{"id":2000126414,"date":"2026-09-19T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000126414"},"modified":"2026-09-19T11:39:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T09:39:52","slug":"witney-carson-says-dwts-judges-were-a-little-mean-to-guillermo-rodriguez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/witney-carson-says-dwts-judges-were-a-little-mean-to-guillermo-rodriguez\/","title":{"rendered":"Witney Carson says DWTS judges were \u2018a little mean\u2019 to Guillermo Rodriguez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Carson and Rodriguez made their debut during the September 15 episode of the 35th season of Dancing with the Stars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair performed a cha-cha to Jean Knight\u2019s 1971 song \u201cMr. Big Stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performance earned a combined score of 10 out of 30 from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inaba gave the pair four points, while Hough and Tonioli each awarded three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The low scores prompted boos from members of the studio audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the official Dancing with the Stars podcast on September 18, Carson said she felt the three-point scores were unnecessarily harsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought that was a little uncalled for,\u201d Carson said, while acknowledging that Rodriguez still had areas of his dancing that needed improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carson explained that Rodriguez had been moving, attempting the choreography and putting effort into his performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she understood the judges\u2019 criticism of his technique but believed the scoring did not fully reflect his effort and entertainment value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodriguez, 55, is best known as Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s longtime sidekick on Jimmy Kimmel Live! He joined the competition without professional dance experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the judges\u2019 feedback, Hough acknowledged that Rodriguez needed to improve his technique, particularly his timing and power, but also praised his energy and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonioli highlighted Rodriguez\u2019s body roll during the routine, joking about its connection to the cha-cha while suggesting the moment could become popular with viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inaba described the performance as entertaining and noted that Rodriguez\u2019s movements were clearly defined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the low score, Rodriguez said he remains determined to improve. He is preparing to perform a Paso Doble in the next round, a dance he described as challenging and fast-paced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we gotta practice for the next one,\u201d Rodriguez said on the podcast, adding that he wanted to improve and did not want to receive another score of three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carson has also praised Rodriguez for his attitude throughout the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said he has been kind to the cast and crew and regularly takes time to greet people working behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodriguez said he was surprised by the audience\u2019s strong reaction to his first performance, describing the cheers as overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair will continue competing in the 35th season of Dancing with the Stars, with new performances airing weekly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Witney Carson and Guillermo Rodriguez perform during their debut on Season 35 of \u201cDancing with the Stars.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professional dancer Witney Carson has defended her Dancing with the Stars partner Guillermo Rodriguez after the judges gave their first performance a low score, saying some of the marks were \u201ca little mean\u201d and \u201cuncalled for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000126416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000126414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000126416,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/dancing-with-the-stars-GUILLERMO-RODRIGUEZ-WITNEY-CARSON-091626-86e0a1f078534fd7af8d0868899acf1d.webp","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/webp","width":1600,"height":2000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/dancing-with-the-stars-GUILLERMO-RODRIGUEZ-WITNEY-CARSON-091626-86e0a1f078534fd7af8d0868899acf1d.webp","width":1600,"height":2000},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/dancing-with-the-stars-GUILLERMO-RODRIGUEZ-WITNEY-CARSON-091626-86e0a1f078534fd7af8d0868899acf1d.webp","width":1600,"height":2000},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/dancing-with-the-stars-GUILLERMO-RODRIGUEZ-WITNEY-CARSON-091626-86e0a1f078534fd7af8d0868899acf1d.webp","width":1600,"height":2000},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/dancing-with-the-stars-GUILLERMO-RODRIGUEZ-WITNEY-CARSON-091626-86e0a1f078534fd7af8d0868899acf1d.webp","width":1600,"height":2000},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/dancing-with-the-stars-GUILLERMO-RODRIGUEZ-WITNEY-CARSON-091626-86e0a1f078534fd7af8d0868899acf1d.webp","width":1600,"height":2000}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000126414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000126414"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000126414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000126443,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000126414\/revisions\/2000126443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000126416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000126414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000126414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000126414"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000126414"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000126414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}