Peta Murgatroyd pulled back the curtain on Dancing With the Stars — including why she thinks scoring has become so inconsistent over the years.
“I think why it’s stayed so popular and so amazing for people to watch is because everybody can watch,” Murgatroyd, 39, told host Danielle Fishel the Friday, December 19, episode of her “Pod Meets World” spinoff podcast, “Danielle With…”
Murgatroyd — who has been a professional on DWTS on and off since season 13 — called the reality competition a “generational” show where “babies to grandparents are watching.”
“I like the evolution of the show,” she explained. “I think there’ve been some mistakes in the past. Like, I forget season maybe 30, 31 [around] late 28, 29, like, that was kind of our dipping point where it was like, ‘Oh, are we going to go off the air? Like we don’t know.’ And then it just rose again.”
Peta Murgatroyd ‘Begged’ to See ‘DWTS’ Vote Results: Why It Wasn’t Allowed
The show, however, has continued to pull in viewers — but that doesn’t mean everything behind the scenes is always copacetic.
Scroll down for everything Murgatroyd revealed about DWTS during her sitdown with Fishel:
Was Robert Irwin the ‘Right’ Winner for Season 34?
“I believe that I knew he was going to win from the very beginning,” Murgatroyd said of Robert Irwin taking home the mirrorball trophy in November with dance partner Witney Carson. “I felt like, yeah, I feel like he was the whole round package that people love and adore, that Australian accent, that he’s so kind and lovable. He nailed his dances.”
She noted, “You rarely get given that gift of a partner, you know, and when you get it, you know you got it. You know, you have a big job, and that’s big shoes to feel you have to complete incredible dances every single week.”
Murgatroyd, however, pointed out that Alix Earle and her brother-in-law Val Chmerkovskiy also “surprised” her “so much” throughout the season.
“In the beginning, I was like, ‘She’s good.’ As it went on, I’m like, ‘Wow, OK, she is coming out of her shell. She is a beautiful, stunning human to look at,’” she recalled of Earle. “And then on top of that, she was acting. She was giving it more and I mean her freestyle was my favorite. … It could’ve been either one [who won].”
What Does Peta Murgatroyd Think About the ‘DWTS’ Judging Scale?
“I didn’t feel like [season 34] was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what’s happening to the judging?’ But [that’s] because I’ve kind of felt that for a while, as in, like, you need to start lower,” Murgatroyd explained of the scoring system on the show. “That’s not my only thing. If you see somebody really cannot dance, they’re giving it their all and they’re great, but they’re dancing is really terrible. You’re going to give them a really low score to begin with so they can go somewhere.”
She suggested, “Give them a two so they can get to a five by week five or something like that. But giving somebody a seven when it’s clearly a three is just an interesting judging math.”
While Murgatroyd said that “people’s artistic expression and what they love” often plays a part in scoring, she insisted that all that matters is consistency.
“I think it should be consistent,” she concluded. “Just just be consistent and then we’re all good.”
Maks Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd Predict the Next ‘DWTS’ Winner
Who Really Wins ‘DWTS’?
“I think they try to find the best dancer, but I do believe it comes down to the most entertaining person,” Murgatroyd claimed. “I won with two non dancers. People vote for who they love and like.”
She explained, “At the end of the day, were Donald Driver’s I don’t know, New Yorkers, were they better than the woman that got second with Mark Ballas? Probably not, but he won because of himself and his personality and the guts and the giving that he gave for the whole entire season.”
Murgatroyd pointed out, “We’ve always had trained dancers come in either one or two a season, so I do believe that it’s the most entertaining.”
What ‘DWTS’ Changes Would Peta Murgatroyd Make?
“That instant dance [from season 34] … I would change that to the 24-hour dance,” Murgatroyd said when asked what she’d do differently as a showrunner. “But that means that we would have to have a show day. I would bring back the Tuesday shows.”
‘DWTS’ Is a Total Grind
“The job is a very difficult job that people do not understand,” the Australia native shared. “You have to be like three, four weeks ahead of yourself every single time.”
The ballroom dancer noted, “It’s not just, ‘Oh, let’s go into the studio and create,’ you know, it’s not like that. We are literally like four weeks ahead of you. And we’re not just a dance teacher. We are in on, as you said, everything [including] the wardrobe, the song choice, the lighting.
Before welcoming her three children with husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Murgatroyd recalled coming home at “2 a.m. from a dance studio.”
“It was crazy,” she said. “I can’t do that now because of kids.”
DWTS’ Daniella and Pasha Spill Real Feelings on Judges, Themes and Showmances
Peta Murgatroyd Picks Her Dream ‘DWTS’ Pro Partner — Family Excluded
“That’s really hard. I’m tall, so I need — Max is the tallest, so I can’t have him. So I’m going to have to [go] with Gleb [Savchenko] or Artem [Chivingstev],” she mused. “I like a tough teacher because I grew up with Russian ballet masters, so yeah, I like to be pushed, and I think that they would be kind of tough on me.”
Why Donald Driver Was Peta Murgatroyd’s Perfect Partner for Her 1st Win
Murgatroyd said winning the mirrorball trophy her second season was all because of her “friendship” with Driver.
“We had the best time together. He gave me everything. The family moved out here. He had three kids at the time, three very young kids,” she recalled. “He would get there early, he would leave later than me. He would be there stretching before me. He never gave me any attitude.”
Peta Murgatroyd Loves Husband Max Chmerkovskiy’s Conviction
“That’s what I respect about him. I love that about him,” she said when asked about Max’s honestly on their podcast and in everyday life. “I knew that I wanted somebody in my life that was strong and passionate, and whatever he says, it really does come down to the passion behind it.”
Murgatroyd noted, “Yes, he may say things in the wrong tone, they may come out the wrong way. That’s his heritage, that’s his culture, that’s his low voice when he speaks. He speaks like this because he’s passionate. You know, it doesn’t come from an angry, bitter place at all.”
She continued, “I just think everyone’s so vanilla right now. Nobody wants to like, ‘Oh, my god, I said a little bit too much.’ Like everyone is playing it so [safe]. I’m not just talking in what we do, but like the world in general, you know, you’re going to be canceled if you say this.”
Peta Murgatroyd Addresses Husband Maks Chmerkovskiy’s Harsh ‘DWTS’ Critiques
Will Peta Murgatroyd Return to ‘DWTS’?
“It’s been really nice to sit out for a few [seasons], I will say that it’s been lovely just sitting at home on the couch, putting the TV on, and I’m like, ‘Yeah that’s cool,’” Murgatroyd said, revealing she does have the “itch” to make her pro comeback.
She continued: “I’ve got my body back, and I’m like, you know, fit again. I’m not pregnant, I’m not postpartum. I’m feeling pretty good. Like I would love to get it one more stab. They probably wouldn’t take me, but I would love to have one more go.”
