Carrie Ann Inaba’s Expectations ‘Going Way up’ for ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pros This Season

Carrie Ann Inaba is throwing down the gauntlet with the Dancing With the Stars pros in the upcoming 2019 season.

After contestants like Fuller House star Juan Pablo Di Pace and Zombies actor Milo Manheim walked away with a number of perfect scores during Season 27 of the ABC dance competition show — ultimately won by Bobby Bones and partner Sharna Burgess — Inaba told PopCulture.com she is going to really push the envelope when it comes to her judging.

“I have to say, the truth is my expectations are going way up this year,” the longtime judge explained of the the fall 2019 season, which comes after the show is taking its usual spring time slot off.

“As we head into Season 28, and because we’ve had a year off, I want to see greatness,” Inaba told PopCulture of her rising standards. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Explaining she wants the season to “feel different” than in past years, The Talk panelist is going to play a little more hardball when it comes to scoring the teams alongside fellow judges Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman.

“I want to be a little tougher,” Inaba mused. “I’m a very compassionate judge, but I want to be even stricter.”

Joking that now the pros are “forewarned” for the new season, she added that she can’t wait to see how the teams bring it to a whole new level during this upcoming season.

Filming both Dancing With the Stars and The Talk at the same time is not going to be an easy task, Inaba admits. But one that would have been completely impossible six years ago, before she had been diagnosed with and treated for Iron Deficiency Anemia.

“I was really in the state of intense — intense doesn’t even cover it — fatigue and brain fog,” she told PopCulture.

After going to her doctor with the concerning symptoms, Inaba reveals she was able to get back not only into the energetic state she required for her career, but to activities like dance, kickboxing and yoga she had previously enjoyed. Seeing such a drastic change, Inaba is urging people noticing is off with themselves to check out Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.’s Get Iron Informed campaign for more information to help them speak with their doctors.

“It is something im passionate about, because it is something that can be managed really effectively,” she said. “You have to be very proactive with your health, and we’re putting the power back with the people.”

Dancing With the Stars is expected to return in fall 2019.

Photo credit: ABC/Eric McCandless