“Dancing with the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba and pro Jenna Johnson had a tense exchange over the latter’s choreography during Tuesday’s “Super Bowl Night.”
After Johnson and her partner Harry Shum Jr. did the samba to “Yeah!” by Usher, Inaba explained that while she “loved every minute” of the performance, she told the “Glee” alum he needs to “put more content in [his] dances.”
“And there was a lift,” Inaba, 58, added.
A surprised Johnson, 32, replied, “A lift?”
“Yeah it was a lift,” Inaba responded, before reading from a piece of paper that “a lift is any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner.”
“Yeah, lift,” she reiterated to the duo.
Johnson shook her head in response as the live audience suddenly got silent.
“Dang,” said judge Derek Hough, who was next to give his take on the dance. “I feel like I got told off.”
Inaba added, “I will meet you where you are.”
When Hough praised Johnson and Shum Jr., 44, for their “fantastic performance,” Inaba could be heard agreeing with him.
When Johnson and Shum Jr. went up to the skybox, co-host Julianne Hough asked the pro dancer how she felt about Inaba’s criticism.
“I totally understand. I thought it was if you lifted your partner,” Johnson said, adding, “But I totally hear Carrie Ann. I will take it. Sure.”
Johnson and Shum Jr. were then scored a 33 out of 40 from the judges.
“Oh my god, amazing,” Shum Jr. said in response. “It’s a dream come true. We got Usher, we got Super Bowl Halftime Show. We did it!”
Johnson told her partner, “I’m so proud of you.”
Earlier in the episode, Inaba had another tense exchange with Guillermo Rodriguez after he and Witney Carson danced a salsa to “Tití Me Preguntó” by Bad Bunny.
During their pre-performance package, Rodriguez, 55, told his pregnant partner that Inaba “was not too nice” when she gave him brutal feedback for his samba during “Mariah Carey Night” last week.
“I was going to say, ‘Carrie Ann, Samba is hard. It’s a lot of steps and everything,’” he continued. “Maybe she had a bad day.”
After his salsa, Inaba told Rodriguez, “Guillermo, did you just call me out? If you’re gonna call me out, you better bring the goods.”
“I did,” Rodriguez replied, as Inaba praised the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” comedian for bringing “the joy back” in his “hardest routine” yet.
Despite inaba’s compliments, Rodriguez and Carson were eliminated at the end of the episode.
“Dancing with the Stars” airs Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on ABC and streams on Disney+.