Alfonso Ribeiro pushed back after Alexa PenaVega raised fresh questions about Andy Richter and the voting process on Dancing With the Stars. The co-host said there is “No chance” the show is rigged, while season 35 keeps moving with ten couples still in the hunt for the Mirrorball Trophy.
Ribeiro responded to a social media clip of PenaVega’s story and drew a hard line around popularity in the race. “No chance. We want everyone who’s popular to stay on. It’s basic logic,” he wrote.
Alexa PenaVega and season 21
PenaVega’s version came from a recent LexLos podcast appearance, where she said she was “telling a story about sweet Hayes.” She recalled a conversation with Hayes Grier from season 21 and said he was “only like 15 years old,” then quoted him saying, “Man, you know what? I think this show is rigged. I have more votes than anybody.”
She answered that by pointing to his reach: “You know, I know you have more votes than anybody here because of the millions and millions of followers. 100 percent, it’s so easy for them to send in a little text.” That is the friction at the center of the debate: the audience votes are real, but the show’s result still depends on a process that blends text voting, judges’ scores, and production choices.
Judges, votes, and producers
PenaVega spelled out that split herself: “This is what I always tell people, I think the votes matter, I do, but the show's also produced.” She added, “It even tells you a disclaimer, like the producers get to choose at the end of the day who wins. All of it goes into account.”
She went further on how the format is shaped: “The people like texting in and voting, that matters. The judges, what they say, that matters,” and producers “know their demographic. They know the story they want to tell.” For season 35, that means the argument is not just about one clip or one contestant; it is about how much control the audience really has in a long-running competition that is still narrowing the field.
Tuesday night on ABC and Disney+
Last week’s Dedication Night ended with all couples saved from elimination, so the current season enters its next round with the full field intact. Ten couples remain in contention, and the competition resumes Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with streaming available the next day on Hulu.
Ribeiro’s response does more than bat away a rumor. It puts the show’s business model back in view: audience engagement helps keep contestants alive, but the final outcome still has to satisfy a production apparatus built to manage story, ratings, and the remaining race for the Mirrorball Trophy.
