Viewers vented their frustrations about how Dancing With the Stars ended their Season 33 Semi-Finals episode due to what some called a “ridiculous” twist.
The Week 8 competition featured just five couples vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
They included last week’s top two couples: The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei with Jenna Johnson and actress Chandler Kinney with Brandon Armstrong.
Fan-favorite celebrities Ilona Maher, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Danny Amendola also remained hopeful about winning the season.
In Week 7, viewers saw former NBA star Dwight Howard and his dance partner, Daniella Karagach, get eliminated from the show.
However, the latest stage of ABC’s dance competition featured what some DWTS fans called a “stunt” regarding sending one of the couples home.
DWTS hosts swerved fans with Semi Finals after ‘record-breaking’ voting
Following Danny and Witney Carson’s performance, co-host Julianne Hough told everyone, “We’ll soon find out who will be back to compete in next week’s finale.”
Host Alfonso Ribeiro presented the “final leaderboard of the Semi-Finals,” which featured a tie. Chandler and Brandon received a 58, as did Joey and Jenna.
Ilona and Alan Bersten placed third overall with a 57, followed by Danny and Witney’s 54 and Stephen and Rylee Arnold’s 53.
Alfonso then instructed viewers to vote using text messages for each couple or said fans could see details on the ABC website.
“We know how much you care about this cast because you’ve been voting in record numbers,” he revealed during the show’s final moments.
He and Julianne spoke about the “amazing season” and how difficult it would be to see any semifinalists go home.
“We do have to continue. We will combine the judges’ scores with your votes and reveal the results when we come back,” Julianne said.
They let the tension play out over a commercial break before Alfonso shared that viewers broke the record for “the most votes cast during a single episode” of DWTS.
The hosts revealed which couples were moving on after the judges’ scores and fan votes. Surprisingly, Alfonso and Julianne announced each couple, one by one, indicating they were all moving on to compete in the finals.
Fans reacted to the ‘ridiculous’ conclusion for Week 8 featuring elimination ‘stunt’
Following the latest DWTS episode, many fans expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction with how things ended. On the X platform, commenters shared their frustrations about the Semi Finals.
“On the upside of the ridiculous ‘elimination’, at least we didn’t lose Ilona. Love Stephen but … Ilona #DWTS,” a fan commented.
“See this stunt #Dwts just pulled is why they aren’t what they used to be. You have to have a heartbreaking elimination to be legit,” a commenter wrote.
“Historians of #DWTS remember when your fav/good dancer got eliminated before the finale?”
Another commenter called DWTS “so cruel” for “faking an elimination” in the Semi-Finals episode.
With that, all five couples will compete for the coveted trophy in the three-hour Week 9 Finale episode on November 26.
It will feature each team performing redemption dances coached by DWTS judges and freestyle dances.
In addition to presumably seeing a winning team, viewers will also see a special performance from the Season 32 winners, Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.