Dancing with the Stars is officially three episodes into its new season, airing on ABC and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Some fans think Season 35 already has clear frontrunners, but I'm more of a casual fan that was roped into watching the most recent episode. While I was going along for the ride for my fiancé who is a fan, one part of Viral Hits Night was driving me absolutely nuts.
Some folks consider DWTS to be one of the best reality shows of all time, and since its only Episode 3 this week's premiere was a whopping two hours long. And while Guillermo recovered from the second worst score ever, it was the three judges who were annoying me during Viral Hits Night. Because of how many couples needed to perform and be judged, host Alfonso Ribeiro asked the third judge for each pair to sum up their performance with just one word. Unfortunately, they struggled with this assignment, with the first bunch of responses being:
- Fast, Furious, Fantastic- Derek Hough
- Beautiful, my darling- Bruno Tonioli
- Agreed, but impressive - Carrie Ann Inaba
- Good performance- Derek Hough
- What we all feel: charmed- Bruno Tonioli
- Signor, Ole!- Bruno Tonioli
That's... more than one word. Each time one of the judges would go too long, Alfonso would make a quiet remark about them failing the assignment. He seemed to be getting a little annoyed, and I have to say I understand. After all, the show airs live and has a finite amount of time for judging, especially when you factor in commercial breaks. As a rule follower myself, I couldn't believe how the three judges refused to play by the rules.
It was about halfway through Episode 3 that Hough, Toniolo, and Inaba would finally start actually using one word to describe the couples' performances. The latter was the one who started following the rules, calling Giada de Laurentiis "shaky" and Taylor Hanson "frenetic". But at that point I was already annoyed AF.
My DWTS fan fiancé was less phased by this, although he got a kick out of how long it took the trio of judges to start following directions. He said they are typically long-winded on the show, even when the hosts are trying to keep the competition running on time. Plus, part of the fun of the fan experience seems to be disagreeing with their scores. That was certainly how it felt watching the room, with Carrie Ann Inaba particularly getting some boos from the crowd. But at least she was the first judge to start using one-word descriptions of the dances.
Dancing with the Stars airs new episodes Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+ as part of the 2026 TV schedule. I'll be sure to report any other pet peeves I develop as I watch more themed nights.
