Derek Hough was asked to judge an entire dance with one word. After viewers complained about the format, he responded by making fun of how well that assignment went.
The Dancing With the Stars judge addressed criticism of the shortened feedback after the Sept. 22 “Viral Hits Night” episode. Hough posted a video lip-syncing a confused Michael Scott from The Office and captioned it “I didn’t get the memo,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
He carried the joke over to Instagram, writing that he “should’ve busted out” the one-word mouthful “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Us Weekly separately reported the same posts and the backlash surrounding the rule.
The restriction was used because the live show was packed with 14 remaining couples. Host Alfonso Ribeiro told viewers that the third judge speaking after each routine would have to sum up the performance in a single word. ABC had scheduled all 14 dances, judging, live voting and an elimination inside the two-hour broadcast.
Hough Did Not Always Manage to Stop at One Word
View this post on Instagram
Ribeiro explained the format near the beginning of the episode, telling viewers that the show was “super packed.” Carrie Ann Inaba, Hough and Bruno Tonioli would still rotate through the feedback, but whoever spoke third after each routine had to compress an entire reaction into one word.
Hough immediately found some wiggle room. After Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy opened the competition with a jive to KATSEYE’s “Animal,” his supposedly one-word assessment became “fast-fierce-fantastic.” A TV Insider recap confirmed the critique and the three 7s that gave Dewan 21 out of 30.
He stretched the rule again for Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa, offering “good performance” instead of a single word. When Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov reached him, Hough skipped words entirely and gave Glenn a handshake.
Other attempts stayed closer to the assignment. Hough used “beautiful” for Harry Shum Jr.’s Viennese waltz, while the panel also produced reactions including “charmed,” “touching,” “frenetic” and Inaba’s “shaky” assessment of Giada De Laurentiis. An ABC recap said the third judge was limited to one word specifically to keep the show on schedule.
Some Fans Wanted the Show to Cut Something Else Instead
View this post on Instagram
The shortened feedback quickly drew complaints from viewers who argued that judging is one of the parts of the show contestants actually need.
In the DWTS Reddit community, viewers questioned why the program was limiting critiques instead of cutting time elsewhere. One recurring complaint was that a one-word reaction gives contestants little useful information to take into the following week.
Season 35 began with noticeably tougher scoring. Hough had already defended the lower numbers, telling Us Weekly that he wanted scores such as 5, 7 and 8 to regain their value instead of higher numbers becoming automatic early in the competition.
Hough said the tougher scale was not intended as an insult to contestants but as an effort to make each number mean something again.
The One-Word Rule Has Actually Happened Before
The twist may have felt new to some viewers, but Dancing With the Stars used essentially the same device during Season 34. On 2025’s “One-Hit Wonders Night,” Ribeiro again told the panel that the third judge speaking after each couple had to restrict the critique to one word.
The show’s official podcast later revisited the gimmick, noting that the goal had been for the third judge to give a one-word reaction and joking that Tonioli had trouble sticking to it.
A contemporary recap likewise documented Ribeiro challenging one judge per couple to use only one word. Just as in 2026, the judges occasionally stretched the definition.
Giada De Laurentiis Went Home After the Lowest Score
Scores were still combined with live viewer voting before one couple was eliminated. De Laurentiis and Alan Bersten finished at the bottom of the judges’ scoreboard after their salsa to Becky G’s “Bella Ciao” earned three 4s for a total of 12 out of 30. They were eliminated at the end of the episode.
At the opposite end of the leaderboard, Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy, Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov, and Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach each finished with 21 points, according to TV Insider.