Olympic gold medalist Nova Peris has suggested favouritism has indeed played a factor in Dancing With The Stars‘ controversial judging decisions.
The former Australian Senator and Olympic field hockey player, 53, was sent home alongside fan-favourite Masterchef judge Julie Goodwin on Sunday night.
After a sensational group performance to Kylie Minogue‘s Step Back in Time, the couples faced off for limited places in the Semi Final, with Nova doing an impressive Cha Cha to I Love the Nightlife.
However, judge Helen Richey had other thoughts, claiming Nova was staying within her capabilities before awarding the performance a mere 19 points – not enough to keep her in the competition.
Some fans were so upset by the double elimination that they went so far as to accuse the dancing competition of being ‘rigged’ on X and Instagram.
Others suggested contestant Ben Cousins, who scored lower than Julie with the judges, should have been sent home instead, but was kept on to fulfil the show’s ‘redemption arc’ for the troubled sportsman.
Speaking to the Daily Mail Australia exclusively on Monday, Nova seemed to give some validation to those sentiments, saying she didn’t rate very highly on ‘Helen Ritchie’s Flirt Board’.
Asked what she thought the AFL champion Ben had mastered to progress to the semi-finals ahead of her, Nova said frankly, ‘I think he was high up on Helen Ritchie’s flirt board.’
Olympic gold medalist Nova Peris (pictured) has suggested favouritism has indeed played a factor in Dancing With The Stars ‘ controversial judging decisions
She continued, ‘The judging is subjective. They’re looking at different things and they could have a favourite.’
Nova recalled Helen making a comment ‘to either Adam [Doville] or James [Stewart] about how good looking they were’.
‘Do we judge people’s performances on their good looks?’ she asked. ‘And Craig Revel got excited when he the saw the men with their shirts unbuttoned.’
‘You go into each performance wanting to get to the next dance and it is disappointing,’ Nova said of the result. However, she’s not harbouring any hard feelings: ‘If was to go out on a bang, then it was a nice way to go out,’ she reflected.
Speaking about her nerves she felt on the show, Nova said, ‘It’s a horrible gut feeling when you’re getting out there. It’s being filmed. There’s a live audience. You have to remember the steps, to smile or not smile, and when to look at each camera… It’s not as easy as some people think it may be.
Nova joked that Ben Cousins (pictured) may have outlasted the other sports people on the series because he ranked high on a judge’s ‘Flirty Board’
Masterchef alum Julie Goodwin (pictured) was also eliminated from Dancing With The Stars on Sunday after bouncing back from a calf muscle injury she acquired in week one
She also classed herself as a ‘performer’ rather than an entertainer’.
‘For myself, as a sports person, there’s a big difference between entertaining and performing on the sports field,’ said Peris.
‘Sam [Jade] and Lisa [McCune] are entertainers by trade. Whereas myself, Shane [Crawford], and Ben [Cousins], are performers. We don’t seek entertainment. We get out there and win. We hustle. They’re two totally different things.’
Nova hasn’t had the chance to watch the series because she’s currently commentating the Paris Olympics but said she had ‘really nice comments come through from family and friends’.
Nova also thanked her ‘gorgeous’ dance partner Craig Monley and his wife for their support
Fans were in an uproar about Sunday night’s elimination, flooding X and the competition’s Instagram page with comments such as: ‘WTF Julie should of got to stay,’ and ‘Julie was ripped off bad.’
‘Rigged they’re really trying to redeem Ben,’ another wrote, with a fourth unhappy fan writing: ‘Who’s voting for Ben? Seriously…’.
‘How on earth does Ben keep surviving? Has to be rigged for their whole bs “redemption arc.”‘ added another.
Fans were none too pleased with the double elimination of Julie and Nova, expressing their frustrations on social media
Dancing With The Stars judge Mark Wilson, who has judged the Australian series for 14 seasons, said he loves that fans are so passionate, but has slammed any suggestions the judging is unfair as ‘outrageous’.
The backlash to Julie and Nova’s elimination ‘is testament to how fierce the competition is this year,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘We judge our celebrities purely on the dance routine they perform on the night.
‘All four of us judges have extensive experience as judges and dancers and take the integrity of dancing very seriously,’ Mark continued.
‘Any suggestion of rigging and favouritism from the judges is preposterous and outrageous.
‘As judges, we can sometimes disagree,’ the five-time Australian dance champion continued. ‘But we are all judging the technical ability, the natural talent and the quality of the routine that the celebrities perform on the night.’