Carrie Ann Inaba from Dancing With the Stars responds to criticism about her scoring during Dedication Night.
Quote from Oladosun Joshua Segun on October 17, 2025, 2:20 PM
After dropping in the fans' scoreboard, Carrie Ann Inaba is defending herself. In a recent social media post, the Dancing With the Stars judge reflected on the emotional Dedication Night on the program. Even though she gave the Oct. 14 program a lot of acclaim, she ended up retaliating against remarks regarding her scoring choices that night.
“You giving Robert [Irwin] an 8 though,” in her Instagram post from October 15, a fan left a comment in the comments box. “You know he outperformed Dylan [Efron], as much as I love him.”
Fans were reminded by Carrie Ann, who has been a judge since the show is debut in 2005, that it is acceptable to disagree with her scoring.
“It’s okay to disagree about what we see,” the user was answered by the 57-year-old. “That’s what makes our show great. You have a say in the matter. We want you to vote for what you love and believe in. I appreciate your comment and the way you expressed your feelings. Thank you for your passion and your opinion.”
Carrie Ann received more than just criticism on social media following the incident. In fact, the judge was jeered by the studio audience after she expressed dissatisfaction with Danielle Fishel and her partner Pasha Pashkov's dance, which included her 98-year-old co-star William Daniels (also known as the beloved Mr. Feeny). from Boy Meets World.
“I love a throwback, but I have to say this,” Carrie Ann revealed. “Some of your dances are starting to feel like I’m watching the same dance over and over again.”
She proceeded to discuss the dance as the audience began to jeer, saying, “Try to give a little bit more variety as far as dynamics. This is also on you, Pasha.”
Regarding Pasha, he promptly addressed Carrie Ann's remarks, describing them as "unfair."
"Especially being that she said that the dances looked similar," in an interview that was released on October 15, he tells Variety. "The thing is, we did have a quickstep, and we had a jive this week. These are two dances that [are] very, very similar."
“If we had dances that were drastically different and they felt the same, I’d understand,” the 39-year-old went on. “But, based on the dances that we had, that did not feel like it made sense to me. In my heart."
He further said, "I don’t think she deserved that comment," in support of Danielle, who Pasha claimed had been practicing "hard" at her dancing.
Fortunately for Carrie Ann and the audience, no favorites were sent home on Dedication Night.
“We couldn't send anyone home tonight on such a special night,” at the conclusion of the show, cohost Jullianne Hough commented. “All of the scores and all of the votes from tonight will carry over to next week."

After dropping in the fans' scoreboard, Carrie Ann Inaba is defending herself. In a recent social media post, the Dancing With the Stars judge reflected on the emotional Dedication Night on the program. Even though she gave the Oct. 14 program a lot of acclaim, she ended up retaliating against remarks regarding her scoring choices that night.
“You giving Robert [Irwin] an 8 though,” in her Instagram post from October 15, a fan left a comment in the comments box. “You know he outperformed Dylan [Efron], as much as I love him.”
Fans were reminded by Carrie Ann, who has been a judge since the show is debut in 2005, that it is acceptable to disagree with her scoring.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026): big discounts for early bird.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab: From Technical Design to Deployment (begins Nov 15th).
“It’s okay to disagree about what we see,” the user was answered by the 57-year-old. “That’s what makes our show great. You have a say in the matter. We want you to vote for what you love and believe in. I appreciate your comment and the way you expressed your feelings. Thank you for your passion and your opinion.”

Carrie Ann received more than just criticism on social media following the incident. In fact, the judge was jeered by the studio audience after she expressed dissatisfaction with Danielle Fishel and her partner Pasha Pashkov's dance, which included her 98-year-old co-star William Daniels (also known as the beloved Mr. Feeny). from Boy Meets World.
“I love a throwback, but I have to say this,” Carrie Ann revealed. “Some of your dances are starting to feel like I’m watching the same dance over and over again.”
She proceeded to discuss the dance as the audience began to jeer, saying, “Try to give a little bit more variety as far as dynamics. This is also on you, Pasha.”
Regarding Pasha, he promptly addressed Carrie Ann's remarks, describing them as "unfair."

"Especially being that she said that the dances looked similar," in an interview that was released on October 15, he tells Variety. "The thing is, we did have a quickstep, and we had a jive this week. These are two dances that [are] very, very similar."
“If we had dances that were drastically different and they felt the same, I’d understand,” the 39-year-old went on. “But, based on the dances that we had, that did not feel like it made sense to me. In my heart."
He further said, "I don’t think she deserved that comment," in support of Danielle, who Pasha claimed had been practicing "hard" at her dancing.
Fortunately for Carrie Ann and the audience, no favorites were sent home on Dedication Night.
“We couldn't send anyone home tonight on such a special night,” at the conclusion of the show, cohost Jullianne Hough commented. “All of the scores and all of the votes from tonight will carry over to next week."
Uploaded files:Share this:
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
- Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
- Click to print (Opens in new window) Print



