“Dancing With the Stars” has often faced criticism over the way celebrities are eliminated from the series each season, which led to a huge overhaul ahead of Season 28 in 2019. However, following a surprise elimination during the Season 29 Quarterfinals, the show is once again under fire for how it handles scoring and letting go of celebrity contestants.

The Nov. 9 episode of the ABC show, which served as the Quarterfinals and was also themed as an “Icons” night, ended with Backstreet Boy A.J McLean and his pro partner, Cheryl Burke, being eliminated by judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli after they landed in the Bottom Two with Johnny Weir and Britt Stewart. Following their elimination, however, Burke told Entertainment Tonight that she feels that the scoring on the show was inconsistent throughout the season.

“There’s rules in ballroom, and as far as I’m concerned this is a ballroom show, I thought,” she said. “I already had his two other routines choreographed for the Semi-Finals. Normally, I’m not that confident going in, but I was like, ‘For sure, there’s no way [we’ll get eliminated].”

The couple’s elimination came after their Viennese Waltz, where a mistake occurred that the judges caught, lowering their score to a 23 out of 30, landing them at the bottom of the leaderboard. However, they were then redeemed during the Jive Dance-off, where they actually faced off with Weir and Stewart and were determined the winners, earning two additional points. They also landed in the Bottom Two for the first time throughout the competition, whereas Weir was previously there.

Cheryl’s comment comes after the show faced criticism over the way the system worked in previous seasons of the show. An entire overhaul of the elimination system came after Season 27, which saw “Bachelor in Paradise” star Joe Amabile make it to the semi-finals before he was eliminated, and also saw Bobby Bones win the Mirrorball, despite scoring consistently lower than the other finalists throughout the season.

However, the new system, which saw viewers votes determining the Bottom Two couples and the judges making the final call on who would be sent home, still had flaws in Season 28, as Sean Spicer made it to the Quarterfinals before being eliminated, while James Van Der Beek, who consistently scored at the top of the leaderboard, was eliminated during the semi-finals.

Following their elimination, the remaining teams heading to the Season 29 Semifinals are Skai Jackson and Alan Bersten, Kaitlyn Bristowe and Artem Chigvintsev, Nev Schulman and Jenna Johnson, Weir and Stewart, Justina Machado and Sasha Farber and Nelly and Daniella Karagach.

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

Dancing with the Stars
AJ McLean and Cheryl Burke are pictured dancing during a Season 29 episode of “Dancing With the Stars.” Eric McCandless/ABC
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