Dancing with the Stars combines judges’ scores and audience votes to determine which couple is eliminated each week. Over the years, some contestants have questioned whether the competition is fair, citing their eliminations or decisions made behind the scenes.

Executive producer Ryan O’Dowd rejected claims that the show manipulates votes in a May 2025 interview with Deadline. He said the production had never interfered with voting and stressed that viewers need to have a meaningful say in who wins.

Alexa PenaVega recalled a conversation with fellow season 21 contestant Hayes Grier in a clip from an October 2026 episode of her LEXLOS podcast. She said Grier, who was 15 at the time, suspected the show was rigged because he believed he had received more votes than anyone else. PenaVega said she disagreed that audience votes did not matter, while adding that the show was also produced.

Alfonso Ribeiro commented on the clip, arguing that the show would want popular contestants to remain. PenaVega replied that the excerpt began midway through the story and asked him to watch the full episode for context.

Sean Avery, who competed with professional dancer Karina Smirnoff in season 18, said in 2014 that he believed an alleged disagreement with a producer contributed to his elimination in week two. He told Good Morning America he had objected to a segment that he felt portrayed him as the show’s “bad boy,” and said disagreements with producers can affect a contestant’s prospects on reality competition shows.

Kyle Massey, who finished behind Jennifer Grey in season 11, later described differences between the East Coast live broadcast of the finale and the West Coast version. Speaking on Cheryl Burke’s podcast in 2024, he said a misstep by Grey was shown in the East Coast broadcast but edited out of the West Coast recording. Massey said the moment was a trip without a fall.

Matthew Lawrence, Burke’s former husband, has also said on his podcast that he saw how the show was “rigged” while he was in a relationship with the professional dancer. His brother Joey Lawrence, a season three contestant, separately described debate over how audience votes, judges’ scores and producers might affect the competition.

Sources: Us Weekly.