Why Peta Murgatroyd, Maks Chmerkovskiy Call ‘Dancing With the Stars’ a Popularity Contest
Peta Murgatroyd isn’t going to tip-toe around her feelings about Dancing With the Stars’ voting system.
The professional dancer, who last appeared on the 32nd season of DWTS, addressed the show’s current format of determining a winner, saying that the Mirrorball Trophy doesn’t always go to the “most-improved” celebrity contestant.
“It’s always been how it’s been: a popularity contest,” she told E! News’ Erin Lim Rhodes in an exclusive joint interview with husband and DWTS alum Maks Chmerkovskiy. “So, the best dancer doesn’t always win.”
In fact, Peta pointed out that she’s won twice with stars who have “zero experience” in dance.
“I’ve won with two non-dancers,” the 39-year-old said, referring to her season 14 victory with retired NFL player Donald Driver and season 22 win with model Nyle DiMarco. “People are going to vote for who they love.”
Maks agreed, arguing that DWTS shares the same voting element as some of the other “biggest shows on television.”
“Twenty years later, it’s still the only show that you can watch with four generations,” the 45-year-old said of DWTS, which he left in 2018 after 17 seasons, “and each will find something interesting in it.”
