The comment came after an awkward moment with judge Carrie Ann Inaba when she pointed out the error.
Even professionals make mistakes.
On Tuesday night's season 33 Dancing With the Stars semifinals episode, pro dancer Brandon Armstrong lifted his foot off the floor twice during his foxtrot with partner Chandler Kinney. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who is always on the lookout for those not following the rules of ballroom style dances, called out the error.
Inaba pointed to the two specific moments on the floor where Armstrong made the mistake, also noting that she had made this note for Armstrong and Kinney before. The comment drew looks of confusion from the duo, which ultimately led fellow judge Derek Hough to offer Inaba his support and tell them, "You know what it is."
This awkward moment at the judges' table prompted Armstrong to explain his response of surprise while talking to cohost Julianne Hough in the skybox. "I want to clarify I’m not upset with Carrie Ann," he said. "I just didn’t remember her mentioning the lifts with us before. I love you, Carrie Ann!"
Inaba still loved the performance and gave the duo's a score of nine. Both Hough and third judge Bruno Tonioli gave the pair a perfect 10, bringing them to one point shy of a perfect score of 30. "I’m sorry for your one point. I cost us one point," Armstrong sheepishly told Kinney, to which she immediately protested and offered him reassurance.
Armstrong's response seemed to partly stem from the immense amount of pressure that Kinney placed on herself, having earned perfect scores for both of her dances during last week's 500th episode. During the rehearsal video package, she noted that anything less than a perfect score would be a downgrade at this point.
But nobody can be perfect every time, and the duo scored a 29 in both of their semifinal dances — a salsa to Jason Derulo and Michael Buble's "Spicy Margarita" and the foxtrot to Hozier's "Too Sweet."
The tension in the duo's response to Inaba's remarks was likely due to the fact that she has often been more demanding of Armstrong and Kinney's performance this season, even telling them during the Halloween episode that they had one of the harder dances of the night while scoring them lower than other contestants.
"The judges do push me really, really hard because they have high expectations," Kinney told Entertainment Weekly after the Halloween show. "I understand, and I take the criticism. But tonight, it was probably showing a bit, I was getting a little frustrated because I wanted to know what to do. Otherwise, when I get to rehearsal, I'm a little lost."
Still, in spite of this, Kinney and Armstrong have consistently hovered near the top of the leaderboard when it comes to the judges' scores.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.
