The crowd booed Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli during Tuesday’s live show.

Witney Carson calls out *Dancing With the Stars *judges for partner Guillermo Rodriguez’s low scores: ‘Lame’

The crowd booed Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli during Tuesday’s live show.

By Shelby Stivale

Shelby Stivale

Shelby Stivale is a senior writer at **. She has been working at EW since July 2026. Her work has previously appeared on Us Weekly and J-14.

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September 16, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson during the season 35 premiere of ‘Dancing With the Stars’. Credit:

Disney/Eric McCandless

- Witney Carson called out *Dancing With the Stars *judges for “lame” scores on the season 35 premiere.

- She and partner Guillermo Rodriguez were awarded a 10 out of 30.

- The pair were not eliminated.

Witney Carson wasn’t too happy with the *Dancing With the Stars* judges during the season 35 premiere.

“This cha-cha, we worked on so much,” Carson told *Us Weekly** *of her and partner Guillermo Rodriguez after Tuesday’s live show, which had the male contestants making their ballroom debuts. “We really worked on the timing and not rushing it.”

Carson admitted that “there were bits” of her dance with Rodriguez that was “a little bit off,” but that shouldn’t have impacted the score too much. “He got right back on it and he listened to what I said,” she added. Carson choreographed the cha-cha to Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff,” a No. 1 song from the year Rodriguez was born.

“He followed my lead and he performed and he had fun, so honestly, that’s all I can ask for,” Carson continued. “I’m so proud. The judges’ scores were lame.”

Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli were booed by the crowd on Tuesday after giving Rodriguez low scores following his routine. Inaba presented the *Jimmy Kimmel Live** *sidekick with a 4, while both Hough and Tonioli gave him 3s. Rodriguez was at the bottom of the leaderboard all night with a total of 10 out of 30.

“Was the technique there? No,” Hough told Rodriguez following his performance. “Was the effort there? Absolutely.”

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Tonioli chimed in, noting that “nobody will ever, ever forget this dance.” He added, “Technique can only get better.”

Despite his low score, Rodriguez was not eliminated. *The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives** *star Conner Leavitt was the season’s first star to get the boot.

When speaking with * *following Tuesday’s live show, Rodriguez said that he “squeezed” his behind during the routine so he wouldn’t “go forward” after sliding on his knees and “doing the shimmy.”

“I think that was the [hardest] part,” he added. “Then I was, like, boom, turn around and boom.”

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*Jimmy Kimmel Live *fans have been following Rodriguez’s *DWTS* journey since it was announced in June that he would be joining the season 35 cast. When host Jimmy Kimmel returned to his eponymous talk show following his summer break last week, the comedian chatted with Rodriguez about his ballroom gig. Rodriguez previously revealed that he hoped to lose weight from *DWTS*, but told Kimmel that the scale has gone in the opposite direction.

“It’s going good, Jimmy. It’s a lot of work. My body hurts, but I think I’m going to be doing this,” Rodriguez said during the Sept. 8 show, explaining that he’s “unfortunately not” lost any weight despite the hours-long dance training.

“After the practice, I go eat right away,” Rodriguez joked. “I’m so hungry.”

*Dancing With the Stars* continues its two-night premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Watch the female contestants compete at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.

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Source: “EW Dancing”