Lauren Jauregui wasn’t jazzed about these Dancing With the Stars results.
After the Fifth Harmony alum and her dance partner Brandon Armstrong were sent home from the ballroom competition on the Sept. 30 episode, she revealed how she felt about the shocking elimination: In a word, "Pissed."
Still, Lauren was happy to have had Brandon as a pro. "Honestly, I’m so grateful to have had you as a partner,” she told him. "Thank you so much.”
Lauren and Brandon had performed a cha-cha to Fifth Harmony’s viral song "Work From Home" for TikTok night, with her bandmates Normani, Ally Brooke and Dinah Jane cheering them on from the audience. All three judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli gave the pair sixes for their score, bringing their total to 18 out of 30 and having them tie with comedian Andy Richter and pro Emma Slater at the bottom of the leaderboard.
After the safe couples were revealed, it all came down to Lauren and Brandon, Andy and Emma and actress Elaine Hendrix and pro Alan Bersten—though cohost Alfonso Ribeiro reminded viewers not all of them were "necessarily the bottom three" and that only one duo "had the lowest combined total of judges’ scores and viewer votes” from that night.
Once it was announced that Lauren and Brandon were that duo, jaws dropped. As cohost Julianne Hough put it, "You can hear by the audience that everybody is shocked."
But did you ever wonder how exactly the scores and votes determine eliminations? Well, former pro Lindsay Arnold is here to demonstrate the moves.
"When it comes to eliminations," she explained in a 2023 TikTok, "it is 50 percent judges’ scores, 50 percent viewers’ votes."
The Mirrorball champion advised fans to think of a pie that "makes up 100 percent of either the votes or the scores." When it comes to the scores, she continued, each pair gets a certain percentage of that pie based on their judges' tally. For instance, competitors who receive low scores might be "getting a 25 percent piece of that score pie," Lindsay noted, "whereas someone with higher scores is maybe getting a 75 percent piece of that score pie."
The same process applies to viewers' votes.
"We’ve got a pie for votes," Lindsay added. "Maybe one couple’s getting 50 percent of a piece of pie of votes, maybe someone’s getting 75 percent, maybe they’re getting 10 percent. And then you add those two [pies] together."
So even if a couple is low in one area, they can stick around if they’re high in another.
"This is where it comes into play where sometimes the bottom of the leaderboard couple maybe has only 25 percent of that score pie, but they got 80 percent of the vote pie and that surpasses some people who maybe have higher scores," the dancer added. "Vice versa—maybe some of those people who are getting really high scores and have 90 percent of that score pie are only getting 10 percent of votes, but it’s still high."
This is why both the scores and the votes matter.
"What I’m trying to say is it really does even itself out," Lindsay shared. "Because, like I said, if you have low scores but you’re getting a majority of the votes, that could be enough to help you surpass somebody who’s maybe getting higher scores. But also, if you have really high scores but low votes, that still could keep you in because those scores can help."
And while fans can still be frustrated if their favorite team goes home, she suggested the system ultimately works. In fact, the 31-year-old said she’s "been on both sides of the spectrum" in terms of getting high scores but a low number of votes as well as low scores but a higher amount of votes—recalling how her season 21 partner Alek Skarlatos "wasn’t the best dancer, but a lot of people really loved him” and they made it to the final three.
"It happens across the board and it’s good," Lindsay stated. "Because if you’re dancing really, really, really well, then you’re going to get high scores and won’t have to rely as much on votes."
However, former Dancing With the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy has expressed concerns over judges giving scores that he says can be too high too early—arguing awarding sevens during week two, for instance, "is not a middle” and doesn’t leave as much room for growth or score separation.
"We should’ve stayed at fours or fives. One hundred percent,” the season 18 winner said during his Sept. 29 Dancing With the Stare recap with wife and fellow former pro Peta Murgatroyd. "And we should’ve continuously, gradually improved on this. Because right now, nothing’s going to separate the couples in judges' scores. Therefore, almost 100 percent of the decision of the vote will go to the audience. And I think it’s awesome, I do. There’s two schools of thoughts about this. But specifically, the need for the judges then becomes obsolete. It’s literally just to let the audience know what they thought. But what’s the point of the scores if they’re all the same?"
E! News has reached out to Dancing With the Stars for comment on the elimination process but has yet to hear back.
As Dancing With the Stars season 34 continues, keep reading to learn more secrets from the show.
How Much Do the Celebrities Get Paid to Be on Dancing With the Stars?
Citing multiple sources, Variety reported in 2019 that Dancing With the Stars contestants make $125,000 for the rehearsal period and first two weeks of the show. If they progress beyond that point, the outlet continued, they earn more money each week. At the time, sources told the publication stars could earn a maximum of $295,000.
However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.
"That show pays OK," the radio personality said on a Sept. 2025 episode of Jason Tartick's podcast Trading Secrets. "Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it's like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last."
Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, "I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show."
ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.
What Do the Pros Get Paid on Dancing With the Stars?
Similarly, little has been shared publicly about how much the pros get paid. But as with the contestants, it seems like the longer they're on the show, the more money they can make.
But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they're not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.
"You're guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks," Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester's podcast The Morning After. "I think there's different contracts though. I can't speak for everybody."
Do Pros Get Paid More If They Win Dancing With the Stars?
Apparently not.
While Johnson—who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, as well as season 33 with The Bachelor's Joey Graziadei—says the pros don't get a larger paycheck if they take home what is now called the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, she noted there's still an incentive to make it to the finale (besides bragging rights, of course).
"If you make it all the way to the end, you're getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale," she explained on The Morning After. "If you win, it's not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You're just getting a cute trophy together."
Do the Troupe Members Get Paid as Much as the Pros on Dancing With the Stars?
That doesn't appear to be the case.
On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled how her salary was cut "more than in half" when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.
How Are Pros and Celebrities Paired Together on Dancing With the Stars?
The pros get little input when it comes to being matched with a celebrity.
"You get no say," Lindsay said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers' Hot Smart Rich podcast. "It's very much just, 'Here's your partner. Make it work.'"
In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute.
"They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live," Jenna said on The Morning After. "They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we're keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. They really don't even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner."
As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?
"It's based on height, build and personality and compatibility," former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015. "We don't pair people who aren't going to get on. It's too intense. It's not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn't do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don't want to see two people who don't like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn't get on so well."
How Often Do the Pros and Celebrities Practice on Dancing With the Stars?
Put simply, a lot.
"Every day we have four-hour rehearsals," Rylee Arnold, who was partnered with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik on season 33, shared on a September 2024 episode of the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis. "It’s either 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m."
But the work doesn't stop once the rehearsal wraps. Rylee noted she might then meet with producers or the creative team, work on choreography or study dance videos.
"Literally my whole life is devoted to it," she continued, "but it's my passion and it's what I love. So, it makes me so happy."
Indeed, it's a no-days-off kind of gig.
"We have our show day on Tuesday and then it's Wednesday to Sunday, straight rehearsals," Rylee added. "And then Monday we have camera blocking and then Tuesday's show day again."
Do the Pros Get to Pick the Songs Each Week for Their Dance With Their Celebrity Partner?
"Mostly yes," Emma Slater and Britt Stewart revealed in a September 2025 Instagram video, "though it's a collaboration with producers."
What's the Process Like for Making the Costumes for Dancing With the Stars?
If you thought the quickstep was fast, just wait until you hear about the pace of the costume department.
"We meet with the set and lighting designers, dancers and talent and create a story [for each pair]," costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner told TV Insider back in 2017. "Then we sketch out ideas. We have five days, max, to make all the outfits. That’s half a day per costume, not including all the rhinestones. The fitting and trimming we do later. We have about 20 people in our department and then we have a separate tailor shop. It’s a big enterprise."
In fact, costume designer Steven Norman Lee said pairs usually try on their costumes for the first time just hours before showtime. And while the department "might use a pair of pants again for the boys," he continued, everything is generally made custom each week.
As Gschwendtner added, "We do reuse things for group numbers or promo shoots, but not for the competition. We don’t reuse things unless there’s a specific reason to do so. We try to keep everybody fresh and new in something different every week, so it stays interesting."