Milo Manheim has found the bright side in his surprising Dancing With the Stars Season 27 loss.
Manheim competed with Witney Carson on the ABC series back in 2018, coming in second place behind Bobby Bones and Sharna Burgess. Though the results still anger many fans to this day, Manheim shared the surprising reason why he isn’t bitter about the way the competition ended.
“To be honest, I feel like getting second place worked out in my favor, because I’m reminded to this day, that I was robbed,” Manheim shared on the Friday, July 11, episode of the Zach Sang Show podcast.
He continued, “I wouldn’t even say that. I guess it’s been long enough. But people come up all the time now, and they’re just like, ‘You killed Dancing with the Stars.’ And I don’t think I would be getting that validation had I won. So, it’s really nice.”
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Manheim also said he’s “grateful that they changed the voting system after that year.” Following Bones’ controversial win, the show made several voting changes to better balance technical judging and fan popularity. In addition to introducing the Judges’ Save for Season 28, the voting updates included requiring viewers to submit their votes during the show’s East Coast airtime.
“I’m a very political man, so the fact that I was able to make them look at the system a little bit, that’s like the best thing I could have possibly hoped for,” Manheim said.
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Podcast host Zach Sang agreed with Manheim’s assessment that his DWTS run has become more memorable because of his unexpected loss. Meg Donnelly noted that the same could be said about their Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires costar Chandler Kinney‘s experience on DWTS Season 33 last year. Despite being one of the best-scoring couples of the season, Kinney and her partner, Brandon Armstrong, ended the show in third place.
“I feel like that’s how to look at Chandler’s, as well,” Donnelly said, while Manheim joked that he hoped Kinney would avenge his past loss.
“I don’t want to say rigged, ’cause it’s not rigged. I’m not saying that…” Manheim continued before winking into the camera, prompting laughs from Donnelly. “But I will say, I don’t know, maybe it’s just bias. But Chandler, like, killed that, dude.”
Manheim and Kinney reunited with several members of the DWTS family at the Zombies 4 Los Angeles premiere on July 8, including pros Alan Bersten and Ezra Sosa, troupe member Stephani Sosa, and cohost Alfonso Ribeiro.
DWTS returns for Season 34 later this year. This season’s announced contestants include TV personality and conservationist Robert Irwin, influencer Alix Earle, and The Secret Wives of Mormon Wives stars Jennifer Affleck and Whitney Leavitt.
