Bobby Bones admits he ‘Cheated’ on ‘DWTS’ ahead of controversial season 27 win

Bobby Bones is a well-known radio host, author and TV personality and he is best recognised as the host of The Bobby Bones Show, a popular country music radio program as he has also appeared on TV as a mentor on American Idol and is loved for his down-to-earth personality and sense of humour.

Bobby Bones’s shocking confession

Bobby recently made a surprising confession about his win on Season 27 of Dancing With the Stars. 

During an appearance on the Trading Secrets podcast, he admitted that he “cheated.”

How he broke the rules

The American radio personality explained that the show allowed only four hours of practice per day with his professional partner. But he said, “I cheated, in the way of, they give you a limited amount of time with your partner. Like, four hours a day, they say.”

After those hours, he recorded the partner sessions and then rented a studio by himself to train more. He called it “illegally spent time over … because I was so far behind everybody else.”

Before DWTS, Bobby had never danced. He described himself as a “fish out of water.” Throughout the competition, he got lower judges’ scores than several of the finalists, Milo Manheim, Evanna Lynch, and Alexis Ren but thanks to strong viewer votes, he still won the mirrorball trophy.

Bobby Bones faced backlash after the victory

After the win, there was a lot of backlash as some fans were upset, some critics said he didn’t deserve it.

Former judge Julianne Hough said he “was not the best dancer.” Bobby responded by accepting the criticism but also embracing his role, saying he was “the worst dancer” and “the greatest champion ever."

The media personality said, "I didn’t say I was the greatest dancer but the greatest champion ever because I’m the man of the people. I’m the man that you guys selected.”

The 45-year-old’s admission has made people rethink how the show works and after his win, some rules were changed, for example, limiting votes to live episodes of the show.

Despite everything, Bobby Bones said he “loved” being on the show and praised Sharna Burgess, his partner for pushing him hard when he needed it.