Bobby Bones’ controversial Dancing With the Stars season 27 win is something Witney Carson not-so-fondly remembers.
Carson, 31, recalled how she and her former DWTS partner Milo Manheim reacted to losing to the radio host, 44, and Sharna Burgess on the Thursday, October 31, episode of “The Viall Files” podcast.
The infamous DWTS moment was brought up after Carson’s current partner, Danny Amendola, brought up how maintaining his posture for the pair’s Halloween Nightmares episode Argentine tango would be the key to avoiding elimination. (The podcast was filmed before the show’s Tuesday, October 29, episode.)
Host Nick Viall, who competed on DWTS season 24, said he thought a contestant’s smile and stage presence mattered more than posture. “’Cause Bobby Bones won, and that boy walked on the dance floor,” he stated.
Carson seemingly agreed with Viall’s comments, stating, “Right, I know. Yes.” Reflecting on Bones’ win, she added: “I was with Milo that season, and we were like, ‘For real? Are we for real right now?’”
Bones and Burgess’ season 27 victory in 2018 shocked the show’s cast and fans alike as the pair scored consistently lower throughout the season than their fellow finale couples Alexis Ren and Alan Bersten, Evanna Lynch and Keo Motsepe and Carson and Maheim, 23.
As for whether Carson thinks posture or personality is more important to DWTS success, the pro said it’s a mix of both. “You gotta be a decent dancer, but you also have to charm America. Like, people have to want to vote for you, as well,” she explained.
Finding that balance is something she said she and Amendola, 38, are working on as they make it further on the show. “Danny’s personality’s coming out a little bit more,” she added. “He has more things to say. We’re seeing different sides of him, the vulnerability side, and we’re trying to show all sides of him.”
Bones’ DWTS win made headlines earlier this year after former pro and current cohost Julianne Hough revealed she disagreed with the radio personality’s victory. “I think it’s because of the fan base. It’s all about [the] fan base on that show. He was not the best dancer,” she said on the August 18 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Bones reacted to her comments by stating he was the “worst dancer” on the show in an August 19 Instagram video. “Now, I tried as hard as anybody in the history of the show, but I can’t dance now, couldn’t dance then,” he told his followers. “But you know who took down the big evil empire of dance? Well, it’s not evil or an empire, but me and you! We did it together.”
He continued: “I’m the greatest champion ever. I didn’t say I was the greatest dancer, but the greatest champion ever. I’m the man of the people. I’m the man that you guys selected. … Julianne Hough, you’re cool.”
During an interview on the “Between Us Moms” podcast last month, Burgess, 39, said that Hough’s remarks “hurt a little bit” and she wished she “could have left a good legacy, a beautiful legacy” on the show.
“It also sucks that of all the incredible seasons that I had, I’m remembered as the win that no one wanted it,” she stated. “And we say no one, right? People voted. The way we won was because enough people voted. So, enough people wanted it.”
DWTS returns for its milestone 500th episode on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, November 12, at 8 p.m. ET.
