History YMMV / DancingWithTheStars

** Charli D'Amelio in Season 31. While portrayed in packages and performances as friendly and humble, she too garnered criticism as another celebrity whose claim to fame comes from being a dancer (this time on the app Website/{{TikTok}}). The fact that she has an immense fanbase all across social media has also put fans of the show off, because she never seemed to be at risk of being eliminated by the popular vote. In fact, many, upon hearing her participation announced, correctly predicted that she would end up winning the season.

** Back in season 19, Sadie Robertson, Mark Ballas and Emma Slater performed a trio Foxtrot to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli. Fast forward to season 23 and Ballas was absent from the pro list... but only because he was to to be the final actor to portray Valli in ''Theatre/JerseyBoys'' as the play completed its historic 11-year Broadway run.

** Creator/TyraBanks, who started hosting the show from Season 29 onwards and replacing longtime host Tom Bergeron and co-host Erin Andrew. Her hosting style overall, including runway-esque entrances and many changing outfits during each episode, has mixed reception from fans. Some feel that Tom was better off remaining as host, while others welcomed Tyra.

** During the 10th anniversary special episode in Season 20, some of the most notable football players to do the show, including Jerry Rice, Kurt Warner, past winners Hines Ward and Donald Driver, and Jacoby Jones, performed a special Paso Doble group number with Anna (who had previously been partnered with Jerry in Season 2 and Kurt in Season 11), Karina (who was Jacoby's partner in Season 16), and, for some reason, Emma. Her inclusion in the performance is all the more interesting after her victory with Rashad Jennings in Season 24.

** Season 18 had a run of them as well when Creator/DanicaMcKellar, Charlie White and James Maslow getting eliminated one after the other despite higher marks than Creator/CandaceCameronBure, who was often the last to be called safe. What’s more was when Charlie was eliminated, this trope was bound to happen as the other contestant in the bottom two was his skating partner Meryl Davis, who was often the top of the leaderboard.

*** Even more feathers were ruffled after Simone Biles was eliminated in the semifinals, despite geting a ''perfect 80'' from her two dances that night, a full ten points more than the other contestant up for elimination. Unfortunately, that contestant, Cubs catcher David Ross, may well have the most fan support in the history of the program.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Out of the production changes made for Season 29 amidst the [=COVID-19=] pandemic, the decision to not bring back Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews as hosts was ''not'' received well, to the point one of the most common responses were they wouldn't be watching the show anymore.

* TheWoobie: As the first (and the only one until Season 27) black professional dancer on the show, many fans were excited about Keo's introduction in Season 19...only for him to be immediately eliminated in week 1. As of Season 29, Keo has been the first to third eliminated in every season he's competed in, with the exceptions of Season 22 with Jodie Sweetin (they made it to 6th place) and season 27 with Evanna Lynch (which, while he made it to the finals and 3rd place, lost to Bobby Bones who had the lowest ranking scores amongst ''all'' that season’s finalists). Even Erin once mentioned it in a blooper from dress rehearsals: "It's the first elimination of the season, which usually means Keo's going home."

* TearJerker:
** Creator/JenniferGrey's emotional first dance that paid tribute to her late ''Film/DirtyDancing'' costar Creator/PatrickSwayze.
** The reaction of Hines Ward after he and Kym Johnson completed their Argentine Tango three days after Kym nearly broke her neck.
** JR Martinez's rumba to "If You're Reading This". The dance was dedicated to his fellow soldiers who didn't come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. There wasn't a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSdHRF25VPs dry eye in the house]] when the dance was done.
** Chris Jericho's Rumba dedicated to his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U3O5YMMlg0 late mother]]. For this performance, he was introduced by his birth name of Chris Irvine.
** Katherine Jenkins' waltz dedicated to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBui4OZNgHE her late father]].
** Len Goodman's story on how he can no longer dance due to his knees...then joining in on Nastia Liukin and Derek's Viennese Waltz in his honor.
** [[Series/DuckDynasty Sadie Robertson's]] Viennese waltz to [[WesternAnimation/{{Up}} "Married Life"]] during Movie Week in season 19.
** Speaking of Most Memorable Year week, Creator/LeaThompson's contemporary to "Dance with my Father".
** Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess' Foxtrot to "Comin' Home, Part II", dedicated to Sharna's father and grandmother, during Hometown Glory week.
** Nick & Sharna's week 8 contemporary dedicated to Nick's wife, who he calls his rock, especially since he grew up in a very dysfunctional family.
** Back to Hometown Glory week, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPBmIriuCZQ Alexa PenaVega and Mark Ballas' rumba]] to the theme from ''Film/SomewhereInTime'', which was a tribute to Ballas' parents, the great professional Latin dancers Corky and Shirley Ballas.
** Bindi Irwin's contemporary to "Every Breath You Take" in Most Memorable Year Week. For that matter, the package beforehand counts as this too. There probably wasn't a dry eye in the audience after the package and dance. Turned UpToEleven after her freestyle to "Footprints in the Sand", when Derek surprised her by having a picture of young Bindi with her father displayed prominently on the wall at the end. Bindi took one look at it and crumpled into tears in Derek's arms.
** Most Memorable Year Week strikes again in Season 22, with Doug Flutie's tribute dance to his parents (who died literally within ''an hour'' of each other after being married for decades), set to "[[Film/TheMuppetMovie The Rainbow Connection]]".
** Two weeks later, during Switch-Up Week, it was Creator/NyleDiMarco who turned on the waterworks as he and Sharna danced a Viennese Waltz to "I Get to Love You" and scored the first 10 of the season.
*** Not to mention [[https://youtu.be/UqVB638qHfI Nyle's freestyle]], set to Disturbed's version of "The Sound of Silence."
** [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x521hts Laurie Hernandez's foxtrot]] in the semi-finals of season 23. Her pre-performance package showed how her grandmother (whom she was very close with) had passed away that week. Her dance was so emotional - she even wiped away a tear in the middle of it - and as soon as it was done, she started crying. Tom, Carrie Ann, and Julianne were all visibly moved by her performance.
** [[https://youtu.be/r-2ezzt8aeY James Hinchcliffe's freestyle]] in season 23, set to narration by James about his life-threatening accident.
** Florence Henderson attended the season 23 finale to meet up with Maureen [=McCormick=], who played her daughter on ''Series/TheBradyBunch''. Florence would be hospitalized the day after the finale, and would die of heart failure the day after that.
** Season 25's "Most Memorable Year" night got pretty emotional all around.
*** The dances Frankie, Nikki, and Victoria did were all uplifting, but it was hard to watch the packages beforehand as they talked about their struggles with memory loss (Frankie), near-paralysis (Nikki), and ''everything'' Victoria's had to go through.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L5ZRjvzVXo Terrell's waltz]] for his late grandmother, who died in 2012 after spending years with dementia. And he burst into tears afterward.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKcoh9W3L8 Lindsey Stirling's waltz]] for her late father, which also had Mark wearing one of her dad's old hats and scarves, which also made it her last dance ''with'' her father. And she burst into tears afterward.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tztp1tkjRU8 Jordan's contemporary]] was dedicated to his grandparents, who became his adoptive parents after his mother was declared unfit to raise him. He burst into tears ''before'' the dance after watching his own package declaring how much he loves them, and immediately ran to them in the audience after finishing the number.
** Season 28, Week 6 had a lot of tears:
*** Lauren Alaina's Contemporary was danced to a song she wrote for her late stepfather, and that night happened to be the anniversary of his death. And she burst into tears afterward.
*** Sailor Brinkley-Cook's shocking elimination in Week 6 resulted in her breaking down into tears, and even Ally Brooke, who was also in the bottom two with her at the time, was in tears. Sailor's professional partner Val immediately hugs her and comforts her, with the judges even giving her encouragement that she should be proud of how far she's gone in the competition. ''Everyone'' went up to Sailor to comfort her.
** Season 28 Semifinals as well:
*** Kel Mitchell’s Contemporary to Whitney Houston’s cover of "I Will Always Love You". He dedicated it to his childhood friend Sam who was shot and killed at age 16 as well as to anyone who has ever been affected by gun violence. He not only got a perfect score, but Len, who is not overly fond of contemporary dance in the ballroom, gave him a wordless, standing ovation.
*** James Van Der Beek during the video package before his second dance sadly revealed that just two days earlier his wife Kimberly suffered a miscarriage. He wasn’t sure if he could dance for that night, but she encouraged him to go on and use it to help cope with his feelings. The result was an emotionally packed Foxtrot to Hozier’s "Take Me to Church" that ended with him and Emma tearfully holding each other, as well as all the other contestants and judges in tears.
*** And if that wasn’t enough, the bottom two that night were him and Ally Brooke, two of the higher scorers and fan favorites of the season. The judges didn’t want to eliminate either, but in the end chose to save Ally due to her higher scores throughout the season. Ally tearfully even tried to give up her spot to James, upset that he had to go home after all he had gone through, which not only did the rules prevent, but James himself also turned her down, telling her she shouldn’t give up the opportunity after all her own hard work.
** Season 29:
*** Skai Jackson's Foxtrot to John Legend's "Ordinary People", which was dedicated to her late friend and {{Series/Jessie}} co-star, Creator/CameronBoyce. In the video package before the dance, she revealed that Cameron and his love of dancing was a large part of why she wanted to participate in the show. The dance itself ended up getting the first 10 of the season.
*** Chrishell Stause's Contemporary to "Stars" by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The dance was dedicated to the memory of her parents, both of whom she lost within a year of each other due to lung cancer.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKcoh9W3L8 Lindsey Stirling's waltz]] for her late father, which also had Mark wearing one of her dad's old hats and scarves, which also made it her last dance ''with'' her father. And she burst into tears afterword.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tztp1tkjRU8 Jordan's comteporary]] was dedicated to his grandparents, who became his adoptive parents after his mother was declared unfit to raise him. He burst into tears ''before'' the dance after watching his own package declaring how much he loves them, and immediately ran to them in the audience after finishing the number.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMc7JiNpshQ Team Bruno's tango]] had [[{{Series/Full House}} Jodie Sweetin]] dancing with Peta Murgatroyd and a shirtless Creator/NyleDiMarco dancing with an also shirtless Keo Motsepe for a bit. As some people have said, that was the most Bruno thing anyone has ever seen.

** Season 18 had a run of them as well when Creator/DanicaMcKellar, Charlie White and James Maslow getting eliminated one after the other despite higher marks than Candace Cameron Bure, who was often the last to be called safe. What’s more was when Charlie was eliminated, this trope was bound to happen as the other contestant in the bottom two was his skating partner Meryl Davis, who was often the top of the leaderboard.

** Bobby Bones, without a doubt, has to be the ''Dancing'' Scrappy to end all ''Dancing'' Scrappies for being a huge EliminationHoudini who won Season 27...and ironically is not by any fault of his own, since EliminationHoudinis on this show are specifically created when people vote for lesser skilled dancers to progress on the show.

** Bobby Bones, without a doubt, has to be the ''Dancing'' Scrappy to end all ''Dancing'' Scrappies.

*** Kel Mitchell’s Contemporary to Whitney Houston’s cover of "I Will Always Love You". He dedicated it to his childhood friend Sam who was shot and killed at age 16 as well as to anyone who has ever been affected by gun violence. He not only got a perfect score, but Len, who is not overly fond of contemporary in the ballroom, gave him a wordless, standing ovation.

* TheWoobie: As the first (and the only for until Season 27) black professional dancer on the show, many fans were excited about Keo's introduction in Season 19...only for him to be immediately eliminated in week 1. As of Season 27, Keo has been the first to third eliminated in every season he's competed in (save for Season 22 with Jodie Sweetin where he made it to 6th place, and season 27 with Evanna Lynch which, while he made it to the finals and 3rd place, lost to Bobby Bones who had the lowest ranking scores amongst ''all'' that season’s finalists). Even Erin once mentioned it in a blooper from dress rehearsals: "It's the first elimination of the season, which usually means Keo's going home."

* TheWoobie: As the first (and so far only) black professional dancer on the show, many fans were excited about Keo's introduction in Season 19...only for him to be immediately eliminated in week 1. As of Season 27, Keo has been the first or second eliminated in every season he's competed in (save for Season 22 with Jodie Sweetin where he made it to week 8, and season 27 with Evanna Lynch which while he made it to the finals lost to Bobby Bones who had the lowest ranking scores amongst ''all'' the season’s finalists). Even Erin once mentioned it in a blooper from dress rehearsals: "It's the first elimination of the season, which usually means Keo's going home."

** Carrie Ann's insistence on taking off a point for having a lift in a dance that doesn't traditionally include lifts. Some fans see it as a necessary evil for her to balance out the judging panel, since otherwise Len is the only judge enforcing adherence to the traditional dances. Others see it as excessive and unnecessary, especially since she counts even a split second of feet off the ground (which is sometimes even ''accidental'' on the part of the dancers) as a lift and will often end up scoring a dance even lower than Len does because of it. In later seasons, she seems to have lightened up a little bit on the accidental split-second lifts.

** Carrie Ann's insistence on taking off a point for having a lift in a dance that doesn't traditionally include lifts. Some fans see it as a necessary evil for her to balance out the judging panel, since otherwise Len is the only judge enforcing adherence to the traditional dances. Others see it as excessive and unnecessary, especially since she counts even a split second of feet off the ground (which is sometimes even ''accidental'' on the part of the dancers) as a lift and will often end up scoring a dance even lower than Len does because of it.

** [[https://youtu.be/r-2ezzt8aeY James Hinchcliffe's freestyle]] in seson 23, set to narration by James about his life-threatening accident.

*** James Van Der Beek during the video package before his second dance that night sadly revealed that just two days earlier his wife Kimberly suffered a miscarriage. He wasn’t sure if he could dance for that night, but she encouraged him to go on and use it to help cope with his feelings. The results were an emotionally packed Foxtrot to Hozier’s "Take Me to Church" that ended with him and Emma tearfully holding each other, as well as all the other contestants and judges in tears.
*** And if that wasn’t enough, the bottom two that night were him and Ally Brooke, two of the highest scorers and fan favorites of the season. The judges didn’t want to eliminate either, but in the end chose to save Ally due to her higher scores throughout the season. Ally tearfully even tried to give up her spot to James, upset that he had to go home after all he had gone through, which not only did the rules prevent, but James himself also turned her down, telling her she shouldn’t give up the opportunity after all her own hard work.

** The reaction of Hines Ward after he and Kym Johnson completed their Argentine Tango three days after Kym nearly broke her neck.
** JR Martinez's rumba to "If You're Reading This". The dance was dedicated to his fellow soldiers who didn't come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. There wasn't a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSdHRF25VPs dry eye in the house]] when the dance was done.

** Their week 8 contemporary dedicated to Nick's wife.

** Speaking of Most Memorable Year week, Creator/LeaThompson's contemporary to "Dance with my Father".

** [[Series/DuckDynasty Sadie Robertson's]] Viennese waltz to [[WesternAnimation/{{Up}} "Married Life"]] during Movie Week in season 19.
** Creator/JenniferGrey's emotional first dance that paid tribute to her late ''Film/DirtyDancing'' costar Creator/PatrickSwayze.
** [[https://youtu.be/r-2ezzt8aeY James Hinchcliffe's freestyle]], set to narration by James about his life-threatening accident.

** Sailor Brinkley-Cook's shocking elimination in Week 6 resulted in her breaking down into tears, and even Ally Brooke, who was also in the bottom two with her at the time, was in tears. Sailor's professional partner Val immediately hugs her and comforts her, with the judges even giving her encouragement that she should be proud of how far she's gone in the competition. ''Everyone'' went up to Sailor to comfort her.