Dancing With the Stars pro Pasha Pashkov disagreed with judge Carrie Ann Inaba over her criticism of his jive with Danielle Fishel on Dedication Night.
Carrie Ann was not impressed with Pasha and Danielle’s tribute to William “Bill” Daniels, who played the beloved Mr. Feeny on “Boy Meets World.”
The critique:
According to Carrie Ann, but not of the other judges, Pasha and Danielle’s dance was repetitive. “[It’s like] watching the same dance over and over again.”
The audience’s obstreperous reaction proved her opinion was wildly unpopular.
Carrrie Ann specifically called out Pasha for a lack of “variety as far as dynamics” in his choreography.
Pasha’s point was received:
In an interview with Variety, Pasha explained, “I was not happy” with the critique.
“I always get protective. For me, that comment felt unfair, especially since she said that the dances looked similar.”
“But the thing is, we did have a quickstep and we had a jive this week. These are two dances that very, very similar.”
“If we had dances that were drastically different and they felt the same, I’d understand. But, based on the dances that we had, that did not feel like it made sense to me.”
“In my heart, I’m overprotective because I know how hard Danielle is working. I don’t think she deserved that comment.”
Many DWTS fans would like to see Carrie Ann replaced:
Fans accuse Carrie of being biased, particularly against female dancers, and of handing out lower scores unfairly, as seen in recent incidents with both Danielle Fishel and Chandler Kinney.
Hashtags like #CarrieAnnBias have trended in response to perceived unfairness.
Dedication Night featured guest judge, Kym Johnson Herjavec. Many fans praised her helpful critiques and fair scoring.
Viewers expressed a strong desire on social media for her to become a permanent judge, with some even petitioning for her to join the panel full-time.
