Was It Rigged? Fans Claim 'DWTS' Winner Meryl Davis Didn't Deserve To Win the Mirror Ball Trophy At Center Of Vote-Fixing Scandal For A Second Time
May 21 2014, Published 11:26 a.m. ET
Just months after Meryl Davis won gold at the Sochi Olympics amid rumors of a judge-fixing scandal, the ice dancer's latest victory — on Dancing with the Stars — has come under a cloud of controversy. RadarOnline.com has learned that even before she and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy walked away with the mirror ball trophy, fans were complaining of alleged voting errors that were wrongfully padding the pair's tally. And now that she's walking away the winner, angry viewers are claiming the show is "rigged!"
The drama began after the first half of the finale show on Monday night, when several fans of Davis' competitor James Maslow and his partner, Peta Murgatroyd, claimed to have evidence that their votes had been redistributed to Davis and Chmerkovskiy. One fan provided Rumorfix.com with a picture supposedly showing their votes going to the wrong team, and still others complained of having no voting history after logging bids for Murgatroyd and Maslow.
Radio personality JoJo Wright has since launched a petition for a #DWTSRecount.
ABC insisted there were no voting issues, but fans haven't been shy about sharing their anger at the results on Twitter in the wake of Tuesday night's finale.
"So RIGGED for Maks n Meryl 2 win!" @RNCCRN9706 tweeted. "Over it!"
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"Meryl and Maks won lmao now tell me that its not rigged," @LaughLoveLogan claimed. "The facebook voting f****d up…"
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And @meliimel727 chimed in, "The show was totally rigged. It was set up from the beginning for them to win …"
This isn't the first time that White has been at the center of such accusations. After she and partner Charlie White won gold in ice dancing at the Sochi Olymics earlier this year, a report in French sports magazine L'Equipe claimed that judges from the U.S. And Russia had formed a secret pact to ensure the couple would win gold in exchange for a Russian taking the win elsewhere.
A rep for U.S. Figure Skating blasted the story as "categorically false," and said, "There is no 'help' between countries. We have no further response to rumors, anonymous sources, or conjecture."
Do you think Maks and Meryl deserved to win? Let us know in the comments!