Alix Earle’s performance on the latest episode of Dancing With the Stars may have been a nine on Flavor Flav‘s scorecard, but in his heart, it was a 10.
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In a couple of Wednesday (Nov. 5) posts on X, the Public Enemy rapper — who served as a guest judge on the program’s broadcast the night prior — explained that he had intended to give the influencer and pro dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy a perfect score for their routine set to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Instead, Flav says he plugged in the number nine by mistake.
“As a judge on #DWTS,,, you hit your score on a computer first,,, then hold up the sign,” he wrote. “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. That girl deserved perfect 10s.”
In a second post, Flav went on to point out that the snafu was why he’d been captured on camera “looking down at the computer confused” after punching in his score.
“Couldn’t get the words out because I was watching the computer and then couldn’t find the other paddle cuz I was ready to go with my 10,” he added. “I found [Earle] afterwards and apologized and let her know what happen , she was cool.”
If the rapper had given Earle the score he’d intended, she and Chmerkovskiy would have received perfect numbers across the board for the first time this season. They’d also come close to the feat on last week’s episode, earning 39/40 for a performance set to Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend.”
Flav also spoke about the situation while still on the DWTS set, telling People, “I gave them a nine which was an accident. I really wanted to give them a 10, but they wouldn’t let me change it.”
Billboard has reached out to the TV show for comment.
Despite not getting the best possible score, Earle can still celebrate knowing that she’s advancing to the next round. This week’s episode — which had a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame theme — resulted in Danielle Fishel getting sent home, while Jen Affleck and former Taylor Swift backup dancer Jan Ravnik were eliminated the week before that.
Also still in the game are Dylan Efron, Andy Richter, Whitney Leavitt, Elaine Hendrix, Jordan Chiles and Robert Irwin. The next episode will air on Nov. 11 and celebrates the 20th anniversary of DWTS.
