Jenna Dewan Blames Online Noise for DWTS Exit as 6 Couples Reach Semifinals

Q: Did online backlash and a controversial betting promotion cost Jenna Dewan her spot on Dancing With the Stars despite her top scores?

Probably yes, but it cannot be proven definitively. Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy were eliminated despite strong judges’ marks because *Dancing With the Stars* is decided by a mix of scores and viewer votes, and their vote total appears to have fallen short. On the quarterfinals episode, they scored 28 out of 30 for their jazz routine and earned two bonus points by winning their dance-off, yet still went home before the semifinals. Dewan herself pointed to the season’s “online noise” as a possible factor. That backlash had been building for weeks: some viewers objected to her casting because of her professional dance background, arguing she had an unfair advantage; criticism then intensified after Val was suspended for a week over a social media post; and it flared again when Dewan and Chmerkovskiy were paired against Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik in a dance-off many fans called unfair or rigged. The betting controversy likely added to that negative climate. Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Val’s brother, drew criticism for publicly promoting a sports betting company while predicting Ali’s elimination, which many fans saw as inappropriate and in poor taste. Online reactions suggest some viewers were angered enough to rally support for Ali in response. Still, there is no direct evidence that the backlash or betting promotion alone caused Dewan’s exit. The clearest fact is that strong scores did not offset weaker audience support, and the controversy likely hurt more than it helped.

Q: How does the Dancing With the Stars voting format allow fan outrage to eliminate top-scoring performers right before the semifinals?

*Dancing With the Stars* can send home a top-scoring couple because elimination is not based on judges’ scores alone. The show combines judges’ scores and viewer votes on a 50/50 basis, so a pair can rank near the top of the leaderboard and still be eliminated if its public support is weaker than rivals’. The system works by converting both sides into ranking points. A couple that finishes first with the judges gets the most judges’ ranking points, and the same happens with audience voting: the couple with the most fan votes gets the most audience ranking points. Those two rankings are added together, and the pair with the lowest combined total goes home. If there is a tie, the tiebreaker goes to the couple with fewer viewer votes. That structure makes fan backlash especially powerful late in the season, when score gaps are often small. On Grammy Night, Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy scored 28 out of 30 and picked up two bonus points by winning their dance-off, leaving them tied near the top on 30. But those bonus points only improved the judges’ half of the equation. If enough viewers withheld votes—whether because some saw Dewan as a “ringer,” objected to Val Chmerkovskiy’s recent controversy, or reacted to online anger over the dance-off pairing—the couple’s audience ranking could still sink low enough to override strong scores. Because the show does not release raw vote totals, viewers only see the surprise result, not how much the fan vote shifted it.

3 articles · Updated · TV Insider · Nov 11

Jenna Dewan said social-media "online noise" may have contributed to her Nov. 10 elimination from Dancing With the Stars after she and Val Chmerkovskiy failed to get enough viewer votes.
Top leaderboard scores were not enough to save the pair, whose season drew backlash over Dewan's dance background and renewed scrutiny after Chmerkovskiy was suspended for 1 week over a social-media comment.
This week's criticism also flared over the dance-off matchup against Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik, while comments from Val's brother Maksim Chmerkovskiy and his Kalshi predictions further irritated some fans.
Val Chmerkovskiy called the result "a shocker" but said he had no regrets; 6 couples remain heading into next week's semifinals, with 5 advancing.