Flavor Flav gave Alix Earle and Valentin Chmerkovskiy a 9 for their paso doble on Dancing With the Stars on November 4, 2025. The other three judges awarded 10s, leaving the pair with 39 out of 40. Flav later said he had meant to enter a 10, but the score was locked before he could correct it. In the same episode, he gave Elaine Hendrix a 10 for her Viennese waltz—her best score yet, according to TV Insider.
Why did Flavor Flav give Alix Earle a 9?
Flav said the 9 was a mistake. In a post after the episode, he explained that judges enter scores on a computer before holding up their signs. He said he accidentally entered a 9, told the crew he meant to enter a 10, and was told the score could not be changed once locked. CinemaBlend reproduced his statement: “I accidentally hit 9 for someone and told the crew I meant to hit 10,,, and they said they can’t change it and there’s nothing I can do.”
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TV Insider also reported Flav’s explanation to People: “I really wanted to give them a 10, but they wouldn’t let me change it.” That is Flav’s account of what happened; the reporting establishes what he said, not an independent audit of the scoring system. TV Insider’s November 5 report and CinemaBlend’s account of his post detail his explanation.
How the judges scored Earle’s paso doble
Earle and Chmerkovskiy performed a paso doble to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” during Season 34’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night. Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli each gave them a 10; Flav’s 9 brought the individual-dance total to 39/40.
#1 Best Overall
It was the second consecutive week Earle finished one point short of a perfect individual-dance score because of a guest judge’s 9. The prior week, Halloween Week, Cheryl Burke gave her a 9. That context does not mean Flav’s score by itself determined the episode’s elimination: judges’ scores and viewer votes were combined. TV Insider’s episode recap records the performances and results.
Who received Flav’s 10 and the “highest yet” score?
The other score in the headline belongs to Elaine Hendrix. Flav gave Hendrix a 10 for her Viennese waltz, while the other three judges each gave her a 9. TV Insider described Flav’s 10 as her best score yet. It was a personal high from one judge, not a perfect total for the dance.
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What happened in the team-dance round?
The November 4 episode had eight pairs perform individual dances before the team round. Earle was part of Team Kool, which scored 38/40; Team Chicago earned 40/40. That team score was separate from Earle and Chmerkovskiy’s 39/40 paso doble. Danielle Fishel was eliminated at the end of the episode, with judges’ scores and viewer votes combined in the result, according to TV Insider’s recap.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Region: Region 1 U.S. and Canada only
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Run Time: 51 minutes
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