with me big time being bullied and tortured in high school by all these girls.”
Indeed, in a Reddit thread after Decker and Bersten won prom king and queen on “Dancing With the Stars,” one user wrote, “It’s giving total ‘Carrie’ vibes to me,” to which another replied, “Well, according to JJD that actually happened to her.”
In several Instagram posts, Decker has talked about her dad serving in the Air Force and in one post from 2016, she clarifies that the school that voted her homecoming queen is not where she was bullied.
“Lookin at my senior yearbook!! Crazy to look back! (To specify I switched schools my senior year, and loved this school so much) (the school I attended before was the bad experience, not this one),” wrote Decker.
So, it sounds like she is not lying — the bullying happened at different schools than where she was elected homecoming queen.
Fans Still Think Jessie James Decker Should Have Gone Home Over Joseph Baena
On social media, fans thought it was really unfair that the 11 points from the dance marathon kept Decker in the competition after she and Bersten received the lowest score on Most Memorable Year night on October 17 and tied for second-lowest on Prom Night on October 18. But by winning the dance marathon, they received 11 extra points added to their total.
“The dance marathon was a joke, and I felt like didn’t focus enough on all the couples. I couldn’t believe Daniel/Britt were the first ones out, let alone Jessie getting prom queen. What does she have on production? Shangela deserved to be queen,” wrote one fan, adding, “Really disappointed that Joseph left.”
Another fan wrote, “JJD was lucky the judges gave her that,” to which another replied, “Raise your hand if you have been personally victimized by tonight’s dance marathon rigging,” and still another wrote, “That was so transparent and ridiculous.”
Some fans think the dance marathon win will be how the judges justify keeping Decker around for weeks.
“Just realized another big thing about JJD winning that dance marathon is now if she’s in the btm these next few weeks they could easily use that as justification to save her over tons of couples now,” wrote one fan.
Another added, “I’m so pissed that Jesse is still there. Add the fact that she won the dance marathon it pisses me off even more,” to which another fan replied, “And now they’ll use it as justification if she ends up in the bottom 2,” and the original poster added, “She hasn’t been at the bottom two yet, but yeah that what will save her.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific time on Disney Plus.