Former Dancing with the Stars contestant Danielle Fishel thinks there's gender "unfairness" on the show

Dancing with the Stars Season 35 is currently on air, and on episode 8, Horror Movie Night, guest judge Shirley Ballas gave Julia Stiles and Tatyana Ali each a 4 and Tyler Cameron a 5. Danielle Fishel, a former Dancing with the Stars contestant, has now stated on her podcast that she thinks that was gender discrimination.

Moreover, Fishel also stated that she feels the female judges of the show are held to a higher standard than the male judges.

Danielle Fishel thinks there's gender inequality on Dancing with the Stars

Danielle Fishel was a participant on Dancing with the Stars Season 34. She was partnered with professional dancer Pasha Pashkov and eliminated from the show on November 4, 2025, finishing in 8th place.

Now, during a discussion with Kym Johnson on her podcast about an episode of the show's ongoing season, Fishel expressed her view that the reality dance show didn't treat its male and female participants equally.

Fishel, known for her roles in Full House, Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, and Gravity Falls, now hosts her own podcast, Ballroom Breakdown. On a recent episode of the podcast, Danielle Fishel discussed episode 8 of Dancing with the Stars Season 35, Horror Movie Night, with her guest Kym Johnson.

Fishel spoke about her opinion on guest judge Shirley Ballas giving Julia Stiles and Tatyana Ali each a 4 and Tyler Cameron a 5. She said:

"I do believe that the judges, all of them, have a tendency to be harder on the women than they are on the male celebs."

She added:

"I could be wrong. But, in my opinion, I think sometimes the men get a pass that the women don’t get."

Kym Johnson also felt the same, saying that she was also surprised to see the difference in the scores. Johnson said:

"I thought the girls were better than that."

Fishel added:

"I thought, ‘There’s no way that this dance was better than what we had seen. And so, if you were going to give the ladies 4s, I feel like [his] was worthy of a 4 as well.”

Thus, Fishel feels that Ali and Stiles were given lesser marks than Cameron even though their performances were objectively better or on the same level. Fishel also said that she thinks that the show might also have a particular influence on the audience because she feels that the male judges aren't booed for their criticisms of the participants the same way the female judges are. She said:

"The men get away with being able to give a constructive criticism here or there, whereas the women judges, Carrie Ann and the guest judges, they get booed."

Regarding how women are treated in various different ways on Dancing with the Stars, Fishel used the term:

"unfairness"

She concluded that women are held to a higher standard in the show than the men. This is however Fishel's own opinion, which isn't a reflection of how the show actually operates.

New Dancing with the Stars episodes air on Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on ABC and Disney+.

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