‘DWTS’: Carrie Ann Inaba Responds to Backlash Over Her Dedication Night Scoring
Carrie Ann Inaba faced the brunt of criticism after the Tuesday, October 14, episode of Dancing With the Stars. She, alongside fellow judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, as well as guest judge Kym Johnson, doled out scores to the remaining 10 contestants after they performed routines for Dedication Night, and many fans didn’t agree with some of her decisions.
The critics made sure to let Inaba know it in the comments section of her Instagram post after the show. One person was specifically upset that Inaba scored Robert Irwin, who dedicated his routine to mom Terri Irwin, an 8. “You know he outperformed Dylan [Efron], as much as I love him!” the commenter wrote.
While Inaba ignored most of the backlash, she did respond to this particular comment. “It’s okay to disagree about what we see,” she shared. “That’s what makes our show great. You have a say in the matter. We want you to vote for what you love and believe in. I appreciate your comment and the way you expressed your feelings. ❤️ thank you for your passion and your opinion.”
Disney/Eric McCandless
As Inaba pointed out, the weekly eliminations are based on a combination of viewer votes and judges scores. This week, nobody was sent home, but the scores and votes will be combined with next week’s to determine who will be eliminated next. Meanwhile, the previous two eliminated contestants (Hilaria Baldwin and Lauren Jauregui) didn’t even score at the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard, so viewer votes definitely had an affect on those results.
Fans weren’t the only ones to criticize Inaba’s scoring this week. Pro dancer Pasha Pashkov, who is partnered with Danielle Fishel, called out Inaba for what she said about his choreography. Inaba told Pashkov and Fishel that she felt like she was “watching the same dance over and over again” each time they perform, adding, “I know that sounds really critical, but if I don’t give the comments now, she can’t work on this. And I want you to have the best chance for success, so I’m bringing it up now.”
Afterward, Pashkov told Variety, “I was not happy. I always get protective. For me, that comment felt unfair, especially being that she said that the dances looked similar. But the thing is, we did have a quickstep [last week] and we had a jive this week. These are two dances that [are] very, very similar. If we had dances that were drastically different and they felt the same, I’d understand. Based on the dances that we had, that did not feel like it made sense to me. In my heart, I’m overprotective because I know how hard Danielle is working. I don’t think she deserved that comment.”
Inaba has been a judge on Dancing With the Stars since its first season in 2005.
Dancing With the Stars, Season 34, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+
For a more extended celebration of two decades of Dancing With the Stars, from exclusive interviews to retrospectives and must-see photos, pick up a copy of TV Guide Magazine’s Dancing With the Stars 20th Anniversary special issue, available for purchase online at DWTS.TVGM2025.com and on newsstands now.
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