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For years, Dancing With the Stars has been accused of being rigged by viewers and contestants alike. And now, one runner-up is speaking out with claims the series prevented him from winning more than a decade ago.
Is Dancing With the Stars rigged?
Dancing With the Stars was accused of being rigged by Season 11 runner-up Kyle Massey in an interview on former pro Cheryl Burke‘s podcast, “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans,” in May 2024. During the interview, Massey — who lost the Mirrorball Trophy to actress Jennifer Grey and pro Derek Hough — hinted that Grey had a “mishap” during the finale, which aired during the east coast broadcast but was edited out when the west coast broadcast aired three hours later.
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“All I’m going to say is that in my season, you know, one of the other contestants had a mishap in,” Massey said, explaining that his mother watched the east coast broadcast live and noticed that the same mistake wasn’t a part of the west coast episode “It was edited out, perfect tens.”
When asked what happened to Grey, Massey claimed that she had tripped. It was crazy. I just couldn’t believe that they did that. You know, that was my first flag as like, OK,” he said.
Massey, a former Disney Channel star who was best known for shows like That’s So Raven and Corey in the House, came in second place on Dancing With the Stars Season 11 with pro Lacey Schwimmer with a score of 110. Grey, an actress best known for movies like Dirty Dancing, and Hough came in first with a score of 118. Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, and pro Mark Ballas came in third with a score of 104.
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Massey isn’t the first Dancing With the Stars contestant to accuse the show of being rigged. Actor Joey Lawrence, who came in third place on Dancing With the Stars Season 3 with pro Edyta Silwinska, claimed on his and his brother Matthew Lawrence’s podcast, “Brotherly Love,” in 2023, that the series was rigged. Joey came in third on Season 3 after winners, NFL player Emmitt Smith and pro Cheryl Burke, and runners-up, TV host Mario Lopez and pro Karina Smirnoff. (His brother, Matthew, is also Burke’s ex-husband.)
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“I feel that there was always a lot of debate as to how much finagling was going on behind the scenes,” Joey said. “You know, whether the audience vote and the judges’ votes, then the producers. I mean, there was certainly a scenario there that played out.” Joey also clarified that he “didn’t buy a single vote.” Matthew added, “It was rigged.”
Fans, however, defended Dancing With the Stars after the podcast, claiming that the series would be in legal trouble if the series was actually rigged. “I dont think its rigged in the sense that they dont follow the actual audience votes.. that is highly illegal and there are many rules in place so it doesnt happen. However, I have totally always believed that both the judge’s scores, and obviously the storylines they decide to run for each contestant, thats their way of ‘rigging’ the show: manipulating the narrative and the audience by proxy,” a fan wrote in a Reddit thread at the time.
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Another user added, “I agree with others. I’ve felt for years the show is heavily manipulated, and even more so now with the judges save. I don’t believe it’s outright rigged, but scoring, song/dance choice compared to everyone else, packages, feedback, promotion…I think they have desired outcomes.”
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One more user wrote, “I’ve definitely heard this before (just rumblings over the years). I don’t think it’s rigged, per say, but there is definitely some behind the scenes manipulation happening. I have no doubt that one year one coast couldn’t get through to vote wasn’t a glitch. This happens on other shows too….certain dating show is notorious for this. Told how to act, who to keep, manipulate situations etc.”
Dancing With the Stars is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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