Former Dancing with the Stars pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy doesn’t like the way Carrie Ann Inaba provides critiques on the show.
Maksim, who previously won Season 18 with Olympic medalist Meryl Davis, hasn’t appeared on DWTS since Season 25.
Carrie Ann, a cast member since the show’s 2005 debut, remains one of the show’s core judges alongside Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough.
She’s often received online criticism from fans calling out her scoring or critiques.
During the show’s current season, Carrie Ann (initially) defended controversial cast member Anna Delvey from online hate, even blasting the audience after her opening dance in the Season 33 premiere.
However, she later slammed Anna for being dismissive in answering a question about what she learned on the show after she was eliminated. Maksim seemingly agreed with Carrie Ann’s opinion of Anna following her elimination.
Maksim blasts Carrie Ann’s DWTS critiques
In recent remarks, Maksim suggested that constructive criticism helps celebrity dancers improve on DWTS, but it’s lacking from Carrie Ann.
“I’m a fan of criticism that has a foundation that I can take and then do better. Right? There’s none of that,” Maksim told The U.S. Sun.
“You know, I don’t know what Carrie Ann is saying at all,” he said regarding her critiques.
Maksim mentioned that he loves how Derek is “trying to navigate the ship” by giving critiques as best he can within a seven-second timeframe. Derek, previously one of the show’s professional dancers, became a full-time DWTS judge in Season 29.
“And so for me, I like substance, I don’t have that from that segment of the show,” he said, adding, “I don’t know. So far I haven’t heard anything that would resonate for a dancer in a dance rehearsal.”
Maksim also believes that the show mostly allows the viewers to decide after seeing the dances and hearing the judges’ brief critiques.
“You decide who you want to see, and in the finale, we’ll tell you what it is. And then we’ll put things in place,” he said.
Maksim also slammed Delvey after her elimination
Maksim wasn’t unhappy when fake heiress and convicted fraudster Anna Delvey was sent home in Week 2. He called her a “s***ty dancer” and blasted her for calling out the show over using her for publicity.
“I’m like, ‘Duh.’ Like, what did you think? And I helped. You’re welcome,” he said regarding her post-elimination comments about publicity.
He also said he “never heard of her before” and doesn’t care what she does next now that she’s off Dancing with the Stars.
“Now that we have the audience, let’s show them good dancing. That’s what I think,” Maksim said earlier this week.
Four contestants are now out of the running to win the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, including Anna and actors Tori Spelling, Reginald VelJohnson, and Eric Roberts. That leaves nine hopeful celebrities, including fan-favorites Ilona Maher, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Chandler Kinney.
Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.