Is ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Voting System Still Broken? Sailor Brinkley-Cook Elimination Sparks Outrage

“Dancing With the Stars” may have thought it was fixing the problems it was called out for in Season 27 when talented dancers were sent home ahead of low-scoring performers, but following Week 6’s elimination of the Season 28 competition, the show is facing new critiques over their changes.

After taking the spring season off and revamping the voting system, changing it to live votes during episodes and giving the ABC show’s judges the final say when it came to who went home (America’s votes determine the Bottom Two performers), it seemed as if the show was on its way to fixing the problems that led to outrage in Season 27, which saw Bobby Bones take home the Mirrorball trophy over dancers who had scored better than him throughout the season. However, following Week 6 of the competition, which saw the emotional elimination of Sailor Brinkley-Cook and Val Chmerkovskiy, new critiques are surfacing.

The Week 6 elimination saw Brinkley-Cook and Ally Brook, two of the better scoring dancers throughout the season, land in the Bottom Two ahead of lowest remaining scorer overall, Sean Spicer, who was declared safe and sent on to the next week of competition. In the end, the stunned judges chose to save the former Fifth Harmony singer, who had previously topped the leaderboard on Disney Night, therefore sending the model, who replaced her mother Christie Brinkley in the competition, home.

Naturally, fans were not happy with how the results turned out, blasting the show on social media and comparing the results to the 2016 Presidential Election, which allowed for Spicer to gain prominence as President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary.

The outrage came after comparing the scores of all three performers. Ally and Sasha tied for second on the judges’ leaderboard with a combined score of 52 points from week 5 and 6 (James Van Der Beek was one point ahead at 53), with Sailor and Val tying at third with Kate Flannery and Pasha Pashkov with a combined total of 51. Meanwhile, Sean and Lindsay Arnold landed at the bottom, with a combined total of 40 points out of a possible 60, and a full six points behind their closest competitors, Karamo and Jenna Johnson.

In addition, when average scores for the entire season are factored in, Ally has the second-highest average score, with Sailor having the third-highest average. Sean again lands in the bottom there, averaging 3.5 points behind Karamo and Jenna.

Following the lastest shocking results, it has led to some viewers wondering if the new voting system, which still places the same weight on viewer votes, is still just as flawed as the original system. While allowing the judges to decide who goes home from the Bottom Two is a massive improvement, allowing viewer votes to count to the extent they do still means that people like Sean, who has a massive Conservative fan base, still have a chance to remain on the show for longer than expected.

Of course, while fans may be shocked by the results and still questioning the voting system (which also does not allow West Coast viewers to vote for the performances as they watch them, with live voting only open during the Eastern and Central Time Zones), others may not be as surprised by how things have turned out. Cheryl Burke, who left the competition when Ray Lewis was forced to withdraw due to injury, revealed in her recent blog for Us Weekly that she called it from the beginning that the former Press Secretary would go far in the competition.

“I danced with Tom DeLay. We made it up to week six or seven until he fractured both his feet and then we had to bow out,” she recalled. “I do still think that we would have probably made the semifinal or final just because of America’s vote. Trump tweeted for Sean Spicer! I wouldn’t be shocked if he made the final. Bristol Palin made the final...in a gorilla suit. She wasn’t the best dance, but people wanted her there.”

“So at the end of the day, you know, I wouldn’t be shocked,” she added. “I said, ‘Lindsay, just wait, you’re gonna make the finals.’ She’s like, ‘No way.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, for sure you are.’ To have the President of the United States tweeting for every one vote for Sean Spicer?”

“Dancing With the Stars” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC.