'DWTS' judge Carrie Ann Inaba calls out heckler during season 34 finale: 'What did you say?'
The 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 34 finale was packed with several heartwarming and some eye-raising moments. However, during the highly anticipated 'DWTS' episode, which aired on November 25, Judge Carrie Ann Inaba had an odd encounter with an audience member. At one point in the finale, an audience member yelled at Inaba after Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa's performance to Rihanna's 'Breakin' Dishes' during their first dance. During Inaba's critique of the performance, an audience member yelled at the 'DWTS' judge, expressing disagreement.
As per Parade magazine, when Inaba was asked to offer her feedback, she told the duo, "I think this number, when you first started, your attack was a little too strong, and I felt like it disconnected you just a tiny bit," inviting jeers from the audience. Inaba continued, "I love that you got the spots. You really focused on the spots; we worked on that. You created the space. This kills me, but yeah, just the beginning felt like it didn't quite come together."
At that point, an audience member screamed something unintelligible. Inaba didn’t hold back and called out the audience member, saying, “What?! What did you say?” Shortly afterward, 'DWTS' co-host Alfonso Ribeiro pacified the situation. He brought the focus back to the grand finale, saying, "It's all right, don't worry about that, Derek, you're up." While the exact words of the audience member were difficult to grasp, many social media users continue to speculate what it was. One user claimed that the audience member said, "You're fake," while another speculated, "They said, 'You need to leave.'"
During a recent interview with Variety, Inaba admitted that she gives harsher critiques to female contestants on the show. "I think that it is partly true. I am the woman on the panel, and I understand what it is to be a woman, so I can get into more detail about what I'm seeing. Because I support women so much, I let them know what I see. Because they are working so hard, I always feel it's my responsibility if I sense somebody hasn't given it their all, because I don't want them to walk away with regret," Inaba said.
"I'm not saying I always know right, because none of us are ever 100% right. But I'm willing to risk that and speak to them so that they have the opportunity to grow. And when I speak woman to woman, I'm maybe a bit more frank. Maybe because I feel like women are tougher than men in some ways. This is how I speak with my girlfriends—very blunt and to the point, because I know they want the information. I think there is some truth to what they're saying, but it's not exactly what they're saying," the 'DWTS', who has been under fire for her critiques throughout the season, added.
