Alix Earle Finally Earns Perfect Score on ‘DWTS’ After Judging Panel Incident Last Week

After an unfortunate technical error during judging resulted in Earle getting a 39 out of 40, she pulled out all the stops to take home all 10s Tuesday night.

VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY, ALIX EARLE / Disney/Eric McCandless

Alix Earle has finally received a much-deserved perfect score on Dancing With the Stars, and the milestone came just one week after a bit of drama hit the judging panel.

Check out our full live recap here!

View this post on Instagram

A near-perfect score

Earle—a popular content creator and model—and her dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy have consistently performed at a high level on the beloved ABC competition show from the very first week, receiving praise from both the judges and viewers at home. Fans of the dancing duo knew it was only a matter of time before they’d get 10s across the board for a perfect score of 40, with many believing the moment might come during the first round of last week’s program.

During “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night” last Tuesday, Earle and Chmerkovskiy took to the ballroom floor for a high-energy Paso Doble set to “Livin’ On a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. The judges loved the routine, including guest judge Flavor Flav, and showered the duo with praise during their panel portion.

So imagine the dancing duo and fans’ surprise when it came time to hear their official scores, only for the pair to get three 10s and a 9 for a total of 39/40, with the latter score coming from the guest judge.

View this post on Instagram

No drama, all love

As it turned out, the move wasn’t meant to keep Earle and Chmerkovskiy from earning a perfect score—in fact, it was quite the opposite, and was actually an unfortunate accident caused by a technical mishap. That same evening, the rapper took to X (formerly Twitter) to provide clarification around his 9.

“As a judge on [DWTS] you hit your score on a computer first,,, then hold up the sign,” Flavor Flav wrote. “I accidentally hit 9 for someone and told the crew I meant to hit 10,,, and they said they can’t change it and there’s nothing I can do. That girl deserved perfect 10s.”

And the guest judge even took it one step further, noting that he apologized to Earle in person shortly after the moment occurred, writing, “Y’all saw me looking down at the computer confused and couldn’t get the words out because I was watching the computer and then couldn’t find the other paddle cuz I was ready to go with my 10. I found my girl afterwards and apologized and let her know what happen, she was cool.”

Had the score gone through correctly, this would’ve given the pair not only their first perfect score, but it would have been the very first perfect score of the entire season.

View this post on Instagram

Finally getting a 40

With last week behind them, Earle and Chmerkovskiy started fresh for “20th Birthday Celebration Night” this Tuesday, where the show sought to celebrate two decades on air. To take the nostalgia a step further, the remaining stars and pros were asked to dance to choreography inspired by a previous performance from the program.

Earle and Chmerkovskiy took to the ballroom floor to dance a classic Foxtrot choreographed to “Singin’ in the Rain” by Matthew Morrison, which was inspired by Nev Schulman’s number. The two did spectacularly, channeling all the timeless glamour of Old Hollywood while also adding a modern, memorable edge. Naturally, the judges loved it—including this week’s guest judge, Tom Bergeron—with judge Derek Hough saying the routine was “clean, classic...and flawless.”

And just one week after the 39/40 incident, Earle finally got her perfect score, with all four judges rating the dance a perfect 10 for a total score of 40. However, because they went later in the show, they were one of three pairs to earn a perfect score, with Robert Irwin and Witney Carson technically being the first of the season and Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas being the third, also receiving 40s.

As a result, Earle finished second on the leaderboard for the week, as both Irwin and Leavitt earned two extra points apiece during the Bonus Round to nudge them into a tied lead with 42 total points.

View this post on Instagram

Semifinals week

With only six couples left, next week is the semifinals, where the remaining dancing duos will celebrate the music of legendary artist Prince for “Prince Night.” After that, the five remaining couples will compete on the three-hour finale episode.

The semifinals will air live on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. ET, and we’ll be back here to recap everything for you! You can watch new episodes of DWTS Season 34 every Tuesday night on ABC and Disney+. New episodes stream on Hulu the next day.

---

More Lifestyle & Celeb:

feed