Judging for the wrong reasons? Kaitlyn Bristowe and Artem Chigvintsev are questioning whether Carrie Ann Inaba’s criticism of their Dancing With the Stars performances is strictly about the dance floor.
“At this point, it starts being a little personal,” the 38-year-old professional dancer told Entertainment Tonight during a joint interview with the 35-year-old former Bachelorette after the Monday, November 2, episode. “I feel it’s definitely, maybe not a different standard, but I feel like it’s different expectations. I don’t know. I’m watching back the dance itself, it’s like, ‘Oh, you can kick sharper!’ Well, I can say that about everybody who dances on the show today. I don’t know. It’s really odd.”
Bristowe added that she just wants to know more about the intentions behind Inaba’s commentary.
“I would love to have her on the podcast, ask her a few questions. I don’t know!” the “Off the Vine” podcast host explained. “It’s always reassuring to talk to other people and have them asking those same questions because we come back and we’re like, ‘Huh?’ We’re good at accepting constructive criticism. We’re like, ‘OK, great, now let’s apply it. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.’ With this one, it’s like, ‘Huh? OK?’”
Bristowe noted that the judge was also tough on season 15 Bachelorette Hannah Brown, who went on to win the mirrorball trophy in 2019.
“I just want to know where it comes from. Is it from a place where you believe in us and you want us to do better? Is it coming from a place of, ‘I was hard on Hannah and you’re another Bachelor girl?’” she asked. “Where is it coming from and how are we supposed to take it and bring it into our next rehearsal? What do you want us to channel and use from it? It’s very hard to understand that.”
Bristowe, who received an eight from Inaba for her jive to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen, added that judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli give more helpful feedback.
“Derek says things and I’m like, ‘Great! Oh my gosh, I could work on that. Let’s use that next time.’ Same with Bruno,” she said. “And when Carrie says things, I’m like, ‘What do you want us to do with that?’”
During Monday’s episode, Bristowe and Chigvintsev escaped the bottom two again despite Inaba arguing that the reality TV personality performed a “lift” with Chigvintsev vs. doing her own jump during her jive. (Chrishell Stause was ultimately eliminated over Skai Jackson.) On the October 26 episode of the ABC show, Inaba suggested that Bristowe “gave up” and lost her “spirit” during her Halloween paso doble.
“At this point right now, we just feel like we’re never going to make her happy. It feels really discouraging, in a sense, to come back next week,” Chigvintsev concluded after Monday’s episode. “I was literally wanting to have earmuffs and put it on top of [Kaitlyn’s] head.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
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