Witney Carson Denies Wanting to Leave ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 35 Amid Elimination Rumors and Pregnancy Concerns

Witney Carson is pushing back against a wave of online speculation that she wants to be eliminated from “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35, directly addressing fan theories that her on-camera reactions during results shows signal dissatisfaction with her celebrity partner, Guillermo Rodriguez, or a desire to exit the competition early due to her pregnancy.

The controversy stems from the show’s elimination format. Because Rodriguez and Carson have landed in the bottom three couples during every results broadcast since the season premiered Sept. 15, they are never called to safety early in the episode. Instead, they must stand on stage while other couples celebrate, waiting to learn who is going home. Viewers scrutinizing Carson’s expressions during those tense moments interpreted them as disappointment at surviving another week.

Carson dismantled that reading in a TikTok video posted late Tuesday, following the Week 3 elimination of singer Taylor Hanson and pro dancer Britt Stewart. She clarified that standing in the bottom group does not automatically mean a couple received the lowest viewer votes. It simply means they do not get the immediate relief of hearing their names called safe. The facial expressions viewers flagged, she said, were a mix of genuine sadness for departing contestants and adrenaline-fueled excitement about remaining in the competition.

Unlike many reality television controversies driven by behind-the-scenes friction, this rumor cycle appears rooted entirely in the mechanics of live television broadcasting. Professional dancers on “DWTS” are trained performers accustomed to projecting specific emotions during choreography, but the unscripted minutes between performances and eliminations leave them exposed to real-time audience interpretation. Carson’s response highlights how easily standard broadcast tension can be miscoded as personal conflict by viewers analyzing silent reactions on social media.

The professional dancer also firmly rejected suggestions that she is unhappy working with Rodriguez, the 55-year-old sidekick and correspondent on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Carson praised his work ethic, noting that he practices independently whenever she takes breaks during rehearsals. She described him as genuinely kind and relentlessly committed to improving, emphasizing that his Tuesday night performances represent his absolute best effort despite starting without formal dance training.

Rodriguez has evolved into an unexpected audience favorite over the first three weeks. His trajectory mirrors a recurring phenomenon on the long-running ballroom competition, where celebrities with limited technical ability but high entertainment value and visible dedication often outlast more naturally gifted dancers by mobilizing massive voting blocs. Jimmy Kimmel leaned into that dynamic on his late-night show last week, joking that Rodriguez has won the popular vote “more times than Donald Trump.”

That crowd-pleasing instinct was on full display during the show’s recent “Yacht Rock Night” theme. Rodriguez and Carson performed a foxtrot set to Rupert Holmes’ 1979 hit “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” a staple of the smooth soft-rock genre that dominated AM radio in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Rodriguez closed the routine with a comedic reveal, stripping down to a coconut bra and exposing a stomach painted with the words “Dancing 4 the People.”

Carson’s defense of her partnership arrives as she simultaneously manages intense public scrutiny over competing while pregnant. She announced her pregnancy on “Good Morning America” in August, acknowledging that dancing through it was never part of her plan. Now a mother of two, she stated that all of her routines and rehearsal schedules have been cleared by her physician. She stressed that fetal health remains her primary focus and that she immediately speaks up if any choreography risks physical overexertion.

Pregnant competitors remain exceedingly rare in the history of American ballroom dance television. The physical demands of the show — which requires professionals to train multiple partners for hours daily while executing lifts, dips, and rapid directional changes under hot studio lights — make medical clearance a complex process typically managed by network risk-assessment teams alongside personal physicians.

Carson carries significant competitive weight on the show. She won her first Mirrorball Trophy in 2014 partnered with Alfonso Ribeiro, the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” actor who now serves as co-host alongside Julianne Hough. Last year, she claimed the top prize again with Australian conservationist Robert Irwin. That track record likely amplified fan confusion when rumors surfaced that a two-time champion would want to sabotage her own run.

Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson appear on “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35’s Yacht Rock Night.

(Eric McCandless / Disney)

Season 35 continues its weekly broadcast run on ABC and streams live on Disney+, with the next elimination scheduled for Tuesday.