'Dancing With the Stars' Alum Antonio Sabàto Jr. Believes the Show Is 'Rigged': 'Majority of Winners Are Dancers'

Antonio Sabàto Jr., 52, a former contestant on Dancing With the Stars, has stirred up controversy with his bold claims about the show.

"To be honest, I think that the show is partly rigged in a sense. Yeah. It is rigged," Sabàto Jr. stated during his appearance on former dance partner Cheryl Burke’s podcast “S--, Lies, and Spray Tans.”

Sabàto elaborated, explaining that the competition favors those with prior dance experience.

"If you're not a dancer or you don't have dancing skills from a young age, you're not going to win," he argued.

"The whole premise of the show would be celebrities who've never danced, but the majority of winners are dancers," the Deadly Skies alum added.

He also referenced current DWTS co-host Alfonso Ribeiro, 53, the winner of Season 19.

"He was tap-dancing with Michael Jackson," Sabàto said. "It's like me racing my whole life in professional cars, and you just raced on a track; I'm going to beat you every time."

Burke, 40, offered Sabàto a different perspective by pointing to her Season 3 partner, former NFL star Emmitt Smith, 55, who won the competition alongside her, wasn't the best dancer.

"Yeah, but he had moves," Sabàto fired back. "He had soul. He was dancing at church, you know what I mean? He had that thing going."

Sabàto then surmised why he and Burke came in eighth place during Season 19.

"If I didn't have another job and we were just, like, in Hollywood and me driving five minutes, and we had all the time in the world... I think I would've probably lasted at least another week or two," he admitted. "If we would have been free of all the other craziness, I would have had a chance of winning it."

In addition to recalling his struggles during the competition, Sabàto took issue with the show's judges, suggesting that they prioritize contestants' personal narratives over their actual dance skills.

"The judges, they know who they want, so you've got to keep that persona," he said. "There's just a lot of things that they want, that the show wants. Because it is entertainment and they need to keep the stories going, but you do have to learn the numbers."

Before Sabàto’s remarks, DWTS came under fire for casting Inventing Anna subject Anna Delvey, who was recently eliminated from the competition.

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When Ezra Sosa, 23 introduced Delvey, 33, in a post celebrating his debut on the show three weeks ago, the public responded with strong disapproval.

“Duuuuude. We need to draw the line somewhere,” one user commented, while another said, “Ezra… You are amazing, but @abc DO BETTER. She is not a 'STAR.' She’s a con artist who stole and defrauded people. Shame on you for glorifying her.”

“Ugh Ezra, you deserved so much better. Disappointed with @abc for even having her on,” a third user added.