DWTS Shows Clip to Put "Boo-Gate" to Rest
Updated at 9:26 p.m. ET
"Dancing with the Stars" aired a clip Tuesday night in which the audience apparently boos the collection of 8s given to Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough following their performance.
The clip was intended to put to rest the story that the audience was booing former Alaska governor Sarah Palin as she was introduced by host Tom Bergeron.
Co-host Brooke Burke introduced the clip while talking to Grey and Hough saying that it was not intended to air, but that "Dancing with the Stars" wanted to show that audience was booing the scores received by Grey and Hough and not the former governor.
"Just to put the final nail in the coffin of 'boo-gate,'" said host Tom Bergeron after the clip aired, "Sarah Palin told me before this show that she was surprised by all the controversy because she was booing [the judges], too."
Sarah Palin Booed on "DWTS"? No, Says ABC
Palin had a front-row seat in the ballroom to watch her daughter perform on Monday's episode. Just before Bergeron sat down to do a brief on-air interview with the former vice-presidential candidate, emphatic boos were heard off camera. Several media outlets and numerous "Dancing" fans online reported that the disapproval was directed at Palin.
But Bergeron said it was all about the judges, who had given three eight scores to first-place couple Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough.
The scores - each out of a maximum of 10 - "were perceived as relatively low for a dance that received a standing ovation," executive producer Conrad Green said in a statement Tuesday.
"The judges (were) basically having an argument with the audience about the eights," Bergeron said. "So the booing has started before I'm even going over to see Sarah, and it just gets louder and louder as they egg the audience on more."
Audience members are encouraged during commercial breaks to voice their feelings about the judges' scores.
Producers plan to show about 45 seconds of uncut footage from another camera angle during Tuesday's episode to clarify for whom the boos were intended.
"Lucky we had the grassy knoll camera on, because this really will just put it to rest," Bergeron quipped.
He called the reports that Palin was booed "just paranoid speculation."
The host said this is the first time in the show's 11 seasons that shots from a different angle are being shown to clarify a kerfuffle from the night before.
"I think it's out of respect really for Sarah for us to do this," he said. "Also just to clarify, just out of respect for our audience, too. These people don't get all dressed up to be hooligans."