This recent season of Dancing With the Stars has led viewers to wonder if the show is based on dancing or popularity with the judges. Just as it sounds, Dancing with the Stars is a show that has been on air for 20 years, with about 14 celebrities, “stars”, paired with professional dancers. Yet in this season, just like the mirror ball trophy, the rumors were just as shiny. From the judges all the way to the audience around them, things in and out of the ballroom were said to have affected the end result of the show.
The first stars to be voted out in a double elimination were Baron Davis and Corey Feldman. Following them were Lauren Jauejui, Hilaria Baldwin, and Scott Hoying. Then, for week 5, they decided not to eliminate anyone due to it being Memorial Night, which is a night where they dedicate a dance to someone they love and include them in the dance. Week 6 is when the public starts to disagree with the scores of the dances. Jen Afflack, being in postpartum, was said to have been overlooked and not judged fairly, given her situation. Following her were Danielle Fishel and Andy Richter, who were the last people to be voted off before the semi-finals/week 10. Leaving nearly half a billion votes being cast throughout the season. The pubic manged to break the voting record nearly every episode of the newest season. Breaking 72 million votes in the finale.
Someone who most people thought would win was Whitney Leavitt, from “The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives”, who on the show was a very problematic person or “the villain”. Fans of both shows believe that she got voted off by the popular vote because of something she said during a confession on SLOMW.
“I just really needed a break, but then I heard from my team that Dancing with the Stars was going to cast someone from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and that’s a motivator. I’ll come back for that,” Leavitt said on the show.
This caused an uproar online, leading viewers to say that what she said was shady and wrong. It is also theorized that the DWTS team wanted her off due to her dropping the F-bomb during the live taping during the semi-finals.
Leavitt wasn’t the only one who put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba commented on “Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel’s body. Inaba told Fishel after a dance, “Use the space”, because she was “a tiny little woman”.
While the comment was said, you could see Fishel’s face change, and after a little reflection, she said that it stuck with her, but helped her “unleash” her inner power.
Following the comment, Inaba apologized to Fishel, explaining that she “never meant to offend and was simply trying to praise her potential to be more powerful on the dance floor.”
Fishel did forgive her because she saw it as a motivation for her performances.
Even though the season was full of drama and favoritism, the winner was Robert Irwin, who was well-deserved and praised around the nation and internet.
