Erin Andrews Defends Her ‘Rude’ Reaction to Hannah Brown’s ‘DWTS’ Win

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ABC/Eric McCandleless

The Dancing With the Stars Season 28 finale was an exciting night for former Bachelorette Hannah Brown, who took home the coveted Mirror Ball trophy (as well as a hefty paycheck), but not everyone had a positive reaction to the news.

Co-host Erin Andrews appeared to be unmoved when Hannah and her pro partner Alan Bersten were crowned the winners — beating out Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson — and fans were quick to call her out for her “lack of professionalism” on Twitter.

“Can Erin Andrews’ facial expressions be any more obvious? Shouldn’t she at least appear unbiased? Not sure who she wanted to win, but at least she could pretend to be happier for the winner no matter who it is,” one fan tweeted, while another added, “Erin Andrews didn’t even clap for Hannah and Alan. Rude. At least act like you’re happy for them. They deserved to win just as much as Witney and Kel.”

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to the host herself, fans are reading too much into this brief moment caught on video. When one fan in particular called her out for looking “less than impressed,” she came to her own defense.

“Give me a break. YOU CAN’T WIN IN THIS SITUATION. I’m standing next to the couple that just got second place. And if I had cheered, you’d be killing me for going against Kel, Lauren, and Ally. Not that serious people!” she wrote.

She continued in a separate tweet, adding, “In this day and age, we can’t say a thing. You’ll get killed no matter what. I have to look dead into the camera [because] people are threatening you don’t like a contestant.”

But even if Andrews was caught off guard by the results, she’s not alone. Brown herself appeared to be surprised by the news when her name was called as the Season 28 winner and Bersten admitted on Instagram he’s “still shocked.”

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who had tension with Brown in recent weeks, has also been vocal about the season’s outcome not being what she had expected. In fact, she admitted to Us Weekly that “a lot of people were shocked in the ballroom.”

“I’ve never felt that from the ballroom when a winner was announced like tonight,” she said after Monday’s finale.

Check out the winning moment and see for yourself: