‘DWTS’ Judge Bruno Tonioli Reveals Why That Shocking Elimination Blunder Really Happened

Dancing with the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli has shed some light on how last night’s (October 5) awkward elimination blunder happened. Host Tyra Banks mistakenly told Monica Aldama and her professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy that they were safe when they were actually in the bottom two.

The new host paused the live show and asked for clarification after noticing that something wasn’t right, citing an “error in the control room.”

Bruno has now explained what really happened, sharing that what the host was told in her ear and what was written on her card were different.

“It was a discrepancy between what was printed and the actual [results]. There’s such a small difference between the points, and what was in the cards was different than what was being told to her in her earpiece,” he explained during a video call interview with Parade.com immediately after the show.

Bruno also praised Tyra, who took over from Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews this season, for how she handled the situation.

“So, she said quite rightly, ‘Something is wrong here.’ She took over control of the situation to correct a discrepancy. I thought she was fantastic because she took hold of the situation and corrected it.”

Bruno also discussed the tense moment in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, speculating that somebody behind the scenes may have “pressed the wrong button and put [the results] in the wrong order.”

He added that neither he nor his fellow judges, Carrie Ann Inaba and Derek Hough, had a clue what was going on during the tense live TV moment. Bruno joked that he always advises people not to rely on technology and write things down to avoid any technical mistakes.

Monica and Val also spoke to the outlet about the incident, with the latter describing it as “shocking” and “crazy” just minutes after leaving the stage. They also said they had no idea what actually happened.

Despite the dramatic ending, the couple made it through to the Top 12 with Anne Heche and Keo Motsepe eliminated after a unanimous decision from the judges.

Though Bruno had nothing but praise for the host, fans were a little less forgiving.

Many viewers took to social media to scold the America’s Next Top Model star over the blunder, describing the end of the show as a “train wreck.”

Tyra addressed the “challenging” moment in a tweet, which can be seen here, after the episode ended.