Danielle Fishel will forever be connected to Topanga, the character she played on the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World. But last year, she put on her dancing shoes to compete on Dancing With The Stars. She knows firsthand how hard the judges can be. In a shocking declaration, she slammed the judges for favoring male celebrities over female contestants. Keep reading for all the details.
Danielle Fishel Slams Judges For Favoring Male Celebs
Danielle Fishel was paired with Pasha Pashkov on Season 34. She received a shockingly low 12 out of 20 for her first dance. Her scores improved, but she was ultimately sent home in Week 8. The actress hosts the Ballroom Breakdown podcast to share her thoughts on Season 35.
She welcomed two-time Mirrorball champion Kym Johnson to the podcast to recap the show’s Horror Movie Night. The pro dancer was a guest judge on DWTS earlier in the season. Famed ballroom judge Shirley Ballas was the guest judge for the Halloween-themed episode.
She is notoriously harsh with her scores. Julia Stiles and Tatyana Ali received 4s for their routines. “I was surprised that Shirley did give him a five because I thought the girls were better than that,” Kym Johnson said.
“.. A 5 was generous when she had given Tatyana and Julia a 4. I thought, ‘There’s no way that this dance was better than what we had seen. And so, if you were going to give the ladies 4s, I feel like this was worthy of a 4 as well,” Danielle Fishel agreed.
The actress went on to claim that the judges have a double standard when scoring the male celebs versus the female celebs. It could be wrong. But, in my opinion, I think sometimes the men get a pass that the women don’t get,” she said.
DWTS Alum Defends Carrie Ann From Boos
However, Danielle Fishel also believes that the judges are held to different standards from viewers. She said that the male judges are treated differently from the audience than Carrie Ann Inaba, the sole female judge.
“That same can be said for the audience at home, watching the judges,” Danielle Fishel said. “The men get away with being able to give a constructive criticism here or there, whereas the women judges, Carrie Ann and the guest judges, they get booed.”
“So in general, I think we see a little bit of unfairness with how women are treated in multiple different ways on the show,” Danielle Fishel concluded. Tell us in the comments if you agree with her assessment of a double standard.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger