Carrie Ann Inaba gave Dancing With the Stars fans a candid look into the pressure she faces as a judge.
“It’s never not been stressful,” Inaba, 57, admitted on the Thursday, November 6, episode of the “Dancing With the Stars Official Podcast,” hosted by Joey Graziadei.
According to Inaba, her stress manifested in physical ways. “I used to throw up before I went out there, every single time,” she said. “I don’t know when it stopped.”
Inaba explained that she would much rather dance than critique, but she eventually overcame her hesitations. “I like to dance. I don’t wanna speak,” she continued. “But I also felt like it was an important perspective to share. I feel that my role on the show is important, and it’s often minimized. And it’s because I’m a woman. I can say the same thing as men and I will be hammered for it. I can give a higher score than men and I will be hammered for it.”
While she has “nothing against” the male judges who’ve been on the show — Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli in the current season — Inaba said the disparity is noticeable.
“This is why I take it so seriously,” she added. “Because as a woman … it’s important for me to speak up and have courage. I’m trying to teach people and young girls out there how to have their voice, even if it’s different. And I think what’s great about the panel and always has been is we can have different opinions, and yet we still can be comrades and friends, and we’re still doing it together. That’s something that I’m really proud about.”
Having been part of DWTS from the very beginning, Inaba is no stranger to facing criticism from fans at home — and even in the ballroom. She’s often booed by the audience for her attentive feedback, but she doesn’t take it personally.
“Obviously, the people at home don’t always see what I’m looking at,” Inaba shared in Us Weekly‘s exclusive cover story celebrating 20 years of the ballroom dance competition. “Sometimes when the audience gets very upset, I’m like, ‘I know.’ I am used to it. I’ve been doing this for a long time. … I saw things slightly different, and that’s OK.”
When it comes to her judging style, Inaba told Us she puts “fairness” above all else. “So sometimes whatever choice I make in the moment, the fairness is the final check for me. What’s fair?” she explained. “Because I feel like I always have to be fair to all of our competitors, and I always have to be really honest.”
Inaba admitted “some seasons are harder” than others, but her love for dance is what keeps her coming back for more. “It’s helped me so much in my own life that having this opportunity to sit there and help people discover dance, explain it to the audience and encourage people, sometimes challenge them to find and have that breakthrough that I recognize when I see, I mean, it’s the best feeling in the world,” she told Us. “It’s nothing I could have ever aspired to.”
Over the years, Inaba has been candid about what it’s like to be the only female voice behind the judges’ table.
“There have been times where I’ve almost walked away,” Inaba confessed at the Variety Women of Reality TV event in November 2023. “As the only female judge for most of the seasons, I get a lot more hate than the men do.”
At the time, Inaba got emotional while reflecting on her DWTS journey. “I’m the judge who cries, yes that’s true,” she said. “People doubt what I say. … I feel like I have to fight harder for my opinion to be honored.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, with new episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.
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