‘Dancing With the Stars’ Not Returning for Spring Season After Contentious Bobby Bones Win

Dancing With the Stars fans will have to wait a full year for another run in the ABC ballroom, as the show has reportedly decided to forgo a spring season following a controversial end to its fall run.

Wednesday, after the ABC spring schedule was released with the notable absence of a DWTS season, TVLine reported that the network had decided against airing its traditional first of two seasons per year.

This echoes the exchange co-host Tom Bergeron had with a fan on Twitter in November, during which the longtime face of the show answered a user writing, “Please tell me we get a spring season!!” with “Doubt it.”

“ABC has authorized us to say, ‘See you next year’ but exactly when is, as yet, undetermined,” he continued.

Season 27 of the ABC dance competition definitely ended on a shaky note when Fuller House star Juan Pablo Di Pace was eliminated following two perfect scores in the semi-finals. Adding insult to injury for fans who felt the entire fan voting system had turned the competition into a popularity contest, country radio personality Bobby Bones and pro partner Sharna Burgess walked away with the Mirrorball Trophy at the end of the season, despite earning a high score of 24/30 for the entire season — far lower than the other three finalists Evanna Lynch, Alexis Ren and Milo Manheim.

The win prompted many fans to call for the show to completely revamp its voting structure, Di Pace’s elimination even drew critiques from the judges themselves.

Len Goodman said during the semi-finals, “Listen, I know the American people would like fair play, but mostly we like justice. And there’s no justice here.”

Carrie Ann Inaba also spoke out against the elimination.

“I just walked in the door from the semi-finals of Dancing With the Stars, and I have to say, I’m very disappointed with the outcome,” she said on Instagram Stories at the time. “Juan Pablo and Cheryl [Burke] should be in the finale next week. You guys need to vote please.”

She continued, “OK, I’m still on about it, but it’s like, how do you go home in the semi-finals when you’ve been the highest scorer and you just got a perfect 60?”

Bones, while admitting he was by far the worst dancer of the final four, told Good Housekeeping prior to his win that while the fan voting system might not be fair, it did represent the DWTS journey.

“I think they [the judges’ marks and critiques] are fair. I don’t think they want me to win, frankly,” he said. “I think the judges want somebody who came in with more dance experience to win. But that’s why the show isn’t just about the judges — it’s also about the people.”

Photo credit: ABC/Eric McCandless