If you’ve been watching Dancing With the Stars this season and then logged online afterward, you’ve probably noticed there’s some drama swirling around.

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Our team has been REALLY into the popular reality show this season, going as far as having a DFB Dancing With the Stars bracket tournament. And since we’re so invested, our algorithms have been showing us ALL the drama. So here’s a roundup of some of the big things that have been going on!

Val’s Suspension

Starting out the list with the latest drama, we have to chat about Val Chmerkovskiy’s one-episode suspension. During Super Bowl Night on the show, Harry Shum Jr. and his partner Jenna Johnson performed a Samba. After the routine, judge Carrie Ann Inaba called out a lift in the routine that was illegal according to the rules of competitive Latin dancing. Jenna questioned the lift, and Carrie Ann reached for the rulebook sitting next to her, reading out the definition of a lift to prove that the couple needed to be docked a point.

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The moment was tense, to say the least, but the judges still gave Harry and Jenna 8s for their performance. Well, after the show, Jenna’s husband (Val) took to social media to express his displeasure with the situation, saying, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” The comment was a reference to the 2022 Oscars incident where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife. Smith then told Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his (Rock’s) mouth.

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Val was suspended for his social media post and forced to sit out for Dedication Night on the show. The internet had a lot of things to say about the incident, ranging from support of the suspension to anger that Val was being punished.

Critiquing Alan

When Val was suspended, his celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan, was still allowed to dance for the week (she wasn’t involved in the situation outside of being partnered with Val). For Dedication Night, eliminated pro Alan Bersten stepped in as Jenna’s partner. Dancing With the Stars didn’t share why this particular choice was made, but some fans theorized it was because Alan was a similar build and size to Val and thus could more easily fit in the costume and perform the dance with Jenna Dewan.

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After this replacement was announced, former DWTS pro Gleb Savchenko went live on TikTok and discussed the subject. “He’s a good dancer, I guess, for TV, but if we talk about art? Like, creating art? He’s like, eh,” Gleb said about Alan. “I don’t have anything against the guy, just, like, why Alan?” After Gleb’s comments, fans took to the internet to defend Alan, particularly noting that Alan has won a Mirrorball Trophy in the past (with his 2019 celebrity partner Hannah Brown) while Gleb has not.

Strange Sponsorship Dances

Anyone who watches Dancing With the Stars, particularly in the early part of the season, can likely notice that the show is sometimes crammed for time. The judges have time limits on their comments, and dancers are quickly rushed from the floor to the skybox for a post-performance interview. This year, fans have been especially critical about how time is used throughout the episodes, sharing online that there are too many ads and bonus performances. 

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Two bonus performances in particular have been the subject of much online discourse — the sponsored dances dedicated to Paris Baguette and the new The Cat in the Hat movie. The former was early in the season and starred Julianne Hough, while the latter came during Dedication Night and featured Mirrorball Trophy winner Xochitl Gomez. Fans found the Cat in the Hat performance abrupt during a night when most of the dances were emotional and heart-warming.  

Judging Inconsistencies

Another hot-button subject this season? Judging inconsistency! Fans have taken to TikTok frequently to discuss their displeasure with the judges’ scores and commentary, saying that it seems like judges are playing favorites or scoring some couples harsher than others. 

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There have also been many complaints that the judges don’t give helpful feedback when doling out scores that are lower than the perfect ten. Many longtime fans have agreed that if the judges give anything less than a perfect score, the couples should be given critique to help them work on their performance.

Casting Controversy

And finally, we’re throwing it all the way back to the casting announcement. When the cast was announced, fans were upset for a number of reasons. First, many folks didn’t like the idea of having Sarah Jane Nader and Conner Leavitt on the show, as they were relatives of past contestants and not as “famous” as some of the others in the cast. Consequently, those two were the first competitors eliminated from this season.

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The other big complaint was that Harry Shum Jr. was not partnered with pro Britt Stewart, when Britt had previously stated in interviews that he was her “dream partner.” After Britt was eliminated mid-season with her partner Taylor Hanson, it came to light that Taylor had requested to work with her specifically.

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That’s a wrap on some of the biggest drama we’ve seen this season so far! Stay tuned for more news from us!

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