Reality competition shows have a knack for captivating an audience. When a new season of a popular show airs, audiences flock to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to discuss each episode. The dominating presence of social media has had a noticeable impact on the way audiences interact with television. In the case of Dancing with the Stars, which is in the middle of its 35th season, social media can affect the show and its contestants week-to-week.
As the name implies, DWTS pairs celebrities with professional dancers to learn and perform Latin or ballroom style routines. Each week a couple is eliminated based on the judges’ scores and audience votes until one champion remains.
After each dance, couples get a score out of 10 from a panel of celebrity judges. Over the years, judges’ scores have become increasingly relaxed and kinder to contestants, often reflecting the their stories and journeys instead of the quality of their dancing.
If a contestant isn’t improving week-by-week but appears to be doing their best and are liked by the audience, their scores from the judges will continue to grow as the show progresses. Arguably, this could be attributed to judges not wanting to negatively critique fan-favourite contestants.
The change in the show’s dynamic is evident when comparing the feedback given to the contestants in the currently-airing season 35, with earlier seasons. Two of the judges on the show, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli have held the position for all 35 seasons, and their comments today rarely get as critical as they used to. In season 11, Tonioli famously told Baywatch star, David Hasselhoff, “It was like a potpourri of insanity disguised as dance.” While this is a harsher example, it reflects the freedom Tinoli had to speak with brutal honesty. This season, though, the audience has been very sensitive to even the mildest criticisms levied at the stars.
In the sixth episode of this season, which aired on Oct. 13, Inaba criticised Glee and Grey’s Anatomy star, Harry Shum Jr. and professional dancer, Jenna Johnson, for not having enough challenging content in their routine that week. Inaba also drew attention to the lift in the dance, which is disallowed in a latin samba. “And there was a lift. A lift is any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner. Yeah, lift,” Inaba declared.
The comment sparked backlash against Inaba, with many taking to the internet to discuss how rude she came off in that moment. A comment on the Dancing with the Stars’ TikTok page with 22,900 likes read, “Can we vote off a judge or?”
While Inaba’s tone may have been a bit impolite, it did not warrant the amount of hate and discourse it received online. In today’s digital age, judges can no longer do their job and provide constructive criticism without being met with controversy, preventing them from accurately judging each couple’s performance.
During a Tik Tok livestream, Ezra Sosa, a pro dancer on his third season with the show, received a comment that the guest judge on the Oct. 27 episode, Shirley Ballas, was mean. “We have to, as a collective until, as a community, learn to respect what they have to say,” Sosa replied. “There’s times when you don’t agree with the score or with what the judges have to say, but then you have to put yourself in perspective.”
The discussions of the contestants on Instagram and Tik Tok are just as intense and critical. Contestants with a background in dancing, like Shum Jr., are said to have an unfair advantage while complete beginners, like Connor Wood, are judged for not improving quickly.
Dancing with the Stars is now more sanitized than ever, yet the negativity that now surrounds the show will likely continue to grow. Contestants and judges are under a microscope, and nobody involved in the show can escape hateful comments and content made about them. And it’s not just the performance shows, either. This negativity towards something intended to be lighthearted entertainment extends to all reality shows, from Love Island to Survivor.
Love Island is a competitive dating show that brings contestants to a remote villa to form couples and avoid elimination. Like DWTS, Love Island lets viewers vote for their favourite couples, which determines the contestants who are sent home. The difference is that Love Island prohibits contestants from using the internet until the show is finished filming and airing. Although contestants are still targets of discourse and hate as the season unfolds, the show’s content cannot be affected by the public’s opinion. Viewers are still allowed to participate, but story-lines, personalities and drama are given space to be authentic.
Internet discourse has taken on a holier-than-thou mentality, and many people seem to forget that one interaction is not character defining. The trend of constant scrutiny towards anyone in the public eye will likely continue, as more opinionated posts will garner more engagement and bring the show more viewers. If you’re tuning in to a reality show, enjoy it for the entertainment that it is. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and you don’t have to love every person on your T.V., but it is important to distinguish a negative opinion from active hate.