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Fans can keep a weak dancer around for weeks, but a last-place judges' score eventually wins.
On this show, the judges' scores and the viewers' votes together decide who goes home (source).
What does this result say about how that mix works, and what is likely to happen next in the competition?
In plain words: Dancing With the Stars — American TV contest: celebrities dance with professionals; Super Bowl — final game of the American football season; TODAY — an American morning TV news show; ABC — a big American TV channel; Disney — American entertainment company that owns ABC; Dedication Night — episode where dancers honor someone they love
A favorite with a low score can still be saved, but only by votes cast live on Tuesday.
What not to do: Do not wait until after the show or the next morning to vote; those votes do not count.
Votes only count during the live show. Votes sent after the broadcast do not count, and each method allows up to ten votes per couple. A weak score no longer gets years of free passes.
A low score is a risk, not a verdict. A couple can be among the last two without having the lowest total, and a high scorer can still slip if their fans stay home. Exact vote totals are never published.
Vote during the live show on Tuesday, October 20, from 8 p.m. Eastern. If your favorite scored 30 out of 40 or less, put your votes on them as the show runs; if they scored near 36, vote anyway but do not panic.
This is what most AIs advise. Each AI explains it in its own words below.
Nine of the ten answers read the exit the same way. Guillermo Rodriguez had a big fan following, and votes carried him for weeks. But his last-place 22 out of 40, even though it was his best score of the season, finally outweighed them. Fan love buys time, not safety.
They split on how the mix works. ChatGPT, Grok and Claude say judges' ranking and viewers' ranking count about equally, so a 14-point gap is not a fixed wall. MiMo, Gemini and Z.ai describe it as scores and votes simply added together. ChatGPT also warns that vote totals are secret. Fans' YouTube views, which Claude and Kimi cite (719,000 against 231,000), do not prove how many votes he lost.
A second lesson is that the final two on stage are not always the two lowest. Tyler Cameron scored 30 and was still in the last two, while Connor Wood scored 25 and was not. So a low score is a risk, not a verdict.
Looking ahead, the answers name Connor Wood (25), Tatyana Ali (29) and Tyler Cameron (30) as the most exposed. Jenna Dewan and Ezra Frech, tied at 36, look strongest. Kimi expects Guillermo's fan votes to drift to mid-pack couples. ChatGPT expects Dedication Night on October 20 to shuffle votes through emotion. Most expect the stronger dancers to reach the November 24 finale, with surprises still possible.
They split: ChatGPT says judges and votes count as equal rankings; MiMo and Gemini say points simply add.
What settles the dispute: The October 20 result will show whether judges or fans decide at the bottom.
No clear split: AIs from the USA and China read the result the same way.
What is confirmed and what is not
The AIs cited 38 sources
Ask any AI yourself
My favorite on Dancing with the Stars scored 29 out of 40. How many votes should I cast, and when, to keep them in?
Copy it and paste it into a chat with any AI
Who wins, who loses: Strong dancers gain; popular but weak ones lose their safety net.
Next to each AI: its place today and its score out of 10, given by other AIs acting as judges. Tap an answer to read it.
The judges-plus-viewers mix is a safety net with a weight limit.
Audience votes carried Guillermo Rodriguez through four straight weeks at the bottom of the judges' table, but they can only delay the verdict, not cancel it: once eleven couples remained, a last-place 22 out of 40 finally outweighed one of the biggest fan bases in the ballroom, even though it was his best score all season (dancemogul.com).
For everyone still dancing, the ground just shifted. Guillermo's exit frees up a huge block of loyal votes — Jimmy Kimmel showed his routines had over 700,000 YouTube views, more than triple any rival's — and that vote block now drifts toward other middle-of-the-pack couples, which matters most for the two lowest scorers left, podcaster Connor Wood (25) and actress Tatyana Ali (29) (eonline.com).
At the top, Jenna Dewan and Paralympian Ezra Frech, tied at 36, now look like the pair to beat (hollywoodreporter.com).
Vote next Tuesday, October 20, at 8 p.m. Eastern if you are a fan whose favorite sits in the bottom half: if your couple scores near 25 again, your ten free votes on ABC's site or by text are the only thing between them and the exit; if they land above 30, relax and just enjoy Dedication Night (usatoday.com).
Its own forecast: A judge hands out the season's first score of 10 during the October 20 Dedication Night episode — 45% chance by Oct 20, 2026
Judges' scores can only hurt a couple so much. Phone and online votes from fans can keep a weak dancer around, but not forever. Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson had the lowest or close to the lowest judges' score almost every week, and home voting kept them in for five weeks (deseret.com).
Jimmy Kimmel said their clips drew 719,000 YouTube views, against 231,000 for the next couple. Even so, fan love did not save them this time (yahoo.com). A big gap in points still costs a lot.
Their 22 was 3 points below the next-lowest couple, Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold, who got 25 (today.com). Votes also cut the other way. Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess scored 30 and were still one of the last two couples on stage (michaelfairmantv.com). Connor Wood, at 25, was not.
Only votes cast live during the broadcast count. They are added to that night's judges' scores, and the couple with the lowest total goes home (michaelfairmantv.com). That makes the danger zone the low scorers who have small fan bases. That is now Connor Wood (25), Tatyana Ali (29) and Tyler Cameron (30).
At the top, Jenna Dewan and Ezra Frech are tied at 36 (today.com). Tatyana Ali's scores so far were 12, 18, 21, 20 and then 29 out of 40, near the bottom most weeks. Ten couples remain, and four more regular weeks come before the semi-final on November 17 (en.wikipedia.org(American_TV_series)_season_35).
For ABC, losing its best-known fan favorite comes at a time the show is drawing well. Recent Tuesdays drew 7.32 million viewers on September 29 and 6.45 million on October 6 (thetvratingsguide.com, thetvratingsguide.com).
Vote during the live show on Tuesday, October 20, Dedication Night, if you are a fan of a couple near the bottom (Connor Wood, Tatyana Ali, Tyler Cameron). Votes cast after the broadcast do not count.
If your favorites are near the top, you can relax: one weak night rarely sends a high scorer home. Kym Johnson will be the guest judge that night (today.com).
Its own forecast: Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold are eliminated on Dancing With the Stars in an episode aired on or before October 27, 2026 — 40% chance by Oct 27, 2026
Viewer votes can carry a weak dancer through the early weeks of Dancing With the Stars, but a fourteen-point gap on a forty-point scale is too wide for fans to close once the field shrinks to eleven couples. On October 13, 2026, guest judge Joe Buck joined the three regular judges, raising the top possible score from 30 to 40 (dancemogul.com).
Even though Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson earned 22 out of 40 — their highest total of season 35 and their first 6 from judge Carrie Ann Inaba — they finished three points behind twenty-five-point scorer Connor Wood and fourteen points behind thirty-six-point leaders Jenna Dewan and Ezra Frech (usmagazine.com).
With the lowest-scoring fan favorite gone, middle-tier dancers like Connor Wood (25 out of 40), Tatyana Ali (29 out of 40), and Tyler Cameron (30 out of 40, who already landed in the final unsafe group alongside Rodriguez) have lost their safety cushion (dancespirit.com).
For television producers and advertisers, the competition now shifts from comedy relief to emotional storytelling as the ten remaining couples head into Dedication Night on October 20, 2026, with guest judge Kym Johnson once again keeping the forty-point scale (detpress.com). Performers who rely on popularity over clean footwork face immediate elimination danger when four judges are scoring (dancemogul.com).
Watch the live broadcast on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC or Disney+, fans, and check the forty-point judge leaderboard before the voting window closes (detpress.com).
If your favorite couple scores 30 or below — where Tyler Cameron nearly went home and where Tatyana Ali and Connor Wood now sit — cast all your text and online votes for that single pair during the broadcast; if they score 33 or higher like Maura Higgins, Julia Stiles, and Harry Shum Jr., split your votes to boost a second dancer you enjoy (dancemogul.com).
After the October 13 show, Rodriguez and Carson immediately appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to joke about taking legal action before Rodriguez went home to rest his aching back and neck (okmagazine.com).
Its own forecast: Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold are eliminated from Dancing With the Stars season 35 on or before the November 3, 2026 episode. — 68% chance by Nov 3, 2026
Vote, fans, on October 20: if your favorite gets low judges' scores, support them during the live show; if not, vote anyway because even high scores cannot guarantee safety. The result shows the limits of popularity: judges' rankings and audience-vote rankings carry roughly equal weight, so fans can rescue a weaker dancer repeatedly, but that protection is never guaranteed.
The actual voting totals remain private, making it impossible to know exactly how much support Guillermo lost or whether other contestants simply attracted more votes. ([Voting explained](ew.com))
The pressure now shifts to Connor Wood, who scored 25/40, Tatyana Ali at 29/40, and Tyler Cameron at 30/40. Meanwhile, Ezra Frech and Jenna Dewan, both scoring 36/40, look stronger on dancing ability, although neither is immune to an unexpectedly weak public vote.
Importantly, Tyler and Guillermo being the final two awaiting results did not establish that they had the two lowest combined totals. ([Scores](ew.com); [elimination details](tvinsider.com))
Watch for a possible shift on October 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern, when the ten remaining couples perform on Dedication Night, honoring important people in their lives. Connor will dance a Viennese waltz dedicated to his father, while Tatyana will also perform a Viennese waltz; emotional connections could change voting patterns and help vulnerable contestants survive.
My expectation is that technical quality will matter increasingly as weaker contestants leave, but unexpected eliminations will remain possible because audience loyalty still carries substantial weight. ([Next episode](people.com))
Its own forecast: Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold receive at least 75% of the maximum available judges' points for their Viennese waltz on Dedication Night. — 56% chance by Oct 20, 2026
For an ordinary viewer this is a simple lesson: on this show, judges' points (out of 40) and viewers' phone votes are added together, and Guillermo Rodriguez's 22/40 — the worst of the night — was too big a hole for his fans to dig him out of.
He left while Connor Wood (25/40) and Tatyana Ali (29/40) stayed, which shows votes can rescue a low score once or twice, but not by 10-plus points against everyone else. In plain words: the judges' ranking is still the spine of the contest, and the vote mostly shuffles people near the bottom, not the top.
This matters for anyone picking favourites in a pool or a prediction game: the two leaders tied at 36/40 (Jenna Dewan with Val Chmerkovskiy, and Ezra Frech with Daniella Karagach) are the safest picks for several more weeks, while the couples sitting 25–29 are the ones to keep an eye on each Tuesday.
It also matters for fans of the eliminated pair's pro, Witney Carson, who danced the night while pregnant and drew a shout-out for her care — her season is over either way. Paso doble, for the record, is the Spanish-style march dance that Jenna Dewan won the night with.
Fans, before 8 p.m. ET on October 20, look up the new "Dancing With the Stars" scores: if your favourite lands in the bottom two of the judges' list, get voting during the show; if not, just enjoy the Dedication Night dances and Kym Johnson as guest judge.
Its own forecast: At least one couple scores 37 out of 40 or higher in the Dedication Night episode airing October 20, 2026 — a season best — 50% chance by Oct 20, 2026
The show mixes two things: four judges give points out of 40 and home viewers vote, then both are added to decide who leaves. Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson had the lowest judges' score, 22, and this time the home vote did not save them, so the lowest on both sides went home.
For the ten dancers left, the safety net is thinner now. The night proved that being liked for weeks, as the sixth couple out this season, stops working when you sit at the bottom, while Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy and Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach both hit 36 at the top.
Watch fans on Tuesday Oct 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+ for Dedication Night, if you want a low scorer to stay vote as soon as voting opens; if not, expect judges to push the high scorers toward the Nov 24 finale.
Its own forecast: Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold, who scored 25 on Super Bowl Night, will land in the bottom two on Dedication Night — 55% chance by Oct 21, 2026
Guillermo Rodriguez's exit shows that on Dancing With the Stars, judges' scores and audience votes count equally, and neither alone saves you. Even if fans love a contestant, a low judges' score can still send them home if the votes are not overwhelming. This means contestants need both decent dancing and strong fan support to stay safe.
For people watching at home, this result means your votes truly matter when scores are close. If you want to keep a favorite in the competition, voting every week is essential, especially when they land near the bottom of the judges' leaderboard.
Tune in next Tuesday, October 20, 2026, for Dedication Night. If you have a favorite couple still in, vote early and often; if not, simply enjoy the show as the field narrows toward the finale on November 24, 2026.
Its own forecast: Tatyana Ali will still be competing on Dancing With the Stars season 35 after the episode airing on or before November 14, 2026. — 55% chance by Nov 14, 2026
This result shows the mix of judges' scores and viewer votes has real limits. After weeks of fans saving Guillermo Rodriguez despite bottom marks, his best night of 22 out of 40 still left him last when the two were combined, so a large gap from the judges can outweigh even solid viewer support.
For ordinary fans of the show, it means popular personalities can outlast better dancers for a while, but not forever once the score gap grows too wide. Stronger pairs like Ezra Frech and Jenna Dewan, who tied for the night's high of 36, look safer heading into later rounds.
Fans, check the next episode on October 20 if you still want to vote for a favorite before Dedication Night; if not, skip it and wait for the higher scorers to clear the field.
Its own forecast: Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach will still be competing after the Dedication Night episode on October 20, 2026 — 75% chance by Oct 21, 2026
For a regular TV viewer, this proves that fan popularity and a fun storyline cannot save a couple if the judges give them low marks. Guillermo Rodriguez brought joy and his highest score of the season, yet the judges' low numbers outweighed his massive fan vote advantage.
For network executives at ABC, the result highlights how the show's mixed scoring rules keep the competition unpredictable and protect the actual dancing. It means production teams will keep casting beloved TV personalities for high ratings while relying on strict judging to filter out the true finalists.
Open the ABC app this Tuesday at 8 PM, fans, and if you love the remaining couples, vote for them live, but if you just want the drama, wait until Wednesday morning to watch the free recaps online. Enjoy the music and see who survives the judges' harsh critiques.
Its own forecast: Tatyana Ali scores a perfect 40 from the judges for a Fresh Prince-themed routine. — 40% chance by Nov 10, 2026
This result shows that the judge score and viewer vote mix does not always save a contestant even if their fan base might have kept them safe in earlier weeks. A bottom-tier judge score left Guillermo Rodriguez no room to make up ground with public support, so he was eliminated before the next round.
This shift changes things for every remaining low-scoring couple still in the running. They can no longer count on casual fan votes alone to carry them past the bottom two if their technical marks from the panel sit at the very bottom of the leaderboard.
Fans, right now, check your favorite contestant’s judge score from this week; if it landed below 24 out of 40, submit your vote early next Monday, if not, you can wait until the live show closes before casting your pick.
Its own forecast: Next week’s Dancing With the Stars episode will eliminate two couples instead of one — 65% chance by Oct 20, 2026
Two Top 10 lists on this story: the AIs' answers merged into one list, with a reason and a link for each place.
Your forecast first — then we show what the AIs forecast.
Will Guillermo talk about going home on Kimmel by Friday?
Why this question: Guillermo is a comic on that late-night show, so he may joke about his exit there
We’ll know the answer
Talks — 8 AIsYou are here
🇺🇸Claude🇨🇳Z.ai🇺🇸Meta🇺🇸Gemini🇨🇳Wenxin🇨🇳MiMo🇺🇸ChatGPT🇨🇳Kimi
Claude: Kimmel already made fun of the exit on air the next night.
Doesn't — 2 AIsYou are here
🇨🇳Qwen🇺🇸Grok
We check it on: youtube.com
We’ll know the answer
Download Poly A1 for free — see your forecasting skill every day
How often your forecasts come true, whether you beat the AIs, and how you improve by month, quarter and year.
Will Netflix's share price be higher on Wednesday than on Tuesday?
Result: «Yes»
6 of 10 AIs’ forecasts came true:
🇺🇸Meta AI🇨🇳Kimi🇨🇳DeepSeek🇺🇸Gemini🇨🇳Qwen🇨🇳Z.ai
Checked on: finance.yahoo.com
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