'Dancing With The Stars' broke a longtime rule after 32 seasons — but one contestant wasn't happy
One of the greatest things about 'Dancing with the Stars' has to be seeing your favorite celebrity shake their legs. What makes the show even more engrossing is its well-established rules, meant to promote fairness between contestants. However, in a shocking twist, the show broke an old rule that had been in place since day one. To make matters more tense and dramatic, one of the contestants openly opposed this rule change.
For the first time in over 30-plus seasons, 'Dancing with the Stars' made history by revealing the vote count on the September 24, 2024 episode. The dramatic episode saw fashionista Delvey and Beverly Hills, 90210's Tori Spelling eliminated, despite receiving over 14 million fan votes, as per Deadline. This count also holds the record for most votes in a single episode in the show's history.
Additionally, with seven days of viewing across ABC, Disney+, Hulu, and other platforms, the 'Dancing with the Stars' Season 33 premiere reached 7.32 million total viewers with a 1.31 rating in adults 18-49. This also shows a 47% increase in total viewers and a 79% jump in the key demo from its Live+Same Day numbers. Executive producer Conrad Green said he credited the show's multigenerational appeal and social media presence for its longstanding popularity, saying, "We've also been on air long enough now that a new generation of viewers is watching with their kids and the popularity of the show on social apps like TikTok has exploded and introduced new viewers."
Fans also shared their opinions about the new development in a Reddit post. A Redditor commented, "This makes sense because we get more votes than we used to," while another stated, "This makes me feel optimistic for the show's future! Was hoping they'd reveal Tori and Anna's placements though, like who was 13th, who was 12th, etc." One user shared, "I do think these random weeks off are going to hurt them. I really think they should have just had it Monday last week instead of two nights this week. It was very early in the season to skip a week. People lose interest fast." Meanwhile, a fan of the show wrote, "I'm surprised they would release the vote total but now I want it broken down."
However, not everyone is thrilled with this rule-break. Following Spelling's elimination, her manager, Ruthanne Secunda, asked for a recount, as per Soaps. She said, "I think it's an outrage," while adding, "I'm calling 60 Minutes to do an investigation… definitely a glitch in the system." Secunda further speculated about technical issues, saying, "If airlines can be grounded from a glitch, there could have totally been a glitch in the voting for Tori. I'm suspicious."
On the other hand, Spelling supported her manager's concern and said, "Could there be a 'ballroom recount' just to be certain we had the lowest votes?" She further admitted, "I really didn't have a gut instinct that we would be voted off." However, she acknowledged her inexperience, adding, "Listen, I'm a realist. I came into this with no dance experience and I didn’t expect to win the Mirrorball."