Dancing with the Stars Season 34 is nearly complete, with only the finale yet to air. This season’s finale will feature the top five celebrity/professional couples of the season. After the semi-finals, many fans were shocked when Whitney Leavitt was sent home. Throughout the season, Whitney consistently placed at the top of the leaderboard with her partner Mark Ballas. Many viewers considered Whitney to be the strongest dancer of the season. Nonetheless, she was sent home just short of the finale.
While Whitney was a strong dancer, she lacked in terms of fan votes. Whitney was criticized by DWTS fans for several reasons, which ultimately led to her being sent home before the finale.
Whitney Leavitt was a controversial casting pick on Dancing with the Stars Season 34
Whitney was one of the initial stars announced for the cast of DWTS Season 34. Along with Jen Affleck, Whitney was revealed to be a part of the cast during The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 reunion. Whitney was seen by some as the villain on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives; however, this wasn’t the controversial part of her casting.
DWTS fans immediately pointed out that Whitney had prior dance experience, which could be considered an unfair advantage. Whitney had a degree in fine arts with an emphasis in dance, in addition to prior experience dancing in studios. While the majority of the MomTok ladies are known for their TikTok dances, Whitney’s professional dance experience raised suspicions.
It’s not uncommon for DWTS to cast celebrities with prior dance experience. While Whitney didn’t have ballroom dance experience, some fans felt that she still had an unfair advantage. DWTS is about teaching celebrities with no ballroom experience to dance, and to judge them on their improvement each week. While Whitney didn’t dance ballroom, her experience still gives her a leg up when it comes to learning choreography.
Some DWTS viewers felt that the judges favored Whitney throughout the season, while others felt she acted like a mean girl
Throughout DWTS Season 34, some fans felt that the judges unfairly favored Whitney over the other contestants. Some speculated that this was due to Whitney being partnered with Mark, who is best friends with judge Derek Hough.
One instance of this was after the Halloween Monsterthon, when Whitney won over Alix Earle. The majority of fans felt that Alix deserved to win, and that Whitney was only chosen out of favoritism. Later, during the semi-finals, Whitney made a visible mistake during her cha-cha when she included an extra hop. When Carrie Ann Inaba pointed this out, Derek told her that her opinion was crazy. It’s rare to see something like this between the judges, which added further to the rumors of favoritism toward Whitney.
In addition to being favored by some of the judges, Whitney acted like a mean girl at times. This was most noticeable during Jen’s elimination, when Whitney appeared to smirk after hearing the news. It was later revealed that Whitney and Jen aren’t on the best of terms, which further confirmed that Whitney was happy about the elimination. Since both women came from the same show, this wasn’t a good look for Whitney.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 3 didn’t paint Whitney in the best light
Shortly before the DWTS Season 34 semi-finals, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 3 was released. During Season 3, Whitney discussed her excitement for her DWTS journey. Whitney didn’t hold back and even admitted that she was prompted to come back to MomTok in hopes of being cast on DWTS. This was pretty controversial, as viewers felt like Whitney was using the rest of her MomTok co-stars.
During one of Whitney’s semi-final interviews, host Julianne Hough reminded her of her controversial comment. The timing of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 3 and Whitney’s DWTS elimination might not have been much of a coincidence. While Whitney was a strong dancer this season, her dance background and mean-girl persona ended up costing her some votes.
Dancing with the Stars is available to stream on Disney +.
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED TO SEE WHITNEY GET SENT HOME BEFORE THE FINALE? DO YOU THINK SHE WAS TOO CONTROVERSIAL ON DWTS SEASON 34?
