“Dancing With the Stars” season 33 competitor Chandler Kinney admitted she is frustrated with Carrie Ann Inaba.
Following the “Halloween Nightmares” episode that aired on October 29, the actress reacted to Inaba’s harsh critique and scoring after the DWTS judge doled out 10s to five other couples like they were Halloween candy.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kinney addressed Inaba’s claim that her Viennese Waltz with pro partner Brandon Armstrong “wasn’t perfection.” Kinney told the outlet that the judges have “high expectations” from her.
“I understand, and I take the criticism,” she said. “But tonight, it was probably showing a bit, I was getting a little frustrated because I wanted to know what to do. Otherwise, when I get to rehearsal, I’m a little lost.”
Kinney and Armstrong received a perfect score of 10 from judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli. But Inaba only awarded them a 9 and a questionable critique.
Inaba told Kinney that she had one of the harder dances on Halloween Night, thus making the judging criteria “higher.” “It was really strong, but I wouldn’t call this one perfection because it’s such a higher criteria,” Inaba explained.
Chandler Kinney Joked About Carrie Ann Inaba’s Scoring
Inaba appeared to be in a generous mood on Halloween Nightmares night. She awarded the first official 10 of the season to NBA player Dwight Howard and his pro partner Daniella Karagach. She went on to hand out 10s to Danny Amendola and Witney Carson; Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson; Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold; and Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber. With five out of seven couples scoring 10s from Inaba, Kinney had questions.
“I think my frustration came a little bit with, like, the clarity, or lack thereof,” Kinney told Page Six. “I just want to know exactly what to do in the rehearsal room so I can grow and improve … so I just want to know what it is that [Carrie Ann] is looking for.”
Kinney joked that Inaba was tossing out 10s like they were candy, but that she must have missed her Halloween bag. “She said, ‘Candy apple for you!’” Kinney cracked of the DWTS judge.
Armstrong admitted that he would just like to get constructive feedback from all of the judges. “There’s obviously something that we are lacking that we can do better at,” he told the outlet. “We are going to find it. We’re trying to find it. I think that’s where we want the feedback. We want people to tell us how to get better. We have nothing against progression; in fact, we search for it.”
Carrie Ann Inaba Received Backlash For Her DWTS Scoring
On social media, some fans called out Inaba for underscoring both Kinney and Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher on Halloween Night. (Maher received 8s from all three judges.)
Armstrong’s wife Brylee questioned Inaba’s lack of a 10 for her husband and Kinney, which denied them the first perfect “30” score of the season. “No 10 from Carrie Ann? That’s kinda crazy not gonna lie 😂😂😂,” she wrote on Instagram following the judge’s scoring.
On her Instagram story, Brylee Armstrong raved about her husband’s Viennese Waltz with Kinney and added, “A 10 paddle hates to see Carrie Ann coming.”
In TikTok videos, she admitted that she was booing Inaba from the audience. “When we were just talking about how Carrie Ann’s outfit was a 10, but then she gave my husband a 9.” she wrote.
