With his ballroom run ending just short of the finals, Ralph Macchio looks back at his “Dancing With the Stars” days with some frustration. It’s not what the former “Karate Kid” couldn’t accomplish on the dance floor that causes him to feel that way. It’s the lack of support he saw from the show’s judges.
According to Macchio, head judge Len Goodman and the others just didn’t bother to point out praiseworthy efforts from him and pro partner Karina Smirnoff.
“I even said to the executive producers, some of the turns we implemented in our dances from day one — the double turns we would synchronize and nail — I never had a comment on any of those,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly after Tuesday night’s elimination. “I was frustrated.”
The feeling was shared by Smirnoff, who also criticized the panel for treating them as though they weren’t even contenders.
“They said everything besides the actual words, ‘we don’t want you in the finale,’” she told reporters.
In an interview with E! News, Macchio explained that he considered standing up to the judges, but in the end, decided to take “the high road."
"At one point I regretted not saying certain things when I heard certain criticism from the judges,” he said. “But a week or two ago I said, ‘You know, I should speak up a little more,’ because it was becoming evident that the playing field isn't completely level. But I held back, and I still think it was the right thing by taking the high road and not saying anything."
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