Is Derek Hough exhibiting 'favoritism'? 'DWTS' Season 31 fans call dance relay 'rigged' as Charli D'Amelio wins
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Dancing with the Stars' Season 31's '90s Night episode was a bit different from the last few episodes. In Episode 9, we saw eight couples jiving on individual songs, and then a dance relay took place. The face-off challenge in the dance relay was done on the songs of guest panelists Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, Vanilla Ice, and Kid 'n Play.
Gabby Windey and Charli D'Amelio were declared the winner of the dance relay. After their relay, we saw panelist Derek Hough giving his vote to Charli, making her the top contestant on the judges' leaderboard. As Derek seemed favorable toward Charli, fans called out the judge and Disney+ and claimed that the decision was "rigged". Moreover, some even took to social media to thrash Derek for supporting Charli as they have an "outside relationship". Charli and Derek know each other from 'Step Into... The Movies' as they recreated the 'Dirty Dancing' moment together. Now, 'DWTS' Season 31 fans claimed that their previous connection might be affecting Derek's judgment of Charli's performances.
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A fan slammed 'DWTS' Season 31 judges and tweeted, "Derek Hough and Charlie have an outside of the show relationship!!! Cheaters/rigged/favoritism!!!!" Another one wrote, "Ok derek, love you, but that len impersonation was not good lol."
A few fans took to a Facebook thread to slam Derek, with one commenting, "Sorry to say, but I don’t think Derek should have judged this one! Mark is his one of his Best Buds. Someone IMPARTIAL should have been the judge!!" Another fan wrote, "agree" in the same thread. Another claimed, "I thought the exact same thing."
Derek Hough and Charlie have an outside of the show relationship!!! Cheaters/rigged/favoritism!!!! #DWTS #DancingWiththeStars pic.twitter.com/xMQWmszISE
— Kamari Nicholson (@KamariNicholson) November 8, 2022
Ok derek, love you, but that len impersonation was not good lol #DancingWiththeStars #dwts
— Shannon Moody (@Fashion_Nexus) November 8, 2022
Another fan claimed that Derek knew Charli's partner Mark Ballas from before, therefore, he shouldn't have been allowed to judge their performance. "Derek should not have judged this. His buddy is Mark," wrote the fan.
Another viewer said, "How is it fair that Derek judged when Charli danced on his TV special? Not even pretending to be fair." One angry fan claimed, "I'm starting to get more and more pissed that they all keep playing favorites."
New episodes of 'Dancing with the Stars' Season 31' premiere every Monday and Tuesday at 8 pm ET on Disney+. However, Week 8 is expected to have only one episode.
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