ABC/Eric McCandless
During Monday night’s episode of Dancing With the Stars, former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe received some harsh criticism from judge Carrie Ann Inaba. The drama led to Bristowe bonding with another former Bachelorette.
Hannah Brown took home the Mirrorball Trophy from Dancing With the Stars in season 28, but she still faced some criticism that sometimes left her crying, she told Bristowe while appearing as a guest on her “Off the Vine” podcast.
“I was such a crazy pants,” Brown shared. “I was crying all the time. I thought the judges were so mean to me. I did believe they were the hardest to me. I took it all so personal, I felt so hurt.”
Bristowe faced harsh criticism from judge Carrie Ann Inaba after her performance Monday night. Inaba said that she felt as though Bristowe “gave up” during the dance and gave her a lower score than either of the other judges.
Brown Said the Judges on ‘DWTS’ Made Her Cry
The season 28 winner of the show said that she believed Inaba’s comments were often the most harsh and hurtful to her.
“She’s a woman, so she’s very intuitive, I think, of what my emotions were, and she was right a lot of the time,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘You can’t be right! Do not point out what’s happening on national television right now, because I’m going to burst into tears, and I am trying to keep it together.’ That was a lot of it.”
She said that although the judges were often kind, the harsh words stuck with her more.
Bristowe & Her Partner Have Weighed in on the Tough Comments From Judges
After their performance for Villains Night, judge Inaba said that she believed Bristowe had given up at some points during the dance.
“It felt like at moments you gave up,” Carrie Ann said to the couple. “You had a moment of chaos there and I saw it in your eyes, and I felt like your spirit dropped. I don’t want to discourage you because I do think you are a fantastic dancer but this was another not-great dance of yours and I apologize.”
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight following Monday night’s episode, Bristowe opened up about how hurt she was by the judge’s comments.
“It’s not in my character to give up,” Bristowe said during the interview. “If anything, I might get tired at one point, but I’m pushing through as hard as I possibly can. I would never get up.”
The low score from Inaba in particular upset Chigvintsev, who also spoke to Entertainment Tonight following the episode. He believed that the 7 out of 10 from Inaba was unfair if it was truly based only on the reasons she gave during the episode.
“My thought, No. 1 is, does content of the dance not count anymore?” he said, referring to the fact that the routine included advanced choreography. “Because it’s weird to me when we supposedly have to pursue a certain type of dance.”
Bristowe’s boyfriend Jason Tartick also took to Instagram storeis to express that he believed the dance was scored too low and that they deserved higher than a seven from Inaba, according to Us Weekly.
Dancing With the Stars airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
READ NEXT: Val Chmerkovskiy Weighs in on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Elimination