Dumped Dancing With The Stars contestant Nova Perris gets candid about accusations of judge favouritism towards Ben Cousins: ‘High up on Helen’s flirt board’

Olympic gold medallist Nova Peris has suggested that favouritism did indeed play a role in the controversial judging decisions on Dancing With The Stars.

The 53-year-old former Australian senator and Olympic hockey player was sent home on Sunday night along with Masterchef favourite Julie Goodwin.

After a sensational group performance to Kylie Minogue’s Step Back in Time, the couples battled it out for a limited number of places in the semi-finals. Nova performed an impressive Cha Cha to I Love the Nightlife.

Judge Helen Richey, however, thought differently, stating that Nova stayed within her capabilities. Ultimately, she only awarded the performance 19 points, which was not enough to keep her in the competition.

Some fans were so angry about the double elimination that they even took to X and Instagram to claim the dance competition was “rigged.”

Others suggested that contestant Ben Cousins, who scored lower than Julie with the judges, should have been sent home but was allowed to stay to fulfill the show’s “redemption arc” for the traumatized athlete.

Nova seemed to confirm these sentiments in an exclusive interview with the Ny Breaking Australia on Monday, saying she didn’t score very high on ‘Helen Ritchie’s Flirt Board’.

When asked what she thought AFL champion Ben had achieved to reach the semi-finals ahead of her, Nova replied bluntly: “I think he was high on Helen Ritchie’s flirt list.”

She continued: ‘The judging is subjective. They look at different things and they might have a favorite.’

Nova remembered Helen making a comment ‘to Adam [Doville] or James [Stewart] about how beautiful they were’.

“Do we judge people’s performance by their appearance?” she asked. “And Craig Revel got excited when he saw the men with their shirts open.”

“You go into every performance wanting to go to the next dance and it’s disappointing,” Nova said of the outcome. She holds no grudge, though: “If we ended with a bang, that would have been a nice way to end,” she reflected.

Nova spoke about her nerves on the show: ‘It’s a horrible gut feeling when you get there. It’s being filmed. There’s a live audience. You have to remember the steps, whether to laugh or not, and when to look at which camera… It’s not as easy as some people think.

Nova joked that Ben Cousins ​​(pictured) may have outlasted the other athletes on the show because he scored high on a judge’s “Flirty Board.”

Masterchef alumnus Julie Goodwin (pictured) was also eliminated from Dancing With The Stars on Sunday after recovering from a calf muscle injury she sustained in the first week

She called herself an ‘artist’ rather than an ‘entertainer’.

“As an athlete, for me there is a big difference between entertaining and performing on the sports field,” Peris said.

‘Sam [Jade] and Lisa [McCune] are entertainers by profession. While myself, Shane [Crawford]and am [Cousins]are artists. We don’t seek entertainment. We go out and win. We work hard. They are two completely different things.’

Nova hasn’t been able to watch the series yet because she’s currently covering the Olympic Games in Paris, but she says she’s had “really nice reactions from her family and friends.”

Nova also thanked her “beautiful” dance partner Craig Monley and his wife for their support

Fans were in an uproar over Sunday night’s elimination, flooding X and the competition’s Instagram page with comments like, “WTF Julie should have stayed” and “Julie got ripped off big time.”

“They are really trying to save Ben,” wrote another, while a fourth disgruntled fan wrote: “Who’s voting for Ben? Really…”

‘How on earth does Ben survive? Must be manipulated for their whole bs “redemption arc.”‘ added another.

Fans were not exactly happy with Julie and Nova’s double elimination and took to social media to vent their frustrations

Dancing With The Stars judge Mark Wilson, who has judged on the Australian series for 14 seasons, said he loves how passionate fans are, but called any suggestions the judging is unfair “outrageous”.

The negative reactions to Julie and Nova’s elimination “are a testament to how strong the competition is this year,” he told Ny Breaking Australia on Monday.

‘We judge our celebrities solely on the dance moves they perform that night.

“We four judges all have extensive experience as judges and dancers and take the integrity of dancing very seriously,” Mark continues.

‘Any suggestion of manipulation and favouritism on the part of the jury is ridiculous and outrageous.

“As judges, we can sometimes disagree,” the five-time Australian dance champion continued. “But we are all judging the technical ability, the natural talent and the quality of the routine that the celebrities are performing that night.”