Biggest ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Feuds Over the Years

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Biggest 'Dancing With the Stars' Feuds Over the Years

Carrie Ann Inaba vs. Bachelor Nation! Amber Rose vs. Julianne Hough! And Maksim Chmerkovskiy vs. … everybody! The Dancing With the Stars ballroom is no stranger to a feud. The cast and judges of the ABC competition have gotten heated over the years. Chmerkovskiy, for his part, has found himself at odds with several of his celebrity partners, including Kirstie Alley (season 12), Hope Solo (season 13) and Vanessa Lachey (season 25). The professional dancer also got into it with the judges panel in 2011 after Len Goodman called his and Solo’s rumba their "worst dance of the season." After Chmerkovskiy argued with Goodman’s critique, the Brit pointed out that he’s “been in this business for 50 years.” The dancer quipped back, "Then maybe it's time to go!” Chmerkovskiy added backstage, "With all due respect, this is my show. I helped make it what it is.” During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the time, Chmerkovskiy insisted that he respects Goodman’s opinion, but didn’t apologize for his “my show” remark. “I’ve danced for 27 years, and I've won more titles than Len ever even participated in,” he said. "I feel like it's my show, and together, with other pros, I dedicated six years of my life to this show … I've helped make it what it is, but I've never taken it away from anybody else who participated. I didn't mean it in a selfish way. I love it. It's what I love doing. Our fans are phenomenal." Goodman, for his part, spoke to Access Hollywood at the time. “How often, in the heat of the moment, we say things where we think why did I say that? I think Maks is going through one of those periods right now,” he said. “What they have to understand is: They’re on trial. We’re the judges. You can’t be the judge at your own trial.” Chmerkovskiy, who joined DWTS during season 2 in 2006, took a two-season break after season 15. When he returned for season 18 with partner Meryl Davis, he made headlines for calling Goodman the “important” one. “I’ll never be [the judges’] favorite. And that’s OK. The viewers decide who gets to go and who doesn’t,” he told Today at the time. “I hope [the judges] know I’m joking. I hope the viewers know, too. Nothing that exits my mouth — unless I’m in rehearsal — is serious. This banter [with the judges] will never go away.” Chmerkovskiy took another break from the show after winning with Davis, but returned in 2016 for three more seasons. He declared he was done with the series again in 2018, but not before making headlines for his drama with Lachey. Scroll through to revisit the biggest feuds over the years:

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Hannah Brown and Carrie Ann Inaba

The season 15 Bachelorette felt like Inaba was too harsh on her during season 28 of DWTS, but she later admitted in October 2020 that she took it too personally.

“She’s a woman, so she’s very intuitive, I think, of what my emotions were, and she was right a lot of the time,” Brown told Kaitlyn Bristowe on her “Off the Vine” podcast. “I was like, ‘You can’t be right! Do not point out what’s happening on national television right now, because I’m going to burst into tears, and I am trying to keep it together.’ That was a lot of it.”

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Kaitlyn Bristowe and Carrie Ann Inaba

The season 11 Bachelorette questioned Inaba’s intentions after two weeks of low scores during season 29 of DWTS.

“I just want to know where it comes from. Is it from a place where you believe in us and you want us to do better? Is it coming from a place of, ‘I was hard on Hannah and you’re another Bachelor girl?’” Bristowe told ET in November 2020. “Where is it coming from and how are we supposed to take it and bring it into our next rehearsal? What do you want us to channel and use from it? It’s very hard to understand that.”

Her partner, Artem Chigvintsev, added that Inaba’s criticism felt “personal.” (Some Twitter users suggested his romantic past with the judge was a factor.)

The judge, for her part, said she was being “bullied” amid backlash from Bachelor Nation.

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Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Hope Solo

The soccer star alleged that Chmerkovskiy mistreated her during rehearsals, claiming he hit her across the face. The pro, who repeatedly denied her accusations, later called her a “s--tty person.”

"People can be bad or good or whatever. You can have a s--tty life growing up,” he said on the “Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss” podcast in 2015. “You can have a tough upbringing. You can have history. You can have whatever. But, if you are just a bad person, you know what I mean? There's no excuse for that."

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Kate Gosselin and Tony Dovolani

Dovolani threatened to walk out during season 10 due to Gosselin’s whining.

"You're not taking into consideration how I learn!" the Kate Plus 8 star yelled during a rehearsal.

He fired back, "I'm done, I'm done today. I quit!"  

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Ian Ziering and Cheryl Burke

While reflecting on season 4 of DWTS, the pro said she wanted to “slit [her] wrists” while partnered with the 90210 alum. She later apologized for her remarks.

“I’ve always lived by the rule that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Recently and regrettably, I broke that rule,” Burke tweeted. “In the heat of an interview conversation, I used a phrase that seemingly makes light of suicide and I deeply regret it,” she wrote on Twitter. “I have many friends and family members that struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. To have said something that seemingly makes a mockery of what they’ve gone through and what they live with is something that I apologize for.”

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Mischa Barton and Artem Chigvintsev

The season 22 partners didn’t see eye-to-eye through the season.

"I was relying on you to make it a positive experience," the O.C. alum said during on 2016 episode. "I can't do another week of this. He just is not getting it, and it's horrible for me."

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Michael Bolton and Bruno Tonioli

The singer accused the judge of being “mean-spirited” during season 11 of DWTS.

“Bruno should search his soul for what he is doing on that show,” Bolton said after Tonioli referred to his dance as “the worst jive in 11 seasons.”

Bolton continued, “I don’t wish to pressure the show. I don’t blame them. Nor do I wish ABC to put any pressure on him. I think it’s a personal epiphany [Bruno] may have to have. I asked for it in one interview and I felt he should express a public apology to me. I think asking once is enough, and I don’t want my friends, fans and supporters to ask for it. It is what it is.”

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Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy

The season 12 partners bonded during the 2011 season, but three years later, things took a turn when the Ukrainian dancer slammed Scientology on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

"She stopped getting along with me," Chmerkovskiy said in 2014. "I think the world of her. I'm not judging people by their religion. I'm Jewish. I don't really believe in science fiction, whatever. … Now that I'm associating with other people, that she can't be associated with, I am no longer to be spoken with.”

While he added that he wishes her the best, the actress fired back via Twitter, "Dear Sir … after you have ass raped me there is really no reason to include 'I wish you the best' … It's rhetorical.”

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Vanessa Lachey and Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Chmerkovskiy skipped a 2017 episode of DWTS amid reports of tension between him and Lachey during season 25. “They’re playing nice for the cameras but both are miserable paired with each other,” a source told Us Weekly at the time.

The pair were able to put the drama behind them to finish the season, however.

“Things are good. It’s water under the bridge. Things are returning to normal,” a second source told Us after Chmerkovskiy returned. “Maks has apologized to her and they both look forward to having a much more positive relationship moving forward.”

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Amber Rose and Julianne Hough

The season 23 contestant made headlines in 2016 when she said she felt body-shamed by Hough’s critique of her Argentine Tango.

“Last night was like, they did the commentary, and I, it was a point in the dance where I had to lift my leg up and Maks dipped me & [Julianne] said, ‘Oh, I’m uncomfortable,’ and instantly I felt, I did feel body-shamed,” Rose said at the time.

Hough later apologized. “The thing that I love so much about dance is that dance is a universal platform for people to express themselves – any person. Whether that is age or height, body shape, ethnicity, sexual orientation. It is something that people can express themselves to do,” she told Rose on the show. “And for me, I am a huge supporter of that and that alone. As a judge on this show, I am here to solely judge you and everyone else in this competition for only the dancing. So I want you to know that.”

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Julianne Hough and Mark Ballas

Reports surfaced in 2013 that Ballas wasn’t happy after his childhood friend’s critique of his season 17 partner Christina Milian.

"I've danced with Mark. You have to stand in front to make sure you're seen,” Hough said at the time.

After her remark made headlines, Ballas called her comments ”hypocritical.”

Hough, meanwhile, explained her comments to Us at the time. "I loved being on the show again and being a judge because I feel like that's where it all started for me and it's where I'm really comfortable being able to talk and critique," she said. "I judge the same way I teach so it all comes from love. It's not to diss anybody. It's not to hurt anybody's feelings. It's about constructive criticism so that they can get better for next week and that was not a direct attack to anybody. … I don't know why people are making such a big deal about it.”

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Sean Spicer and Tom Bergeron

Before the longtime host was replaced by Tyra Banks in 2020, Bergeron made it clear he wasn’t happy with ABC’s decision to cast the former White House press secretary.

"Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, in its return following an unprecedented year-long hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations. I left that lunch convinced we were in agreement," Bergeron wrote on social media in 2019. "Subsequently (and rather obviously), a decision was made to, as we often say in Hollywood, 'go in a different direction.’”

Spicer, who finished in sixth place, spoke out at the time: “My overall hope is that at the end of this season that Tom looks at this and says, bringing people together of very diverse backgrounds, whether it’s in politics or other areas, and allowing them to show America how we can engage in a really respectful and civil way, is actually a way to help bring the country together as opposed to bring it apart.”