Dancing With the Stars fans say Grammy Night votes wouldn’t send
Some Dancing With the Stars fans tried to vote by text on Grammy Night and said their messages could not go through. The news emerged as one of the night’s highest-scoring couples went home a week ahead of the DWTS semifinals.
The complaints surfaced during Dancing With the Stars’ Grammy Night broadcast on 10 November, as seven couples competed for six semifinal spots. Us Weekly reported that fans posted on X and under the show’s Instagram reminder explaining how to vote by text.
The cause and scope of the problem remain unknown, and Us Weekly reported no solution by the time its story was published. During the broadcast, ABC also allowed viewers to vote online.
is anyone else’s not able to text to vote? #dwts https://t.co/q3qyBmZySc
— rena 🌲 (@vcmqires) November 11, 2026
Some DWTS viewers blamed service provider Verizon for poor coverage.
YO STOP THE COUNT???? @officialdwts verizon mfs can’t vote #dwts https://t.co/6MkfgxojBk
— paige♡ (@ikykpaige) November 11, 2026
Why fan votes matter
Both the judges and the audience have a hand in determining the final standings. The show eliminates the couple with the lowest combined score based on the judges’ and audience votes. What this means is that a couple can have a strong showing with the judges and yet be eliminated.
At September’s season premiere, the show announced a problem with its voting website and counted only texts that night. On Grammy Night, viewers reported trouble with texts. If that happens again, fans can try ABC’s voting site while the live Eastern and Central time voting window is open. The same window applies to viewers on the West Coast.
Read more: Who left Dancing With the Stars? Halloween claims two stars
Jenna Dewan’s shock exit
The most surprising eliminations of the season so far were Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy. They had performed two dances on Disney Nite a week earlier and received an overall score of 80. They tied for second place on Grammy Nite with 30 points after winning the dance-off.
Somewhat of a reunion had set the tone for the evening. Dewan, who was Janet Jackson‘s backup dancer on tour, received a video message from her former employer after performing a jazz routine to the song «All for You» by Jackson.
Chmerkovskiy and she then went on to defeat Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik in a cha-cha dance-off. A few hours later, Dewan and Chmerkovskiy were eliminated, and Ali and Ravnik advanced to the semifinals. «This is absolutely mind-blowing,» co-host Julianne Hough exclaimed.
Read more: Jenna Dewan goes from DWTS double-elimination shock to perfect 40
It is not clear whether the reported texting issues affected the outcome.
