Carrie Ann Inaba Admits She Did Not ‘Expect’ Hannah Brown To Win ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 28
Carrie Ann Inaba says she was surprised by the results of this season’s Dancing with the Stars. The longtime TV judge revealed that there was “shock” in the ballroom when it was announced that The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown was the winner of the mirrorball trophy for the 28th season of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition.
In a post-show interview with Us Weekly, Carrie Ann revealed that she had never witnessed such a reaction as she did this season when the winner was announced.
“A lot of people were shocked tonight in the ballroom,” Carrie Ann said. “I’ve never felt that from the ballroom when a winner was announced like tonight.”
Carrie Ann did acknowledge that the “right person” always wins on Dancing With the Stars because it’s a collaborative decision between the judges and the fans and that the show honors the audience votes. Still, she added of Hannah’s win, “It’s not what I expected.”
It’s not a huge surprise that Carrie Ann was a bit astonished by Hannah’s Dancing with the Stars win. Last week, Dancing With the Stars fans witnessed an extremely awkward moment in which Hannah said she felt Carrie Ann was hard on her. Then, when the former Fly Girl tried to give Hannah a hug, The Bachelorette star backed away from her. Hannah later apologized for seeming “dismissive” toward Carrie Ann.
In the comments to a finale night Instagram post by Carrie Ann, some fans felt she favored other contestants, most notably singer Ally Brooke, who landed in third place on the show.
“Sasha almost drops Ally on her head and you don’t say sh*t but apparently Hannah had a little stumble in her freestyle but you had to point that out. The favoritism is unreal,” one viewer wrote in the comments section.
“If you are going to continue to play favorites, please don’t return as a judge if the show survives after this season. It’s blatantly obvious and getting ridiculous,” another critic wrote.
“Why don’t you stop showing favoritism and start judging fairly. Worst season ever for this,” another added.
Carrie Ann was not the only Dancing With the Stars regular who seemed surprised by the finale. As Hannah’s win was announced, co-host Erin Andrews made a face that left some viewers thinking she was unhappy with the result.
The NFL sideline reporter later posted to social media to say she can’t win no matter what she does, according to The Blast. Erin explained that she was standing next to second place couple Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson and that if she had been cheering for Hannah she would have been slammed by viewers.
