Why Was Taylor Hanson Eliminated From DWTS Despite Scoring Higher Than Guillermo Rodriguez?

Dancing With the Stars Season 35 has already shown how quickly the judges’ leaderboard can become misleading once viewer voting enters the equation. Yacht Rock Night provided another example when Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart were eliminated despite finishing three points ahead of Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson.

Taylor earned 18 out of 30 for his foxtrot, while Guillermo received only 15. On judges’ scores alone, Taylor was clearly in the stronger position. DWTS eliminations, however, are not decided by the judges alone, and Taylor’s advantage was not enough once the audience vote was added to the result.

Also Read: Why Was Nina Mayster Eliminated From DWTS: The Next Pro?

Taylor Hanson Scored 18 for His Foxtrot

Taylor and Britt performed a foxtrot to The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes” during the September 29 Yacht Rock Night episode.

The performance earned three 6s from Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, giving the couple 18 points out of 30. It was not one of the night’s strongest scores, but it still placed Taylor ahead of several contestants, including Guillermo.

The elimination was particularly disappointing because Taylor spoke positively about his experience immediately afterward. He described the competition as an incredible experience and thanked Britt for showing him things he had not thought possible, while Britt expressed similar appreciation for their partnership.

Guillermo Rodriguez Had a Lower Score but Survived

Guillermo and Witney danced a foxtrot to Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” and received three 5s for a total of 15 out of 30.

That placed Guillermo below Taylor on the judges’ leaderboard. It also continued a pattern that has followed Guillermo since the beginning of Season 35. He opened the competition with just 10 points, improved to 12 on Viral Hits Night and then reached 15 on Yacht Rock Night.

Despite consistently sitting near the bottom of the judges’ rankings, Guillermo has survived every elimination so far.

His progress has been gradual rather than dramatic, but his continued survival suggests that his support from viewers is much stronger than his judges’ scores alone would indicate.

Why Did Taylor Go Home if He Scored Higher?

The simplest explanation is that DWTS combines the judges’ scores with viewer votes when determining who leaves the competition.

ABC has repeatedly described Season 35 eliminations as being based on both components rather than the judges’ leaderboard alone. That means Taylor’s three-point advantage over Guillermo did not guarantee safety. Once the public vote was included, Taylor and Britt ended up with the weakest combined result.

Guillermo, meanwhile, received enough viewer support to overcome his lower score and advance for another week.

The exact difference between them cannot be calculated from publicly available information because DWTS does not release each contestant’s vote totals. There is therefore no reliable way to say how many more votes Guillermo received or how close Taylor came to surviving.

Guillermo’s Survival Is Becoming a Season 35 Pattern

Taylor is not the first contestant this season to leave while Guillermo had a lower judges’ score.

During the opening night of the season, Guillermo scored just 10 out of 30 but survived while Conner Leavitt, who had 12, was eliminated. On Viral Hits Night, Guillermo tied Giada De Laurentiis at 12 points, but Giada went home after the viewer vote was added.

Yacht Rock Night made the pattern even clearer. Guillermo scored 15, while Taylor had 18, yet Guillermo advanced again.

That does not mean the scoring system is favoring Guillermo. It means he appears to be performing much better in the audience vote than he is on the judges’ leaderboard.

His personality, long-running role on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and partnership with reigning champion Witney Carson may all contribute to his popularity with viewers, but DWTS does not publish demographic or voting data that would prove exactly where his support is coming from.

Was Taylor Hanson Actually in the Bottom Three?

Viewers should also be careful about treating the final couples shown waiting for results as an official ranking.

DWTS commonly announces safe couples in no particular order, meaning the celebrities left standing near the end of the results sequence are not necessarily the second- and third-lowest contestants in the combined vote. The only position the show definitively reveals is the couple eliminated.

In this case, Taylor and Britt were the pair with the lowest combined outcome after judges’ scores and viewer voting were taken into account. Where Guillermo or any of the other surviving couples ranked in the public vote remains unknown.

Taylor’s Higher Score Was Not Enough to Overcome the Audience Vote

Taylor’s elimination is another reminder that being above someone on the DWTS leaderboard does not necessarily mean being safer than them.

His 18 gave him a three-point advantage over Guillermo before viewer voting was included, but that advantage ultimately disappeared in the combined result. Guillermo’s supporters were able to keep him in the competition for a fourth performance, while Taylor became the fourth celebrity eliminated from Season 35.

For Guillermo, the question is becoming less about whether he can survive one weak score and more about how long his audience support can continue compensating for his position with the judges. For Taylor, Yacht Rock Night showed the opposite side of the same system. A better judges’ score can help, but on Dancing With the Stars, it is never the whole result.