Former “Dancing With the Stars” pro Maks Chmerkovskiy criticized Carrie Ann Inaba for taking a point off Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong’s score.
During the semi-finals, Inaba noted that Kinney’s foot came off the floor in a couple of spots, and docked the team a point, giving them a “9” instead of a “10” and ruining their potential perfect score.
Chmerkovskiy didn’t agree with the score, and spoke out about it on his Instagram Stories.
“Look, I’ll just say, Carrie Ann should be consistent. Now, stop with this nonsense. What foot? When did it come off? Why is it important and why is it not important every time?” Chmerkovskiy said after the dance.
“So weird. Such a weird comment for a couple that’s clearly the best dancers on the floor. And if she has anything to say right now about this… this is just absurd. Absurd! Do your job as a judge. Don’t interfere,” he added.
Kinney and Armstrong’s foxtrot earned 29 out of 30 points. They scored the same on their salsa, which left them at the top of the leaderboard on the night.
Someone shared Chmerkovskiy’s video on Reddit where dozens of fans reacted — and most agreed with him.
“Maks is definitely right! It always seems Carrie Ann finds a reason to dock points and then will allow it for others. She’s the hardest on Chandler for sure,” one person wrote.
“Love that Maks is calling it like it is. Chandler is the best dancer. Joey is 2nd and Ilona is 3rd. I know this isn’t the winning order. Even with his SIL still in the competition, he recognized that Chandler was the best. He’s usually biased towards his brother and his wife,” someone else said.
“I’m really not sure how she still has a job? She is so inconsistent. I’ll never forget last year how she took a point off for Charity because “I think you made a mistake”. You think… you aren’t sure and can’t say what the mistake was… but ok take off a point,” a third comment read.
“Brandon should not have had to apologize for his reaction. I was shocked that she called out Chandler’s lift and not Joey’s. Actually, I wasn’t shocked. She treats Chandler the same way she treated Charity and Phaedra and Simone,” a fourth Redditor added.
Kinney and Armstrong may have been unfairly judged by Inaba, according to Chmerkovskiy, but the two still make it to the season 33 finals.
They will be competing on November 26 with four other couples; Witney Carson and Danny Amendola, Jenna Johnson and Joey Graziadei, Rylee Arnold and Stephen Nedoroscik, and Alan Bersten and Ilona Maher.
Season 33 marks the very first time that Armstrong has made it to the finals on the show. It’s also Arnold’s first time making it to the finale. The other pros in the finale have all previously won Mirrorball Trophies.
Former “Dancing With the Stars” pro Maks Chmerkovskiy criticized Carrie Ann Inaba for taking a point off Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong’s score. During the semi-finals, Inaba noted that Kinney’s foot came off the floor in a couple of spots, and docked the team a point, giving ...
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