Hit reality show Dancing With The Stars has been rocked by backlash after claims that the judges might be showing unfair favouritism!
The allegations come after popular contestant Hayden Quinn was given the boot in favour of worse-performing stars Shane Crawford and Nova Peris.
Surprisingly, Hayden found himself up against comedian Nikki Osborne in the bottom two, despite both having scored in the middle of the pack with their respective dances.
Fans were up in arms at the former MasterChef contestant’s early elimination, with many expecting him to go all the way. Taking to social media, they shared their frustration at the result.
If the judging is going to be this stupid, I’m not watching anymore,” one supporter fumed. Another added: “Happy for Nikki, but so incredibly sad for Hayden, he could’ve won this! Others don’t deserve to still be there.”
Though many were quick to blame the judges for this so-called wrongdoing, long-time judge Helen Richey insists no such favouritism occurs on the DWTS set. She concedes she does have personal relationships with many of the pro dancers, but once filming begins, there’s no fraternisation whatsoever!
“People may not believe me, but the judges and contestants are kept quite separate. Yes, a lot of the professional dancers I know quite well – [my husband] Robert and I have actually trained quite a few of them,” Helen told New Idea.
“But when the show is on, we have nothing to do with them. We do our best to keep the competition absolutely fair for both the celebrities and the pro dancers. We are kept quite separate to all of them and don’t really have that much contact. So you can’t sort of have favourites.”
In actuality, it was due to a combination of the judges’ scores and that of the studio audience – who rallied behind former Shane and Nova – that Hayden’s fate was sealed. Regardless, a source tells New Idea that cheating would never be tolerated among any of the cast or judges, who wholeheartedly believe in a fair competition.
Meanwhile, many believe Lisa McCune will be the one who takes home the coveted Mirror Ball trophy. Having emerged as a clear frontrunner from the beginning, Sportsbet now have her almost as a sure thing.
According to the online betting site, Samantha Jade is following close behind, but New Idea hears Ant Middleton also shouldn’t be ruled out.
