Surprise, surprise, Dancing with the Stars season 19 is rigged. I know, it’s totally shocking and surprising and no one ever saw this coming. Except, you know, the show has come under fire for being rigged every single season for the past ten years, at least.
This time around, it’s been revealed that Dancing with the Stars season 19 contestant Alfonso Ribeiro has an unfair advantage – he actually has a professional dancing background. Ribeiro was an acclaimed Broadway dancer when he was a child, and even though DWTS rules clearly state that all the contestants must be celebrities and have NO professional dancing experience, Ribeiro obviously doesn’t fit those requirements.
And lest you think that the producers and network didn’t know about this, think again. They do extremely thorough background checks on all their contestants before they sign on, and the WHOLE POINT of the show is to pit amateur celebrity dancers against each other. That way, everyone starts out on even playing field, even if some people pick up the dancing better than others.
TV Critic Bill Mann spoke to the National Enquirer about Alfonso’s participation on the show, revealing, “Alfonso Ribeiro shouldn’t be allowed to compete. It’s unfair to the rest of the contestants. He has too much experience and training.”
An ABC spokesperson was contacted about the rules of eligibility regarding Alfonso’s participation on the show, and all they would say was, “Contestants are given a rulebook but those contents are NOT published.”
In other words, this may or may not be allowed. And one wonders why DWTS comes under fire so often for rigging their competitions. Allowing a professional dancer – with whatever limited professional experience – to participate in a competition-based reality show about dancing is extremely unfair to the other contestants. Not only that, but it’s unfair to the audiences. People tune in and expect to see celebrities dance, but they also expect that all those celebrities started out at the same level of experience. Otherwise, how can someone be fair and pick a winner?
No doubt, Alfonso Ribeiro will continue to participate on the show. If this becomes a bigger controversy, I’m sure they’ll come up with some excuse about how Alfonso hasn’t danced professionally since he was a child, bla bla. Hopefully the fans will be smart enough to realize that.
