Alfonso Ribeiro Addresses ‘DWTS’ Controversy, Explains Origins Of ‘The Carlton’

Alfonso Ribeiro wants Dancing with the Stars fans to know that he doesn’t have an unfair advantage over his fellow competitors.

Last week Alfonso dominated the dance floor, earning a perfect score for doing “The Carlton” from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Most fans were delighted with the way Ribeiro updated his intentionally-awful dance to make it look polished and professional, which is evidenced by The Carlton’s 3.4 million views on YouTube.

However, some Dancing with the Stars viewers have complained about The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star bringing his funky fresh moves to the show — they think his dance experience is giving him an unfair edge.

Alfonso Ribeiro recently talked to OK! Magazine about this Dancing with the Stars controversy, and he revealed that he doesn’t have as much experience as people think. His biggest dancing role was the lead in the 1983 Broadway musical, The Tap Dance Kid. It was a big part, but Alfonso explained that scoring the role didn’t require years of dance training.

“The only dancing I’ve ever done was tap dancing and that was yes, on Broadway, but they taught me to tap dance to do the show. I’ve never taken any dance classes. When people call me a professional dancer that’s actually so incorrect. I’ve only taken a few jazz classes and obviously tap.”

Ribeiro might just be really good at learning new dance moves. According to E! Online, Alfonso revealed that he crafted The Carlton by mimicking Courteney Cox’s smooth moves in Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” video. The Carlton is also based on Eddie Murphy’s “White Man Dance.”

Ribeiro pointed out that the dances he’s doing on Dancing with the Stars are very different from the styles he has limited experience with.

“What we’re doing is ballroom and Latin style dances that I’ve never taken and have absolutely no experience in.”

Alfonso Ribeiro isn’t the only contestant with some form of dance experience. Lea Thompson was actually a professional ballerina, but she quit dancing after legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov told her she was too stocky for ballet. During an interview with The Huffington Post, Thompson talked about how devastating Baryshnikov’s words were.

“I was broken hearted when I quit dancing and I didn’t really dance again — not like this… Personally for me it’s really profound, because it’s like revisiting my first love. There’s a lot of joy and emotion that’s coming out of it for me.”

Alfonso Ribeiro also pointed out that Pretty Little Liars star Janel Parrish has more dance experience than him. According to Us Weekly, she had childhood dance training in ballet, jazz and hip-hop. And previous dance training might not be the only factor giving some top competitors an advantage — as Gold Derby points out, Bethany Mota has 7.5 million YouTube subscribers who can vote to keep on her on the show.

Alfonso Ribeiro hasn’t exactly been dominating the competition all season long. Sadie Robertson finished ahead of him on the leader board this week, and he wasn’t the first dancer to earn a perfect score on the show — Bethany Mota and Janel Parrish share that honor.

Do you think that Alfonso Ribeiro or any of the other competitors have an unfair advantage that will help them win Dancing with the Stars?