DWTS is being called out for crowning Joey Graziadei, former lead from The Bachelor the winner.
His victory has sparked significant online controversy, with fans debating the fairness of the result. While Graziadei is the first male lead from The Bachelor to win the Mirrorball Trophy, some fans argue that his victory was influenced more by his popularity and fan votes than by his technical dancing skills.
For the viewers of Dancing With The Stars Season 33, there was always one clear winner from the start; Pretty Little Liars alum Chandler Kinney. Her charisma, flexibility, and captivating stage presence awed the audience who would eagerly wait for her performances with her dancing partner Brandon Armstrong.
However, the final results shocked the audience for two reasons. One was the preference of Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson over Kinney, and the second was for her to be placed third in the show after Ilona Maher. Viewers believed that Joey’s win was achieved by DWTS’ strategic voting system and that his win was being pushed into the faces of the audience by giving him the spotlight since the beginning of the season.
Fans react to Joey Graziadei’s win
Dedicated fans of the show took Chandler’s loss as a personal one as they went on X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their distaste on the matter and fire shots at the reality dancing show.
One user pointed out that Joey’s win did not surprise them because the DWTS had evidently been trying to push him as the winner since the beginning. The fan wrote, “Joey won. I’m not surprised but I’m surprised at the same time. The show was trying to push him as a winner the entire time #dwts.”
Joey won.. I’m not surprised but I’m surprised at the same time. The show was trying to push him as a winner the entire time #dwts https://t.co/40o3gxq53b pic.twitter.com/edRrt2G3vb
— jcᯓ✦ (@filmaphobia) November 27, 2024
Some found it hard to believe that Joey and Jenna usurped all the votes based on their performance because Chandler was the clear winner. One fan wrote, “I find it very hard to believe Joey and Jenna got all the votes. Good dancer fine but not winner.” The dancing duo got a perfect 30/30 score during the redemption round where they did a cha-cha routine to Justin Timberlake’s “I Can’t Stop The Feeling.”
I find it very hard to believe Joey and Jenna got all the votes. Good dancer fine but not winner #DWTS
— Work Tips Anonymous (@WorkTipsAnonym1) November 27, 2024
A third comment declared, “I literally can’t anymore, chandler has been the CLEAR winner since the beginning, not Ilona nor Joey are better in any way, like f*** off.”
i literally can’t anymore, chandler has been the CLEAR winner since the beginning, not ilona nor joey are better in any way, like fuck off
#DWTS— marie (@pressedbae) November 27, 2024
Another viewer expressed that he did not vote for Graziadei even once throughout the whole season. Additionally, even though the user is not a regular audience of the show, Chandler Kinney was the clear winner in their eyes. The X post read, “did not vote for Joey once this entire season and definitely did not expect him and ilona in the top two, him and Chandler sure but goodness, Chandler deserved that win and I wasn’t even a huge fan #DWTS.”
did not vote for joey once this entire season and definitely did not expect him and ilona in the top two, him and chandler sure but goodness, chandler deserved that win and i wasn’t even a huge fan #DWTS
— jae (@good4tom) November 27, 2024
Graziadei’s Season 33 win got him feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. He revealed that when his name was announced as the winner, he blacked out. It was also a special moment for Jenna because her husband Val Chmerkovskiy presented the award to them on stage since he was the winner of Season 32.