Whitney Leavitt’s DWTS Backlash Exposes Fans’ Dance Purity Test

The Moment

Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas did what every wronged reality star eventually does: they took their side of the story to a microphone.

On a recent episode of the podcast ‘Call Her Daddy,’ the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 34 semi-finalists unpacked their surprisingly early exit, the online hate that came with it, and the freestyle routine fans never got to see on the ballroom floor.

Leavitt, known from ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,’ had been racking up high judges’ scores all season. Still, she and Ballas were cut in the semis after the fan vote failed to match the panel’s enthusiasm. Cue the outrage, the ringers discourse, and a whole lot of internet venom.

On the podcast, Leavitt defended her dance background, Ballas got emotional reading a brutal comment aimed at him, and the pair finally performed the freestyle they had planned for the finale: a dramatic, showgirl-turned-bare-leotard routine to Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ that ended with a blunt on-screen message: ‘Social media is bad for your health.’

The Take

Let me say the quiet part out loud: ‘DWTS’ is not a dance meritocracy, it’s high-gloss prom king and queen with sequins and arthritis-friendly commercial breaks. If you watch it like the Olympics, you will go insane.

Leavitt was painted as the season’s ‘ringer’ because she has a modern dance degree and can actually point her toes. Never mind that, as Ballas reminded listeners, this show has crowned multiple people with professional or near-professional experience before. Nicole Scherzinger, Jordan Fisher, anyone?

The difference this time is that the internet has turned ‘fairness’ into a purity test. Fans seem less bothered by experience than by vibe. Leavitt walks in as a polished, camera-ready reality star with a dancer’s body and a clear desire to be there. Suddenly, she’s not just good; she’s suspiciously good.

So instead of simply rooting for their favourite, some viewers, according to Ballas, organised around voting for literally everyone else. That’s not a dance competition, that’s office politics in rhinestones.

The most telling moment for me was that freestyle. Leavitt starts in a showgirl costume, strips to a bedazzled leotard, smears red lipstick across her face mid-routine, and ends on a sign about social media wrecking your health. It’s not subtle, but it is honest. The woman basically turned her comment section into performance art.

What sticks is the contrast: Ballas says he signed up for a ‘fun dancing competition that brings people joy.’ Instead, he ends up reading a message calling him worthless and wishing him to burn in hell. Over what, a foxtrot that scored too high?

The whole saga is a reminder that fandom, when it drifts from passion into policing, can turn a glittery comfort show into a referendum on who deserves happiness. It’s like watching people boo the valedictorian because they studied too hard.

Meanwhile, Robert Irwin, sweet wildlife prince of the Australia Zoo, wins the Mirrorball with Witney Carson after an emotional, family-legacy arc. He is talented, charming, and narratively perfect. Of course America picked the conservationist with a tear-jerker backstory over the Mormon influencer with a dance degree. One sells plush kangaroos; the other sells a tougher, more polarising brand of ambition.

It doesn’t mean Leavitt was robbed in some cosmic sense. It does mean we should stop pretending the show is just about dance. It’s about who we feel good voting for. And this season, a lot of people apparently felt better punishing the ‘ringer’ than just changing the channel.

Receipts

Confirmed

• Leavitt and Ballas were eliminated in the Season 34 semi-finals of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ after a season of consistently high judges’ scores, according to coverage of the show and the pair’s comments on ‘Call Her Daddy.’
• Leavitt has a modern dance degree from Brigham Young University and said ballroom and partner work on ‘DWTS’ were new to her; she also said she largely stopped dancing after having three children, as recounted in the podcast interview and reported by entertainment coverage on 26 November 2025.
• Ballas noted that past winners such as Nicole Scherzinger and Jordan Fisher had prior dance or performance experience, and said Leavitt was singled out partly because she is a ‘dynamic performer.’
• On the podcast, Ballas read a hateful online comment about himself that called him obscene names and wished harm on him, saying he did not sign up for that level of abuse.
• Leavitt and Ballas performed their planned freestyle to Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ on a set built for the podcast and ABC, featuring Leavitt in a showgirl look that transitioned to a bejewelled leotard, red lipstick smeared across her face, and an ending message stating that social media is bad for your health.
• Robert Irwin and professional partner Witney Carson won the Season 34 Mirrorball Trophy after the finale, and Irwin later told People that following in his sister Bindi Irwin’s footsteps ‘meant everything’ and highlighted their family’s conservation work.

Unverified / Framed as Opinion

• Ballas’ claim that fans actively banded together to vote for other couples solely to force his team out has not been independently documented beyond his account; it reflects his perception of the voting behaviour.
• The idea that Leavitt and Ballas’ freestyle ‘could have won’ them the Mirrorball is a fan and commentator opinion, not a measurable fact.
• Any suggestion that viewers punished Leavitt specifically for being a ‘ringer’ or for her reality-TV persona is an interpretation of voting patterns and online chatter, not a proven motive.

Backstory (For Casual Readers)

If you have not kept up with ‘DWTS’ since the days when everyone was voting for Emmitt Smith, here is the quick refresher. ‘Dancing with the Stars’ pairs celebrities with professional ballroom dancers for a live competition where judges’ scores and public votes decide who advances. The ultimate prize is the sparkling Mirrorball Trophy and, often, a PR glow-up.

Mark Ballas is one of the show’s long-time pros, a fan favourite with multiple past wins. Whitney Leavitt is a 32-year-old influencer and cast member on ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,’ a reality series focused on social-media-savvy Mormon women. ‘Call Her Daddy’ is a hugely popular, often explicit interview podcast hosted by Alex Cooper, known for giving celebrities space to air out the messier side of their lives.

This season, Leavitt and Ballas emerged as one of the technically strongest pairs, which sparked the usual debate about whether people with prior dance or performance backgrounds should be allowed to compete. When they were cut before the finale, some fans cried foul while others cheered, arguing that the show should reward growth over technical polish.

What’s Next

The immediate fallout is narrative, not legal. Leavitt and Ballas have now repositioned themselves as symbols of how intense and, frankly, unhinged fan reactions can get around a show that is supposed to be comfort viewing.

Going forward, here are a few things to watch:

• How ‘DWTS’ responds to the backlash. Do producers address the ‘ringers’ debate more openly, clarify how much weight fan votes carry, or tweak casting to court fewer trained dancers and more underdog stories?
• Leavitt’s next move. She has already turned her experience into content via the podcast performance and the anti-social-media message. Do not be surprised if this season becomes a storyline on her reality show, or if she leans even harder into the ‘I survived the hate’ branding.
• Ballas and the pros. After publicly saying he did not sign up for that level of vitriol, does Ballas step back from future seasons, or does he double down and return with another ambitious partner?
• The fandom conversation. That ‘social media is bad for your health’ sign is not subtle. It lands at a moment when viewers and performers alike are openly talking about hate comments, dogpiling, and the mental-health toll of being even mildly famous online.

Maybe the real shift will not come from rule changes but from audiences deciding how far they are willing to go over a televised tango. You can prefer an underdog without trying to destroy the overdog.

So, where do you land: should ‘DWTS’ cast fewer skilled dancers to avoid this drama, or should viewers accept that it’s a popularity contest and stop punishing the people who happen to dance well?

Sources

• Interview and recap details from a November 26, 2025 entertainment report on Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas’ ‘Call Her Daddy’ appearance and ‘DWTS’ Season 34 semi-final elimination.
• Comments and performance descriptions from Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas as aired on the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast, November 2025.
• ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 34 finale broadcast on ABC, November 2025, including Robert Irwin and Witney Carson’s Mirrorball win.
• Post-finale interview with Robert Irwin in People magazine, November 2025, discussing following Bindi Irwin’s Mirrorball win and promoting the family’s conservation work.