DWTS viewers were shocked by an unexpected spat between Derek Hough and Carrie Ann Inaba during the Halloween-themed episode. He seemingly threw shade at her for speaking over his critique. A pro dancer shared their thoughts on the incident and why Derek was “annoyed.” Keep reading for their surprising take on the tense moment.

Former DWTS Pro Defends Eliminated Dancer

Jan Ravnik is a professional dancer. He was a backup dancer for Taylor Swift’s mega Eras Tour. But he’s not necessarily trained in ballroom dancing like the other DWTS pros. The Season 34 newbie faced backlash from viewers for his lack of experience.
‘DWTS’ judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli/Credit: YouTube
Former DWTS pro Maks Chmerkovskiy was an outspoken critic who didn’t think Jan deserved to be on the ABC reality competition. Shortly after Maks made those comments, Jan and his celeb partner, Jen Affleck, were eliminated. But another former pro defended Jan and thought he did a great job on the show.

Sharna Burgess last competed on DWTS in Season 30. She was on the show for 14 seasons and took home the Mirrorball Trophy in Season 27 with country radio host Bobby Bones. Despite leaving the show, she recaps the episodes on her In the 4th Chair podcast. 

In one recent episode, she shared her thoughts on Jan and the backlash he received. “I feel like Jan has had a great first season. I think he’s learning how to teach a non-dancer how to dance,” she said. Sharna said the pros are under “a lot of pressure” to choreograph a new routine every week.

“It’s a lot of pressure to create it, to teach it, to clean it [and] all those things. So, I think he did a really good job at handling it. I think he’s probably learned a lot on how to teach absolute beginners in the realm of Dancing With the Stars because it is its own pocket and its own bubble,” the former DWTS pro said.

She Explains Why Derek Hough Was ‘Annoyed’ By Carrie Ann

Sharna Burgess takes notes while watching the show live so she has something to talk about on the podcast. She shared an interesting note she wrote during the Halloween episode. “Derek [Hough] told Jan [Ravnik] that he has had a great first season, then I wrote, ‘Wait, is Derek annoyed at something?’”

“Is something going on? I don’t know what I missed there,” she added.

Social media was in a tizzy after a weird moment between Derek Hough and Carrie Ann when they were giving Jan and Jen Affleck their scores. Some fans thought Derek threw shade at Carrie Ann for taking too long with her comments and left him with little time to talk. He said something about her “yapping,” but also agreed with her critique of Jan’s choreography.

Sharna Burgess had a reasonable explanation for why Derek looked annoyed. “I think it was the tension [of being] on time and people not feeling that they didn’t have enough time. Maybe they were making time for the dance-off? He was trying to get as much out as he possibly could,” she suggested.

Neither Derek or Carrie Ann has addressed the awkward moment. All eyes will be on them during the next episode of DWTS. Tell us in the comments if you saw the spat between the judges.