Disney star shares how his controversial 'DWTS' loss pushed producers to make major format change
'Zombies' star Milo Manheim is reflecting on his unexpected 'DWTS' loss, which prompted the show’s makers to implement a major change. Manheim competed on 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 27 alongside his professional partner Witney Carson. Throughout his time on the ABC dance show, Manheim won the hearts of the judges with some mind-boggling performances. However, Manheim failed to clinch the prestigious mirrorball trophy, finishing in second place. Bobby Bones and his pro partner, Sharna Burgess, were ultimately crowned the winners of Season 27.
Season 27 of 'DWTS' premiered in 2018, and even now, seven years later, Manheim says fans still reach out to ask whether he should have won. While appearing on the July 13 episode of 'The Zach Sang Show' to promote his new movie, 'Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires,' Manheim reflected on his 'DWTS' experience and his runner-up finish. “To be honest, I feel like getting second place worked out in my favor because I’m reminded to this day that I was robbed,” Manheim said, as per Entertainment Now.
The 'School Spirits' actor added, "I wouldn't even say that... I guess it's been long enough. People come up all the time now, and they’re just like, ‘You killed Dancing with the Stars.’ And I don’t think I would be getting that validation had I won. So it’s really nice.” However, the primary takeaway is how the show changed after Manheim's season. When Season 27 was filmed, Manheim had higher scores than Bones, but he still lost. Since then, the show has made significant changes to its voting system.
While discussing the change, Manheim said, “I will say that I was grateful that they changed the voting system after that year. So, I'm a very political man. So, like, the fact that I was able to make them look at the system a little bit, that’s the best thing I could have possibly hoped for." When the subject shifted to his 'Zombies' co-star Chandler Kinney, who also didn’t win the mirrorball trophy in Season 33, Manheim said, "I wasn't even worried for Chandler. I was like, 'All right, she's going to avenge me.' And then, yeah, the same thing happened to her. I don't want to say rigged, because it's not rigged...but Chandler killed that thing."
During Season 33 of 'DWTS,' Kinney was paired up with Brandon Armstrong, and the duo made it to the finale, placing third. In the end, 'The Bachelor' alum Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson were crowned as the winners of the season. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, 'DWTS' judge Carrie Ann Inaba also shared her thoughts on the changes made to the voting system. “I do know that we have made some adjustments to the judging, because we got a lot of complaints. We listened to what everybody said about what happened last year," Inaba shared at that time. A combination of live votes and judges' votes has added a fascinating new dynamic to the show, which many welcomed.