Kaitlyn Bristowe vs. Carrie Ann Inaba
Things got thorny in the ballroom after the longtime judge claimed she was being “bullied” by fans of the former Bachelorette.
“I still get bullied. Right about this time is when people start to bully me because of the way I judge people,” Carrie Ann said on The Talk following the Nov. 2, 2020, episode of the ABC reality competition. “I can’t believe it still happens as adults.”
After Kaitlyn’s performance with professional partner Artem Chigvintsev, Carrie Ann called the pair out for doing a lift during their jive, which is against the rules.
“I’m a little torn right now… Can you do a back-tap on your own,” she asked Kaitlyn. “I’m going to call that a lift.” She ended up deducting points from their performance.
After her dance, Kaitlyn admitted to Entertainment Tonight she was taken aback by Carrie Ann’s comments, saying, “Is it from a place where you believe in us and you want us to do better,” she questioned. “Is it coming from a place of, ‘I was hard on Hannah [Brown] and you’re another Bachelor girl’? Where is it coming from and how are we supposed to take it and bring it into our next rehearsal? What do you want us to channel and use from it?'”
Artem added the critiques from Carrie Ann felt “personal” and that he felt like they are “never going to make [Carrie Ann] happy.”