Monday's episode of "Dancing with the Stars" saw deaf contestant Nyle DiMarco scoring a perfect 10 for his flawless Viennese waltz with dancing partner Sharna Burgess. However, a miscommunication resulted in DiMarco receiving a 37 instead of the 39 he was supposed to get.
Season 22 week 5 was the "Switch Up" episode, and saw professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy returning to the ballroom as a guest judge. Although he turned out to be the toughest to please, Chmerkovskiy, too, was floored by DiMarco's act and called it the best performance of the night.
While Carrie Ann Inaba gave the performance a nine, Len Goodman, Chmerkovskiy and Bruno Tonioli held up 10s. According to an Us Weekly report, Chmerkovskiy and Tonioli had allegedly written nines on their scorecards, and this led to a lot of confusion.
Revealing more about how the scoring confusion came about, George Pennacchio of ABC7 tweeted that the mishap happened because of the increased noise level in the ballroom. "What was with the @NyleDiMarco confusing score on #DWTS? @MaksimC tells he & Bruno both said '10' but Len records the scores & it was so loud in the ballroom, he thought Maks & Bruno told him '9,' not '10.' There you have it."
However, fans were quick to accuse the show of rigging the scores. Check out a few tweets below:
Clear to me the #DWTS producers nullified @MaksimC & @BrunoTonioli's "10" scores for @NyleDiMarco's performance. Too early in the season...
— Signor Paparazzo (@paparazzo504) April 19, 2016
@carrieanninaba @DancingABC my worst nightmare came true! #dwts rigged the scores. TG @NyleDiMarco danced like a sweet dream! — Kay Vonn (@kristyv8) April 19, 2016
I'm gonna be so mad if @ABCNetwork rigs the scores of DWTS. 39 across the board for @NyleDiMarco
— Jennie Barr (@Jenniebarr) April 19, 2016
"Dancing with the Stars" airs Mondays on ABC.