Back in 2018, Bobby Bones took home the mirror ball trophy in Dancing with the Stars. It was already a controversial win at the time, but he’s just gained more controversy as he shares that he “cheated.”
The question now is whether it’s really cheating. Honestly, the jury is out, and really, it was a man being smart so that he could train well.
Bobby Bones explains how he ‘cheated’ on Dancing with the Stars
During an episode of Jason Tartick’s podcast Trading Secrets (via TV Insider), Bones shared that the celebrities would only get around four hours a day to train with their professional partners. They would then have to go about their own day, and they would have to practice what they could on their own. So, Bones found a way to “cheat” the system, so to speak.
He opted to record the sessions in the studio. Then he would rent a studio by himself and play the recording and practice along with it. Is that really cheating?
“I cheated in the way of, they give you a limited amount of time with your partner, like four hours a day, they say. So, we would do our full work. I would record the session and then go by myself and rent a studio myself and train myself to, illegally, like, spent time over.”
I’d say it’s not. It’s not like the professional dancer is there correcting him on his technique. It’s actually a little harder to hold positions that you’ve supposed to have a partner in. Really, all he’s doing is using technology to his advantage, and there’s nothing really in the rule book about that. Is there?
Why Bobby Bones’ win was so controversial
There were a lot of complaints about Bones winning Dancing with the Stars season 27. He wasn’t the best dancer when it came to technique, constantly scoring sevens, with a few sixes and eights thrown in there. While the judges’ scores were low, it was the audience scores that kept him in.
While there were plenty of people vocal about how he shouldn’t win, there was a non-vocal majority who just kept voting for him. In the end, he says he had the highest separation in the votes between the judges’ scores and the audience scores, and this has led to some changes in the way the voting system works.
It’s clear that the “cheating” didn’t really help, though. Bones was never the best dancer, and it’s not like it helped him win. In the end, he was a likable celebrity on the show, maybe because he couldn’t dance that well. As much as some wanted to see him fail, there are some out there who like the non-traditional dancer.
Bones’ win did lead to changes to the voting system in Dancing with the Stars season 28. It’s worth noting that I still don’t see any mention about not recording studio sessions with the professional dancer, so it suggests that it’s not cheating at all.
Dancing with the Stars premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 8/7c on ABC and Hulu.