By Grace Ruthe
Correspondent
“Dancing with the Stars” has rolled in once again for its 32nd season with a new set of stars with its share of actors, musicians and reality TV stars. Staple judges Cari Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli are back and getting booed more than ever, but not without cause. This season, fans are in an uproar about several unfair scoring and eliminations that have led many to turn off their televisions.
The popular dance competition pairs celebrities from all backgrounds with professional ballroom dancers, or “pros,” and judges them based on their performance, growth and dedication to the competition. The second aspect of the show is viewer votes; viewers have the opportunity to vote for their favorite couple and their score is combined with the percentage of votes they receive.
Viewer votes make up half the couple’s score for the week. The lowest combined score is eliminated from the competition.
Up until this season, judges have had a "judges save" where, despite the scores, they could save one partnership from elimination. Season 32, however, has not featured any saves, which has frustrated audiences.
Many have called the show “unfair when it comes to judging and eliminations” and want viewer votes to have less of an impact on the couples’ scores. This, in turn, would get rid of these unjust eliminations of talented stars and pros.
Uproar kicked up with the “Too Hot to Handle” star Harry Jowsey continued to beat out talented and improving stars due to his fanbase. Despite never having scored above an eight from any judge alongside his first-year pro partner Rylee Arnold, Jowsey made it to week nine before being eliminated.
Fans took to X to express their grievances about the star who really could not dance. User @_B1ake1ee wrote, “is there a number to text that will take votes away from Harry Jowsey on #dwts ? It is time for him to go.”
Weeks seven and eight were also a very trying time for long-term fans of the show. Two very talented stars, Lele Pons and Barry Williams, and their pros Brandon Amstrong and Peta Murgatroyd, were eliminated from the competition before Jowsey. Fans were livid about these eliminations, demanding recounts and taking to social media to express their anger.
One X user, @uthelius25559, wrote, “Lele, Brandon, Barry and Peta deserve better. This season is not the dancing with the stars I have known and loved. #dwts @MrBarryWilliams @PetaMurgatroyd @lelepons @brandonkstrong.”
Despite any complaints “Dancing with the Stars” may have received, the show still went on as planned with no judges saves or callbacks to the lost couples. No matter how deserving, Jowsey still beat out many couples before him with his fans bringing him up to the week before the semi-finals.
The semi-finals shocked fans for the first time not having any elimination, sending all five of the remaining couples to the finale to perform both their redemption number and iconic freestyles.
The Season 32 finale premiered on Dec. 5, pulling in over 5 million viewers. The new Len Goodman Mirrorball Champions Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy were crowned at the end of a 3 hour segment, which fans not-so-patiently sat through.
One X user wrote, “I love how #DWTS has a 3 hour finale and leaves 10 seconds to (not) talk to the winners as 200 lbs of confetti is dropped on them. #DWTSFinale.”
Chmerkovskiy told Good Morning America the day after his win with Marvel star Gomez, "This season's been a blast and we feel so grateful."
“Dancing With the Stars,” continues to bring in huge numbers, perfectly setting the stage for its upcoming 2024 Dancing with the Stars Live Show that is going on tour beginning in January 2024.
