Carrie Ann Inaba is defending herself after falling low on the fans’ leaderboard.
The Dancing With the Stars judge recently shared a social media post reflecting on the show's emotional Dedication Night. However, while she had high praise for the Oct. 14 episode, she found herself hitting back at comments about her scoring decisions that evening.
“You giving Robert [Irwin] an 8 though,” a fan wrote in the comments section in her Oct. 15 Instagram post. “You know he outperformed Dylan [Efron], as much as I love him.”
Carrie Ann—who has been judging since the show’s premiere in 2005—reminded the fans it’s okay not to agree with her scoring.
“It’s okay to disagree about what we see,” the 57-year-old replied to the user. “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.”
After the episode, Carrie Ann didn’t just face critiqueon social media. Indeed, the judge was booed by the studio audience after she was less than moved by Danielle Fishel and her partner Pasha Pashkov’s dance—which featured her 98-year-old Boy Meets World costar William Daniels (also known as the beloved Mr. Feeny).
“I love a throwback, but I have to say this,” Carrie Ann said. “Some of your dances are starting to feel like I’m watching the same dance over and over again.”
As the audience started to boo, she continued her thoughts on the dance adding, “Try to give a little bit more variety as far as dynamics. This is also on you, Pasha.”
And as for Pasha, he quickly responded to Carrie Ann’s comments, calling them “unfair.”
"Especially being that she said that the dances looked similar," he told Variety in an interview published Oct. 15. "The thing is, we did have a quickstep 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,” the 39-year-old continued. “But, based on the dances that we had, that did not feel like it made sense to me. In my heart."
And in defense of Danielle, who Pasha said has been working “hard” on her dancing skills, he added, "I don’t think she deserved that comment."
Luckily for fans and Carrie Ann, Dedication Night didn’t see any favorites go home.
“We couldn't send anyone home tonight on such a special night,” cohost Jullianne Hough said at the end of the episode. “All of the scores and all of the votes from tonight will carry over to next week."
While the dancers get ready to defy gravity—and the judges expectations—on Wicked night, keep reading for more on Dancing With the Stars’ season 34 couples…
Baron Davis
Partnered with Britt Stewart
Jennifer Affleck
Partnered with Jan Ravnik
Alix Earle
Partnered with Valentin Chmerkovski
Dylan Efron
Partnered with Daniella Karagach
Corey Feldman
Partnered with Jenna Johnson
Elaine Hendrix
Partnered with Alan Bersten
Robert Irwin
Partnered with Witney Carson
Jordan Chiles
Partnered with Ezra Sosa
Scott Hoying
Partnered with Rylee Arnold
Whitney Leavitt
Partnered with Mark Ballas
Hilaria Baldwin
Partnered with Gleb Savchenko
Andy Richter
Partnered with Emma Slater
Danielle Fishel
Partnered with Pasha Pashkov