A live flub forced Dancing With the Stars cohost Alfonso Ribeiro to explain how routines are scored in the ballroom.
After Mark Ballas and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt hit the dance floor during the season 34 premiere on Tuesday, September 16, the pair received positive feedback from judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli. (Fellow judge Carrie Ann Inaba announced before the broadcast began that she was sitting out from the premiere due to illness.)
Both Hough, 40, and Tonioli, 69, held up panels with sevens on them when giving their scores, seemingly indicating that the pair earned a 14 out of 20. However, cohost Julianne Hough later revealed from the sky box that there was a mistake.
“Bruno actually put in an eight, so we have to correct it. It’s a 15,” she told Ballas, 39, and Leavitt, 32. “We love live television!”
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After the commercial break, Ribeiro, 53, gave a more detailed breakdown of how dances are scored. “Just to clarify something, our judges key in their scores right after the dance and then they are locked regardless of which paddle they hold up. We go with their locked score. So Bruno keyed in an 8, so Whitney’s total was 15.”
Earlier in the night, Derek gave a warning about the scores that would be shown. “The scoring tonight, just be mindful, it might be a little lower than you’re expecting because there’s a long way to go,” he explained after Jordan Chiles and pro Ezra Sosa opened the show. “This is a marathon. We want to give you guys room to grow.”
The Olympian received a total score of 10 out of 20, as did Dylan Efron and pro Daniella Karagach. Ribeiro hinted that the studio audience wasn’t too pleased with seeing the lower scores.
Pros and celebs have been candid through the years about the judges’ feedback. In 2022, Sasha Farber told Us Weekly he thought Derek was “the most intimidating” of all the judges.
“You never know what he’s thinking. He’s always got this stone cold look and then [his score] could be, like, really bad. [Or] then he’s like, ‘That was great,’” he said in an exclusive interview at the time, joking, “It’s just his face.”
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Two years later, pro Gleb Savchenko compared Derek to the late Len Goodman — but Derek wasn’t so sure.
“I wish I was as good as Len,” Derek exclusively told Us in 2024. “[He’s] absolutely irreplaceable. … His phrases and his ‘Lenisms’ were just iconic.”
Derek explained at the time that he likes to pay attention to the little details, adding, “It’s always hard, especially in these first couple of weeks, because there’s so little time to say something. I feel like I’m rushing it trying to get it in.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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