14 DAY TRIAL // The other night, after Karina Smirnoff and partner Ralph Macchio danced the salsa on Dancing With the Stars, judge Bruno Tonioli put his foot in it with a series of rude and vulgar comments about it. Pro dancer Karina was just as taken aback and insulted as the audience was, she says.
The comments in question made reference to Karina’s feline-inspired suit and the very aggressive yet passionate salsa, as we also informed you yesterday.
What’s more, aside from being offensive enough to require bleeping out, they were also somewhat uncalled for since the audiences seemed to love the dance.
At least, this is what Karina believes, judging by her statement to Us Magazine.
“Today was just inappropriate and rude and uncalled for,” she says for the publication, adding that, after the awkward moment, Bruno would not make eye contact would her for the rest of the evening.
Whether he was ashamed of what he said or he was simply trying to hide his joy at bashing the pair’s routine is, of course, debatable.
As the dancing pro sees it, Bruno simply made matters personal by ignoring the dance and deliberately trashing her and Ralph on TV.
“I truly think it’s personal. Because there’s no reason why it happened the way it did,” she says.
“We worked our [backsides] off and we truly rely on our fans and we love them... at the end of the day we have the most beautiful memories, fun memories to share, and that’s what we thrive on,” she adds.
Her celebrity partner agrees: Bruno got too carried away and forgot that he was supposed to act professional in front of the cameras. The same goes for the other judges.
“That was just really an unprofessional thing to do. We went a little bigger than life. This was a chance to just break out and be funny and fun. [The judges] bought it with lots of others but they didn’t buy it with us,” he says for the same celebrity mag.
As it happens, on last night’s elimination show, Ralph and Karina were voted off the show, while Kirstie Alley and Maks were seen through to the finals.