Havy/Disney Carrie Ann Inaba.
“Dancing with the Stars” fans are upset over Carrie Ann Inaba’s scoring on the “Halloween Nightmares episode.
On October 29, Inaba and fellow judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli were tasked with judging the remaining seven couples’ dances as well as dance-off routines.
Inaba gave out several Halloween treats by whipping out her number 10 paddle for contestants Dwight Howard, Danny Amendola, Joey Grazaidei, and more. But some fans felt she judged several female contestants harshly.
Fans Felt Carrie Ann Inaba Was Unfair to Ilona Maher & Chandler Kinney
Inaba awarded the first official 10 of the season to Howard and his pro partner Daniella Karagach. She went on to dole out 10s to four more out of the seven couples: Amendola and Witney Carson; Graziadei and Jenna Johnson; Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold; and Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber, who were ultimately eliminated from the competition.
The only two contestants who didn’t receive a 10 from Inaba were Ilona Maher and Chandler Kinney. Inaba scored Maher and partner Alan Bersten an 8 for their “Psycho Killer” tango. Maher told “Good Morning America” she had “genuine fear” she would be eliminated due to her low scores.
During the live show, Kinney and Brandon Armstrong got a 9 from Inaba, while Hough and Tonioli each gave the duo a 10.
“Tonight you and Ilona had, like, the hardest dances and there’s the most criteria to judge by,” Inaba told Kinney after her Viennese waltz. “So it was really strong, but I wouldn’t call this one perfection because it’s such a higher criteria.”
Fans called out Inaba on social media.
“No 10 from Carrie Ann? That’s kinda crazy not gonna lie 😂😂😂,” wrote pro dancer Brandon Armstrong’s wife, Brylee.
“Her endless, unnecessary beef with the women on the show is so noticeable,” another viewer alleged on Instagram. “Carrie Ann has lost all credibility—she’s admitted to being more critical of Viennese Waltz and Tango than contemporary. All the male dancers had issues and mistakes in their dances tonight … but she gave them all 10s regardless. Meanwhile, she struggles to even give a compliment to the women, whose dances were objectively better this week.”
Other viewers ripped into Inaba for saying that Maher and Kinney had harder dances than the other contestants, thus making the judging criteria “higher.”
“Carrie Ann had to say to chandler that her and Ilona’s other dances were more technical than the others so that why she judged them harder,” another wrote.
“CARRIE ANN RUINING THE FIRST PERFECT SCORE OF THE SEASON FOR WHAT,” another wrote on X.
“Idk if I can get over Carrie Ann basically telling Chandler that if she wants higher scores she needs to be doing easier dances?” another added.
“Her comment to Jenn about a 9 having to be earned…. apparently that only applies to men for her. Then telling Chandler it wasn’t perfect but not giving a single reason why. How the hell is that judging then???” another asked.
“The scariest part of tonight’s episode is watching carrie ann continue to tear down the female contestants with [expletive] critiques while praising the men for doing the bare minimum,” another viewer agreed.
Carrie Ann Inaba Doesn’t Mind When Fans Disagree With Her
DisneyCarrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
Inaba has received her share of boos from the audience this season. In an interview with Parade magazine, the veteran judge and choreographer said the audience backlash doesn’t bother her at all.
“The whole point is we want people to have their opinions,” Inaba explained. “The reason why people get vested in this competition is because they have an opinion, and it matters.”
“We are one of the few [shows where] judges actually hold up scores,” the longtime DWTS judge added. “So, what we do matters, but also what everybody does at home matters. So, it’s good that they boo. I think it shows that they’re really supporting somebody.”
Victoria Miller is a contributor for Heavy specializing in TV and celebrity news. She can be reached at victoria.miller@heavy.com. More about Victoria Miller
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