The ballroom was supposed to be celebrating the beginning of a brand-new season. Instead, within hours of the Dancing With the Stars Season 35 premiere, a very different conversation was unfolding among viewers.
The new season began with an unusual two-night format: the male celebrities performed on September 15, while the female celebrities took the floor on September 16. Rather than allowing the entire cast to compete together before facing elimination, the show sent home a contestant from each group on their respective premiere nights.
For some viewers — and even people closely associated with DWTS — that decision immediately raised questions about fairness.
Then came technical problems with voting, rushed judging segments and scores that generated plenty of debate online. What was meant to be an ambitious shake-up suddenly became one of the most talked-about elements of the premiere.
The Controversy Started Before Anyone Even Danced
Season 35 changed the traditional premiere structure by separating the contestants according to gender.
Eight male celebrities competed on the first night. Eight female celebrities followed on the second.
More significantly, eliminations were also separated.
That meant a contestant wasn’t necessarily competing for survival against every other celebrity in the cast — only against those performing on the same night.
Former DWTS professional Mark Ballas questioned the format before the premiere even aired, arguing that it did not create an “even playing field.” (Hollywood News Daily)
His concern was straightforward: one premiere group could theoretically be considerably stronger than the other, yet each side would still lose a contestant.
For viewers accustomed to watching the entire cast compete on equal terms, the change immediately became divisive.
Then the Voting System Ran Into Trouble
Night one brought another problem.
During the live broadcast, the show’s online voting system experienced technical difficulties, temporarily leaving viewers unable to cast their votes through the usual website.
Hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough addressed the issue during the program, while text voting remained available. The malfunction nevertheless frustrated viewers who were trying to participate in an elimination taking place that very night. (The US Sun)
Social media quickly filled with questions about whether contestants were receiving a genuinely equal opportunity to collect votes.
And because someone was being eliminated immediately, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
The Judges’ Scores Created Another Debate
The second premiere night brought Julia Stiles, Amber Glenn, Ciara Miller, Giada De Laurentiis, Maura Higgins, Sarah Jane Nader, Jenna Dewan and Tatyana Ali into the ballroom.
The scores varied considerably.
Stiles and Ezra Sosa received three sixes for an 18/30, while Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas earned three sevens for a 21/30, the strongest score among the women that evening. Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov also received 18/30.
At the other end of the leaderboard, Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik received three fours for their jive, leaving them with 12/30. (Reddit)
As always with DWTS, viewers had their own opinions about what deserved a four, five, six or seven.
And those opinions did not always match the judges’.
Fans Wanted More Consistency
Complaints about DWTS judging aren’t new. In fact, debating the paddles has practically become part of watching the show.
But there is a particular criticism that continues to surface: viewers want contestants to be evaluated according to consistent standards.
Some fans argue that one contestant can receive significant criticism and still earn a relatively strong score, while another receives encouraging feedback only to see surprisingly low numbers appear on the paddles.
The issue had already been discussed by fans before Season 35 began. In a January discussion about changes viewers wanted for the new season, several fans specifically called for stricter and more consistent judging, with one writing that if judges penalize something for one celebrity, they should do the same for everyone else. (Reddit)
Season 35’s opening nights have brought that old debate roaring back.
Even the Judges Barely Had Time to Speak
Scoring wasn’t the only thing viewers noticed.
Despite splitting the premiere across two nights, some fans felt the episodes still seemed strangely rushed.
Judges’ critiques were sometimes brief before the program moved rapidly to its next segment. In a discussion after the second premiere episode, viewers questioned why so much additional material had been included while feedback for the actual contestants appeared hurried. (Reddit)
That matters because the critiques aren’t merely entertainment.
For contestants with little or no ballroom experience, Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli’s comments explain what they need to correct before returning the following week.
When those conversations are shortened, viewers also lose some of the explanation behind the scores.
Derek Hough Has Previously Explained How He Approaches Judging
Hough understands both sides of that table unusually well.
Long before becoming a judge, he was one of the show’s most successful professional dancers. When he initially joined the judging panel, he explained that he intended to combine honesty with compassion.
“I’m going to be fair, I’m going to be honest,” Hough told Entertainment Tonight at the time, while emphasizing that he didn’t want honesty to become cruelty. (Entertainment Tonight)
That balance has always been one of DWTS‘ trickiest ingredients.
Contestants need constructive criticism to improve.
But they are also celebrities attempting a highly technical discipline, often with only days to learn each routine.
Season 35 Has Barely Begun — and People Already Have Plenty to Say
Two nights into the season, the ballroom has already produced exactly what Dancing With the Stars tends to produce best: performances people love, performances people disagree about and scores capable of starting arguments almost instantly.
The difference this year is that the controversy isn’t centered solely on whether a particular contestant deserved a six instead of a seven.
It’s also about the structure surrounding those numbers.
Splitting contestants across two premiere nights, eliminating separately, experiencing voting problems and rushing portions of the judges’ feedback have all contributed to the discussion.
Calling any one of those choices the “worst move in the show’s entire history” is ultimately a fan opinion rather than an established fact. But the reaction illustrates something that has followed DWTS through virtually every era of the show.
Viewers don’t simply want their favorite celebrities to survive.
They want to understand why one performance receives a four while another gets a six. They want everyone competing under comparable conditions. And when voting determines who goes home, they want confidence that everyone actually had the same opportunity to be heard.
Season 35 has only just opened its ballroom doors.
Judging by the reaction to its first two nights, though, the competition outside the dance floor may already be nearly as intense as the one happening on it.
If you’re curious about other *Dancing With the Stars* news, check out Julia Stiles Makes Her ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Debut With a Dolly Parton Classic – Fans Are Already Talking About the Mirrorball.
