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‘DWTS’ fans react to Olympian Ilona Maher’s ‘harsh’ assessment

Dancing with the stars viewers may differ in their opinions on who stays and who goes home each week, but one thing is clear: they don’t take too kindly to the judges upsetting one of the competitors.

After week 3’s back-to-back performances for Monday’s “Soul Train Night” and Tuesday’s “Hair Metal Night,” viewers saw two couples, Reginald VelJohnson and pro Emma Slater And Eric Roberts and pro Britt Stewartsent home. However, it wasn’t the double elimination that upset fans the most, but rather the “harsh judging” from night two that left contestant Olympian. Ilona Maher in tears. Fans on social media quickly rallied behind the bronze medalist and her partner Alan Bersten.

The fan favorite became emotional when the judges told her she seemed to be struggling during her performance, with a longtime judge Bruno Tonioli saying, “I love the wild and wonderful and I love to embrace it, but I’m sorry my love, you’ve gone wrong so many times.” She seemed so suffocated by that judge Carrie Ann Anaba asked if she was doing well at one point, to which she replied that she had “been better.”

Ilona later told co-host Julianne Hough that this just didn’t seem to be one of her weeks. “This has been a really hard dance for me, and this whole week has been really hard,” she said. And you do so well in the dress rehearsal, and then you come out and you screw it up… it’s very hard because (Alan) is so good, and I know I can do it well, but then I just do it not. Luckily for the 28-year-old, DWTS fans quickly rallied around her, offering all their kindness and support.

“Ilona, ​​we love you!! Everyone makes mistakes! You will come back so much stronger!!,” one person wrote. “We need to do a better job lifting ALL the participants up! No reason to make her cry when she’s never done this before… heartbreaking,” said another. “Watching her cry is so heartbreaking. It was a HARD dance and one little mistake doesn’t take away from how amazing she is. I hate how hard she was on herself. But the fact that she can still be happy is amazing,” she said someone else. agreed. One fan wrote: “Ilona darling, you are an absolute STAR and must be protected at all costs.”

The duo’s low score of 26/40 combined with their “Soul Night” score of 30/40 left them perilously close to elimination, but thankfully they advanced to Week 4, which airs tonight. The theme is ‘Dedication Night’, where the nine remaining couples will dance in tribute to someone or something important to them.

Ilona shared on Instagram that she is dedicating tonight’s dance to her Olympic team. “Tonight I’m dedicating this dance to my Olympic team,” she wrote in the caption. “We have really done something special, not only for ourselves, but also for those who came before us and those who will come after us. It definitely wasn’t easy, but I’m so glad I had this group of amazing people to do this with. “

We can’t wait to see what she does there!

Portrait photo of Annie O'Sullivan

Annie O’Sullivan (she/her) covers holidays, gift guides, travel and lifestyle content at Good cleaning. She has a degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University and has previously reported on Runner’s worldNBC New York/NY 4 and Women’s Day. Annie also has experience writing entertainment news and celebrity-oriented content.