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Dancing with the Stars Season 31 semi-finals are tonight, Nov. 14. With only six couples left and a double elimination, the stakes are at an all-time high for this season’s competitors. Ahead of tonight’s performances, judge Carrie Ann Inaba warned the remaining competitors. Find out what she doesn’t want to see in the ballroom this evening. 

Carrie Ann Inaba, who issued a warning to the couples heading into the 'Dancing with the Stars' semi-finals in 2022
‘Dancing with the Stars’ judge Carrie Ann Inaba | ABC/Eric McCandless

Six couples will dance in the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ semi-finals 2022

Last week, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation star Vinny Guadagnino and Heidi D’Amelio were eliminated from the competition. Here is who will perform two dances in the Dancing with the Stars semi-finals tonight: 

  • Trevor Donovan and Emma Slater
  • Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas 
  • Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart
  • Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy
  • Wayne Brady and Witney Carson
  • Shangela and Gleb Savchenko

Like last week, the judges will send two couples home at the end of tonight’s episode by combining fan votes and their scores. Inaba is ready to dock points if couples do one thing in the ballroom tonight — incorporate lifts into their routines.

Carrie Ann Inaba asks ‘DWTS’ semi-finalists to avoid lifts 

Inaba posted to her Instagram Stories ahead of the Dancing with the Stars semi-finals. “To all the semi-finalists,” she began. 

“Please … no lifts tomorrow night. In watching the shows back, I see I may have missed a lift or two.” 

Since she didn’t notice them at first, the Dancing with the Stars judge did not dock any points from those unnamed couples like she normally would. She concluded her post: “The competition is very close, so let’s keep the rules in mind. Wishing you all the best!” 

Carrie Ann Inaba is a stickler for the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ lift rule 

Occasionally, the DWTS pros will incorporate a lift into their dances to wow the audience and the judges alike. “[The National Dance Council of America defines] a lift [as] any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner,” Inaba explained in a 2017 Facebook post. 

Lifts can happen in the Jitterbug, Argentine Tango, Jazz, Contemporary, and Charleston dance styles. However, since there aren’t any couples performing those dance styles in the semi-finals, Inaba does not expect to see lifts throughout tonight’s performances.

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As Inaba explained in her Facebook post, the lift rule exists to “level the playing field” for those competing on Dancing with the Stars. “If lifts were allowed in every dance, people would start doing lifts to make their dances visually exciting, because truth be told, a good lift is always great to watch,” she said. “I LOVE a lot of the lifts that I see. It hurts me sometimes to take a point off. But if they did that same move in a ballroom competition, they would be penalized.”

The contestants have been warned! Any lifts Inaba catches will mean less points for the semi-finalists.

Dancing with the Stars starts at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Tune in to Disney+ to see which couples make it to the season 31 finale. 

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