‘Dancing With the Stars’: Artem Chigvintsev and Kaitlyn Bristowe Skirt Social Distancing to Hug Carrie Ann Inaba

Bachelorette alum Kaitlyn Bristowe and her partner Artem Chigvintsev nailed their first routine on Dancing With the Stars‘ Icons Night on Monday. After dancing a flawless tango to “Toxic” by Britney Spears, Bristowe’s music icon, the pair received their first perfect score of the season. Additionally, they earned a great deal of praise from judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who has given the team serious criticism in the past. In fact, Bristowe and Chigvintsev were so excited that Inaba praised their routine that they even hugged her and skirted around the social distancing rules that the show has incorporated in the process.

Since the current season of DWTS is taking place amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the show has incorporated additional guidelines to keep the cast and crew safe. Not only are the judges — Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli — seated far apart from one another to maintain social distance, but the contestants are also kept at a safe distance from the judges and the host, Tyra Banks. So, it came as a shock to many that Bristowe and Chigvintsev hugged Inaba during Monday night’s episode. But, since the pair has come such a far way in this competition and have particularly had an interesting relationship with Inaba, they couldn’t help but celebrate the exciting moment with a hug.

The memorable moment between Bristowe, Chigvintsev, and Inaba comes one week after the trio got into a dispute over their jive routine. At the time, the judge said that the reality star’s performance showcased a good amount of “grace” but that she would have to dock them a point because of what she presumed to be a lift. However, Chigvintsev and Bristowe both pushed back and said that the move wasn’t a lift. Ultimately, the judge did dock them a point, and they received an overall score of 25 out of 30. Previously, Chigvintsev opened up about how the judges have been scoring this season. He told Entertainment Tonight that he wants all of the judges to get on the same page when scoring the various routines.

“My thought, No. 1 is, does content of the dance not count anymore? Because it’s weird to me when we supposedly have to pursue a certain type of dance. I’m not going to speak of any specific couples, but I feel like, is there some kind of a standard now what dance should look like, or what it shouldn’t?” Chigvintsev said. “I feel like it just kinda goes left and right. There’s definitely inconsistency.”