Chandler Kinney Talks DWTS Judges’ Criticism

Chandler Kinney is giving credit to the Dancing With the Stars judges for allowing her to tap into her full potential.

“I think last week was super important for my journey here,” Kinney, 24, exclusively told Us Weekly after her performance on the Tuesday, October 22, episode of DWTS. “I think it gave me a push that I needed. I think I did have to look inside and see what was missing. I don’t ever want anybody not connecting with anything that I do.”

Kinney explained that she took the comments from the judges “really personally” because she considers herself to be “an artist.” She added, “I storytell for a living. So I want to make sure that my stories are coming across.”

Kinney explained that there’s a difference between performing a routine in the ballroom and filming as an actress. “I think I said it in the package, I really just needed to externalize it,” she noted. “I think as a TV and film actor, it’s different than being on a live stage under bright lights. I think that they just gave me a little extra push that I probably really needed. So I appreciate it.”

After performing a contemporary routine to Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” during Dedication Night, Kinney was told by guest judge Mark Ballas to “dig a little deeper” in her connection to partner Brandon Armstrong. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba encouraged Kinney to “really let it out,” telling the actress to “grab us” with her performance.

The feedback left Kinney with questions. “I don’t know what their expectation of me was emotionally tonight,” she told Us last week. “But for me — as someone who holds myself to a very high standard — I met it. So it’s just a little difficult.”

For Disney Night, Kinney channeled her role as Willia in the Zombies franchise with a Paso Doble to Zombies 2’s “We Own the Night”— which she told Us “a hundred percent” helped bring out her emotions.

“Willa embodies confidence and she’s a fierce, ferocious, fabulous werewolf,” Kinney said. “Those are all things that I want to be on the ballroom floor and also traits that perfectly lend themselves to the Paso Doble. If we could hit it, then everything was lined up for us to do what we needed to do.”

Kinney and Armstrong, 30, were ultimately sent through to the next round of the competition, earning immunity from the following week’s dance-off thanks to having the highest number of points from judges throughout the whole season. (Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy said goodbye to the ballroom on Tuesday.)

“Every single week that we get here is a blessing for us,” Armstrong gushed to Us. “We know that there’s a ton of people that are in the running for it and a ton of people that people want to vote for. So as long as we get to stick around, we’re happy to be here.”

Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. You can stream episodes on Disney+ the next day.

With reporting by Carly Konsker