“Dancing with the Stars” has celebrated its 20th anniversary and is currently airing Season 34. There is so much to love about the ABC dance competition, and it would not be the same without Carrie Ann Inaba.
Fans are really invested in the show and have strong opinions about the remaining celebrity contestants: Robert Irwin, Whitney Leavitt, Dylan Efron, Elaine Hendrix, Jordan Chiles, and Alix Earle. In an interview with Variety in November, Inaba confessed that Season 34 was her favorite. But she has also opened up about the criticism she has faced and the impact it has had on her mental health.
Carrie Ann Inaba’s Mental Health
Discussing the current season, Inaba said, “The season has been absolutely my favorite — this renewed vigor, this new audience that has come to the table and has brought so much passion and so many opinions.” After 20 years on the ABC dance competition, Inaba certainly knows what she is talking about. It is high praise for the current season that she refers to it as her favorite.
Inaba has been a judge on the show since its inception. However, scoring contestants is not easy. She has received backlash from fans who disagree with how she has scored their favorite celebrity competitors. Fans are passionate about the show and who they want to win, but dealing with the negativity has been hard on Inaba. She is aware of the criticism directed at her and has opened up about it.
“It used to really affect me. I have been targeted with this kind of negativity since the show began, back when we had chat rooms. I remember seeing some horrible words written about me, and I was shocked,” she told Variety. “Sometimes the things they say are cruel, and that has affected me. It’s made me scared. It’s not so much that I get hurt as I get afraid, because it feels like they’re like attacking me verbally, so I shrink down a little during the season.”
Overcoming the Negativity
After working on the show since 2006, Inaba has sadly come to realize that this behavior won’t stop. But she can make a change! She has worked hard in therapy to try to overcome the criticism and personal attacks. She has evolved as a judge and as a person, and she’s strong.
“She’s found her voice and stands by her comments with one mission: Tell the truth,” Variety notes. This approach has helped Inaba. “By doing that, it makes the online hate and vitriol that comes at me feel less like it can hurt me, because I’m very true to myself,” she said. “When you’re true to yourself, it doesn’t matter as much what everybody else is saying about you.”
