Kaitlyn Bristowe and Artem Chigvintsev are apparently confused and frustrated as to why Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba has been so hard on them with her weekly feedback.
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On Monday night's episode of Dancing with the Stars' 29th season, Carrie Ann insisted a "jump" Artem had incorporated into his jive routine with Kaitlyn was "a lift" because Kaitlyn can't do a back tuck on her own.
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Although DWTS judge Bruno Tonioli believed Kaitlyn and Artem were just swing dancing, Carrie Ann said she was "going to keep fighting" for the lift so she could essentially deduct a point from Kaitlyn and Artem's score.
"At this point, it starts being a little personal," Artem, 38, told Entertainment Tonight during a joint interview with Kaitlyn, 35, after Monday night's Dancing with the Stars episode.
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Artem added, "At this point right now, we just feel like we're never going to make her happy. It feels really discouraging, in a sense, to come back next week. I was literally wanting to have earmuffs and put it on top of [Kaitlyn's] head."
Kaitlyn was clearly hoping for a more positive review from Carrie Ann this week given the judge had been very tough on her during the October 26 episode, admittedly.
"It was another not great dance of yours," Carrie Ann told the dancing couple last week.
Artem apparently doesn't think Carrie Ann's criticism of Kaitlyn and her dancing recently has been fair.
"I feel it's definitely, maybe not a different standard, but I feel like it's different expectations. I don't know," Artem told ET.
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"I'm watching back the dance itself, it's like, 'Oh, you can kick sharper!' Well, I can say that about everybody who dances on the show today. I don't know. It's really odd."
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Kaitlyn said she's curious as to whether there's more to the story when it comes to Carrie Ann's arguably-harsh critiques.
"I would love to have her on the podcast, ask her a few questions. I don't know!" said Kaitlyn, who hosts Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe.
"It's always reassuring to talk to other people and have them asking those same questions because we come back and we're like, 'Huh?' We're good at accepting constructive criticism. We're like, 'Okay, great, now let's apply it. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.' With this one, it's like, 'Huh? Okay?'"
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Kaitlyn noted that Carrie Ann also didn't go easy on The Bachelorette's Season 15 star Hannah Brown, who ended up winning the mirrorball trophy on Season 28 last year.
"I just want to know where it comes from. Is it from a place where you believe in us and you want us to do better? Is it coming from a place of, 'I was hard on Hannah and you're another Bachelor girl?'" Kaitlyn wondered in her interview with ET.
"Where is it coming from and how are we supposed to take it and bring it into our next rehearsal? What do you want us to channel and use from it? It's very hard to understand that."
However, Kaitlyn -- who landed in the middle of the judges' leaderboard this week --defended Bruno and Derek Hough's comments.
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"Derek says things and I'm like, 'Great! Oh my gosh, I could work on that. Let's use that next time.' Same with Bruno," Kaitlyn said. "And when Carrie says things, I'm like, 'What do you want us to do with that?'"
Last week, Kaitlyn and Artem -- who are typically in front of the pack every week -- were only two points away from landing at the bottom of the judges' leaderboard after performing their paso doble inspired by Cruella de Vil.
Carrie Ann told Kaitlyn after the dance, "It felt like at moments you gave up," adding that Kaitlyn had a moment of "chaos" when it looked like the reality TV star's "spirit dropped."
Kaitlyn admitted to People she had "cried in the corner" following Carrie Ann's feedback.
"My soul was crushed, because I feel like this was one of the dances where I went out there and was like, 'I'm going to hit this so hard and I'm not giving up,'" Kaitlyn said at the time, adding that she "felt so defeated" after the performance.
"That was my all. I know I could have done better in some places but I don't feel like I ever gave up."
"For me, it's one thing for Carrie Ann and the judges to be constructive," Kaitlyn elaborated. "To hear a certain kind of feedback like 'it wasn't my favorite' or 'I thought you gave up' or 'Your spirit was down' ... that's tough to hear."
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However, Kaitlyn and Artem survived elimination on Monday night's show and will return to the Dancing with the Stars stage next week.