‘DWTS’ Fans Are Applauding Elaine Hendrix for Calling Out Judges’ Scoring

Dancing With the Stars fans are cheering on Elaine Hendrix after The Parent Trap actress called out the judges’ inconsistent scoring in Season 34.

After receiving just a 30/40 for her foxtrot to “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” on Dedication Night, despite the judges’ effusive praise, Hendrix spoke candidly with pro partner Alan Bersten at the top of their package for Tuesday’s Wicked Night.

“I don’t understand the scoring,” she told the pro dancer, adding, “Other people were given good comments and got higher scores, and I was given lower scores.”

A flashback to Dedication Night showed Bersten assuring Hendrix that the scores had not matched her performance, and he told her during Tuesday’s episode it was “not like [she was] just not trying.”

“You were hit by a car,” he reminded Hendrix, who revealed to the audience that she had to have a titanium joint implanted into her right foot after a grisly car crash. With half of that foot rendered “unusable,” Hendrix said she didn’t want her injury to keep her down in the competition. “I don’t want to let it stop me,” she said.

Dancing With the Stars fans quickly took to social media to praise Hendrix for calling out the judges, with one person writing, “Elaine calling out the judges for lowballing her scores and not other people’s is SO REAL TO ME. DO IT AGAIN.” Another added, “EXACTLY ELAINE MAMA CALL OUT THE SCORING.”

Despite her complaints, viewers complained online that Hendrix and Bersten’s Wicked Night contemporary performance to “Defying Gravity” was also underscored, receiving just a 36/40 after moving judge Carrie Ann Inaba to tears.

Praising the dance as “something special,” Inaba said during the judging, “I just burst into tears just because you were so purely in this moment. There are these moments that happen on this show that are magical—that no one will ever forget how it made them feel. When you danced and you reached—and that passion. It was beauty, elegance and you just dug into my soul and I am so proud of you.”

Elsewhere in the evening, both Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles were awarded 10s from the judges for their quickstep to “Popular” and rumba to “For Good,” respectively.

Despite the complaint online, Hendrix seemed thrilled with her Wicked Night score, declaring proudly, “I am 54, I am injured and I just did that!”

Bersten praised his partner following their performance, saying, “Elaine’s determination and her perseverance is just so incredible and so inspiring, and I feel so lucky to be partnered with her.”

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.