Alfonso Ribeiro went on the offensive when former contestant Alexa PenaVega called Dancing With The Stars rigged. The co-host wasn't entertaining the idea that the show finds ways to keep certain contestants in the game, and said it all came down to "simple logic."
Ribeiro took a break from preparing for DWTS' "Horror Movie Night" episode to hit the 2026 TV schedule, and hopped in the comments of a viral TikTok. In said video, PenaVega recalled back in Season 21 when fellow contestant Hayes Grier accused the show of being rigged. The viral Vine star said that he likely had millions of votes coming in compared to competitors, and yet was eliminated fifth. PenaVega hinted she agreed with him and mentioned the show does have producers that could influence the result, but Ribeiro jumped in and shut it down quickly:
No chance. We want everyone who’s popular to stay on. It’s basic logic.
PenaVega stressed in a reply back to Ribeiro that she was just telling a story, and the drama seemingly ended there. In fairness, it's not like no one has ever made this accusation before. Part of this is because Dancing With The Stars never reveals the breakdown of each week's voting, outside of occasional announcements about how many total viewers voted.
We don't see the voting, but we do know how much power the audience vote has. Showrunner Conrad Green told EW it's a 50/50 split between the judges' scores and the audience vote. Based on that breakdown, there's really no leeway for producers to get a vote. If so, one would think they would've gotten rid of Guillermo Rodriguez a little quicker this season.
As for Hayes Grier, it's also fair to say that follower counts don't always equate to votes on Dancing With The Stars. He might have the same follower count as Season 21 winner Bindi Irwin on Instagram, but that doesn't mean his audience on Vine was tuned into DWTS. It's also worth saying that follower counts can be inflated on most social media platforms, and it's possible Grier didn't have as large a following as he thought.
Back in 2026, Dancing With The Stars has a double elimination on the way. The odds of a fan-favorite going home unexpectedly are greater than ever, which usually is when the "rigging" accusations start to flood in. I'm sure the judges are used to it by now, and would sooner deal with that than feuds involving lifts.
Speaking of which, Val Chmerkovskiy is back on Dancing With The Stars, fresh off his week-long suspension following comments on social media about Carrie Ann Inaba. In short, this is about to be can't-miss television, especially if Alfonso ends up shading Alexa PenaVega during the live episode! We can only cross our fingers and hope.
