Val Chmerkovskiy Upset Over Jenna & Joey Comment

Longtime “Dancing With the Stars” pro Val Chmerkovskiy sounded off on his Instagram Stories after Carrie Ann Inaba‘s critique of Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson‘s freestyle.

After the November 26 finale, Chmerkovskiy couldn’t help but react to Inaba’s comment about the racquets used during the dance. Inaba mentioned that things weren’t as tight as they should have been for a dance on the finale and called out the couple for not perfecting the moves. She also called the performance “underwhelming.”

“Whaaaat did you say his racket swing needed to be tighter? What!? 10 weeks of busting your ass for that?! Unbelievable,” Chmerkovskiy wrote on social media after Graziadei and Johnson danced.

Thankfully, Inaba’s score of 9 didn’t hurt Graziadei and Johnson’s chances of winning the Mirrorball Trophy — because that’s exactly what they did.

Graziadei is the first-ever “Bachelor” lead to win DWTS. He’s the third winner from Bachelor Nation overall, behind Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe.

Some Fans Agreed With Carrie Ann Inaba Calling Joey Graziadei & Jenna Johnson’s Freestyle ‘Underwhelming’

It didn’t take long for fans to head over to Reddit to discuss Inaba’s feedback on Johnson and Graziadei’s freestyle. And quite a few fans agreed that it was a bit lackluster.

“I agree with Carrie Ann about Joey’s freestyle choreo but tbh Alan’s choreo for Ilona was just as underwhelming, their song was just more fun so it helped keep the energy up (plus feminism is a better theme than tennis lol),” one person wrote.

“For once CAI was right. It was underwhelming. I’m tired of seeing every freestyle get 10s when some (stephen and chandlers) are way better than the others,” someone else added.

“I agree with Carrie Ann that it was a little underwhelming but he did great. I think he deserved 10s since the choreo was her issue and not dancing. It’s a little crazy to me Danny got the same score. I think that freestyles just need to be given perfect scores or all of them get nitpicky,” a third comment read.

Maks Chmerkovskiy Previously Criticized Carrie Ann Inaba for Scoring

Chmerkovskiy’s older brother, Maks Chmerkovskiy, had an issue with Inaba’s scoring a week prior. He took to his Instagram Stories after the semi-finals to call out the longtime judge for her scoring of one of Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong’s dances.

“Look, I’ll just say, Carrie Ann should be consistent. Now, stop with this nonsense. What foot? When did it come off? Why is it important and why is it not important every time?” Chmerkovskiy said after the dance.

“So weird. Such a weird comment for a couple that’s clearly the best dancers on the floor. And if she has anything to say right now about this… this is just absurd. Absurd! Do your job as a judge. Don’t interfere,” he added.