Dancing with the Stars winner Witney Carson is facing backlash for appearing to throw shade at Dylan Efron and his brother Zac Efron in a text.
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"Sooooo freaking goood!!!!" Carson wrote to Witney, 32.
But fans were paying attention to a different part of the couple's exchange in the now-deleted screenshot, which has since circulated on Reddit and social media.
According to the screenshot, Carson had messaged his wife, "Zac Efron is here," during Dancing with the Stars' semifinals performance show on November 18.
Witney responded to her husband, "I saw! They are trying to get votes."
Witney and her celebrity partner, wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin, competed against Dylan -- who won The Traitors' third season -- and pro partner Daniella Karagach all season long.
Given Zac is a famous actor who has starred in films such as The Lucky One and The Greatest Showman, Zac's presence in the ballroom naturally may have boosted the votes Dylan and Daniella received that night.
And Witney, based on the screenshot, appeared to think Zac's attendance in the audience was a ploy to secure his little brother more votes in the Dancing with the Stars competition.
Many fans were angry or disappointed in Witney for the "crazy" remark.
"I'd bet everything I have that the only reason Zac never went to watch Dylan (until last week) is to avoid this specific situation: being uncredited for the work and progress he made this season and people saying he only moved on [because] of Zac," one critic wrote, according to People.
Another person reportedly added, "You text those things to your hubby to get it out... you don't then post said texts to your social media page️."
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Some Dancing with the Stars fans also called Witney a hypocrite since Robert's mother Terri Irwin and sister Bindi Irwin -- who had won her own season of Dancing with the Stars -- were frequently in the ballroom cheering Robert and Witney on.
Robert's late father Steve Irwin, known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was also brought up numerous times as Robert fought for the mirrorball trophy in the Season 34 competition.
However, there was a camp of Dancing with the Stars fans who didn't think Witney had done anything wrong.
One person reportedly wrote, "I don't think there's anything wrong with this and was not said in a shady way lol."
The Witney supporter continued, "Every celeb contestant will use any connection they can to get votes️ and like it was an unspoken thing that they were holding out on Zac being there to drum up suspense for when he'd finally show."
A third person reportedly commented, "I mean, she's not wrong. They're all trying to get votes. It's a competition! Maybe I just don't see it but I don't get what's so wrong about the text, it didn't even sound snarky (to me)."
People reached out to Witney, Dylan and Zac on Saturday, November 29, but none of them have yet to publicly address the incident.
Witney and Robert were ultimately crowned champions on Dancing with the Stars finale night.
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Dylan and Daniella finished the competition in fourth place.
Social media influencer Alix Earle and pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy placed second, and Jordan Chiles and pro partner Ezra Sosa came in third place.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
