‘Dancing With the Stars’: Ally Brooke Defends Performance and Beyonce After Judge Len Goodman’s Shade

Ally Brooke isn’t sweating judge Len Goodman’s criticism of her Dancing With the Stars debut, but she won’t stand for his criticism of Queen Bey! After the Fifth Harmony star and partner Sasha Farber earned a measly 16/30 for their lively cha cha to her former group’s hit, “Work From Home,” they defended themselves against the especially harsh words from behind the judges’ panel, where Goodman said Brooke did too much “gyrating” and the dance had too much “Beyonce stuff” in it.

“The first thing [Ally did] when she came down [the stairs] was a traditional Cha Cha step,” Farber told Entertainment Tonight‘s Keltie Knight after the show. “So I’m like, ‘What are we looking at here?’ Beyonce‘s in right now, right?”

“We love Beyoncé! Who doesn’t love Beyoncé? Whatevs,” Brooke chimed in. “Honestly, I had so much fun out there. Hearing the judges’ reactions was, of course, tough, but that’s OK. It’s just notes to get better. I knew this was day one and I want to grow more and more from here.”

Ahead of taking to the ballroom for the first time, Brooke said in an interview with 97.1 AMP Radio that she was actually contacted to be on last season but turned the ABC dance competition down.

“They actually asked me last year, guys, but I said no at the time because it wasn’t the right timing,” she explained. “I was like, ‘Man, I’m so sad to say no, but you never know next year.’ They called me again, they contacted my management and they’re like, ‘Hey, we’d love to have Ally again.’ And then I said yes and I kind of made sure with my schedule and my team that it was good for me to go.”

This year, she added, was different: “In the past, I was made fun of by so many people for my dancing, so that’s a big reason why I’m doing the show to kind of … I guess prove to them but also prove to myself that I can do it,” she said. “And I’m not going to run away from it because it’s something so personal.”

Photo credit: ABC/Eric McCandless