How did Michael Bolton end up in the doghouse?
And which beloved movie character did Sean Spicer ruin our memories of forever?
Dancing with the Stars sure has had its share of controversial outfits.
Stick around for some of our favorites.
In 2021, Dancing with the Stars host Tyra Banks was accused of "making the show all
about her" with a supposedly obnoxious outfit.
Although honestly, we have to admit that it was kind of awesome.
Some fans of the show were vicious with their feedback, delivering remarks on social media
such as:
"Wow why does Tyra's stylist hate her?"
And:
"Oh Lord!
That fan dress that Tyra has on is not only ugly, but tacky as well.
The best part of it was the color."
There were even memes comparing her to the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
Despite being publicly bashed all over the internet, Banks was ultimately undeterred.
She fired back during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, announcing,
"Nobody is going to say anything about a pretty dress.
You know, you’ve got to like push it and go for it."
"Different is what?"
"Better!
It is!
It's better than better!"
"I ain't got time to be like, pretty, and in a normal dress."
While not every critic on the internet may agree, we certainly do!
Clap back, Tyra!
On the 29th season of Dancing with the Stars in 2020, Tiger King's Carole Baskin wore mostly
cat-themed outfits, despite her questionable past.
Considering the controversy surrounding her and speculation that she may have killed her
husband and fed him to tigers, some of her decisions may have demonstrated more than
a bit of bad taste.
Her insistence on a "tiger theme" for her debut night, which even included dancing to
the song "Eye of the Tiger," may have been a little ill-advised.
Although, it could be interpreted in a couple of ways.
Either it was a bold move that shows she has a sense of humor about her past, or it's just
inappropriate to insist on referencing the controversy.
Either way, DWTS fans who saw her outfit on Instagram didn't seem to care for it, and
made comments such as,
"It would be better and more accurate if she was in an inmate costume where she belongs."
Another commenter went so far as to call it the worst outfit they'd ever seen on the show.
While Baskin's choices were undeniably questionable, fellow animal activists can at least rest
easy knowing that she made sure that the DWTS designers knew that no fur, feathers, leather,
or any other animal products would be utilized in her costume.
Sean Spicer was already a controversial Dancing with the Stars contestant following his stint
as the press secretary for the White House under the Trump administration.
This particular look garnered some snide remarks from critics on top of his already less than
well-received appearance.
When he dressed up like a certain character from Toy Story on Disney Theme Night in 2019,
Vanity Fair, for one, criticized ABC for allowing Spicer to, quote, "tarnish even Sheriff Woody's
good name."
And they weren't the only ones who were less than pleased.
That was plenty evident when host Tom Bergeron and several other ABC employees publicly called
out the network for even casting Spicer in the first place.
Some noted his less than ideal reputation, while Bergeron posted a statement on Twitter
that read in part,
"A few months ago, during a lunch with DWTS' new Executive Producer, I offered suggestions
for Season 28.
Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, in its return following an unprecedented year-long
hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably
divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations."
"White House press secretary, I mean, I can't wait to see Spicy do the tango."
"Uh-huh."
For the sixth week of Season 28 in 2019, Dancing with the Stars co-host Erin Andrews wore sparkly
green dress pants that were reminiscent of a mermaid emerging onto the shore.
Andrews normally dressed in ball gowns on show nights, but fans seemed to enjoy the
more casual look.
However, there was also some backlash on social media, with one person on Twitter calling
it, quote, "the most hideous baby s--- green metal flake pants" that they'd ever laid eyes
on.
But Andrews didn't let it phase her, as she tweeted back kindly with,
"I hope your children are NEVER subjected to such disgusting remarks.
Thank goodness my parents taught me [...] how to be kind and spread love!"
Considering Andrews' typical attire up to this point, we can see how this could be considered
"dressing down."
But this simple look could also be seen as taking away some of the focus from herself
and moving it towards the contestants, while still being fun and quirky.
And for that reason, we can certainly appreciate some sparkly pants.
In a 2017 DWTS episode, Vanessa Lachey danced right out of her skirt during her performance
set to "Let's Be Bad."
The silver lining was that she at least had a fantastic sense of humor about it, as she
joked that if the snafu got her extra points, she would gladly accept them.
After the skirt drop, host Tom Bergeron was spotted running out on the dance floor to
pick it up.
While Lachey maybe should've ensured her skirt was more secure in the first place, the mishap
may have ultimately worked out in her favor.
As judge Carrie Ann Inaba commented,
"Something happened and you just let yourself go and it was such a fantastic performance!"
She also noted that Lachey was "the epitome of class and grace" despite the wardrobe malfunction.
Sometimes dancing through mishaps says more about you than not having any mishaps at all!
During "Latin Week" in 2014, Peta Murgatroyd and her partner James Maslow performed a samba
routine that ended with them in significantly less clothing than they began.
Murgatroyd took her clothes off to reveal cherry red lingerie, while Maslow ended up
completely topless.
The Daily Mail dubbed it "one of the raunchiest performances imaginable for prime time television,"
as it garnered a ton of shock and awe from the judges and audience members alike.
Co-host Erin Andrews was caught by the camera looking completely shocked by the outfits,
while judge Len Goodman joked that he thought that it was "Take Your Shirt Off Week, not
Latin Week."
Maslow quipped that this was always his "key tactic," as he commented,
"We're just going to take off our clothes.
[...] Gotta love good family fun."
On a Season 16 episode in 2013, Wynonna Judd and Tony Dovolani may have gone just a bit
too far for the Prom Night theme.
They dressed in traditional prom attire, and then they took it a big step further by incorporating
moves akin to erotic dance.
It may have been a while since some of us went to prom, but we're pretty sure there
weren't any stripper poles there.
Unless you went to a very open-minded high school, that is.
We can all at least acknowledge that Judd and Dovolani's 80s hair and song choice of
Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" totally worked, and Judd definitely succeeded in her
goal to "release her inner tigress."
But we can also acknowledge that the stripper pole may have taken things too far and that
Judd's outfit left something to be desired for a traditional "Prom Night," as did her
dancing.
In fact, judge Len Goodman compared her to Mount Rushmore because she was so "stiff"
during her samba routine.
Although she denied it, many viewers believe that Nancy Grace had a wardrobe malfunction
during a 2011 Dancing with the Stars episode.
Perhaps she should've worn something with a little more support and coverage during
this particular number.
Judges, fans, and host Tom Bergeron all seemed to think that her breast popped out of her
dress a bit during her jive with her partner Tristan MacManus, though she claimed otherwise.
As she told reporters after the show,
"When we were doing our hop scotch portion of our dance, there was a little bit of movement
but it did not rise to a wardrobe malfunction.
We have got every precaution known to man in this dress right here.
I’m talking industrial strength precautions.
So there may have been a little bit of, as Tristan said, jiggling."
As for what the judges thought, Bruno Tonioli commented,
"It was a bit top-heavy at times, my darling.
And I got an eyeful!
I couldn’t miss that."
Bergeron made light of the incident, as he quipped,
"On the European version, that would be perfectly fine."
"Which begs the question: who's taking care of the babies?!"
In a 2010 Dancing with the Stars episode, Michael Bolton and his partner Chelsie Hightower
danced the jive.
Hightower sported a very cute white knee-length dress with black polka dots, while Bolton
wore all black with a dog-patterned sports jacket.
The routine began with Bolton on all fours in an oversized doghouse and Hightower teasing
him with a toy bone.
The odd theme to this routine led Us Weekly to comment,
"Michael Bolton is in the dog house — literally."
We can get behind the idea of this theme, especially considering that their song was
"Hound Dog."
But there's also an argument to be made for it being perhaps a tad dehumanizing, as this
is a dance program and not a comedy show.
Plus, it only added fodder to the judges' critiques.
Bruno Tonioli even called it the worst jive he'd seen in 11 seasons.
"You should've kept that bone and gone back into the dog house."
And as Len Goodman put it,
"I don't think the world's quite ready for your interpretation of the jive."
"It probably needed a pooper scooper as well just to finish it off."
In a 2007 Dancing episode, Marie Osmond dressed up as a life-sized wind-up doll and danced
to The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."
While the idea sounds cute in theory, in practice, most people found the doll theme and overall
look just plain creepy, with Bruno Tonioli comparing it to a mix of "Baby Jane and the
bride of Chucky."
On top of that, Osmond and her partner Jonathan Roberts received the lowest score of the night.
For her part, Osmond explained the odd costume choice by noting,
"I could've come out [in] something slinky and sexy, but it's a family show."
She also pointed out that her outfit was a tribute to her doll-making career and to her
doll-collecting fans.
But it's safe to say that she lost the vote with any audience members who suffer from
pediophobia, aka the fear of dolls.
In a 2006 Dancing episode, former High School Musical star Monique Coleman nearly lost a
key piece of clothing while dancing the jive.
During the enthusiastic routine, her skirt came down and temporarily revealed the top
of her butt cheeks when her shoe tugged on the bottom of it.
She very quickly pulled the skirt back up, making it nearly unnoticeable.
All of her experience from High School Musical certainly paid off in this instance!
After the performance, host Tom Bergeron commented,
"I know that jump scared the ‘everything’ out of you."
"It scared my clothes off, apparently."
"Not quite.
Not quite, happily."
Luckily, Coleman and her partner Louis van Amstel were such great dancers that this wardrobe
malfunction didn't affect their scores in the slightest, as they received full nines
out of ten across the board.
In a 2014 episode of Dancing, Bethany Mota and her partner Derek Racey presented a tribute
to the classic sitcom I Love Lucy on Dynamic Duos night.
Although the idea was cute and the dance was spot-on, Mota's look wasn't as well-received
as she would've hoped.
In fact, as CBS News commented in its recap,
"Bethany's super sexy, low-cut midriff seemed a little much.
They certainly wouldn't have let that air back in the 1950s.
It almost looked like an adult-film parody of the classic sitcom."
While we can all sympathize with how hot and sweaty it must get dancing under those spotlights,
this critic had a point, as Lucille Ball certainly wouldn't have been so scantily clad back in
the 50s.
When you make viewers think of adult films, that's probably not the best idea for family-friendly
programming.
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