'Dancing With the Stars' 2014 News: Alfonso Ribeiro Admits Why Criticism Towards Him Was 'Driving Him Nuts' [VIDEO]
Many Dancing With the Stars fans believed it was unfair for Alfonso Ribeiro to compete in (and win) the show due to previous dance experience, but he finds this criticism very frustrating.
Ribeiro, who won season 19 this fall with pro partner Witney Carson, spoke with Glamour about a variety of topics, including this criticism that has been lobbed at him.
"Oh, it was driving me nuts," Ribeiro admitted. "I was 12 when I did Broadway. What was so difficult for me was that I had less dance experience than two of the other people in the competition. Lea [Thompson] was a professional ballerina. She had more professional training than I ever could consider having. And Janel [Parrish]. So when I sit back and look at it, I say, 'Have I had dance training? Yes. Let's talk about that dance training.'"
'Dancing With the Stars' Pros Karina Smirnoff, Peta Murgatroyd & More Unsure Of Returning In 2015
Parrish wound up placing in third with Val Chmerkovskiy while Thompson ended up in sixth place with Artem Chigvintsev.
He noted that the level of experience he had previous to competing on the show was not necessarily enough to prepare him for Dancing With the Stars.
"Can I dance? Yes, but that's like saying, 'The guy who can throw a baseball can go play baseball.' Um, no!" Ribeiro said. "There's different levels of it. Just because you have a strong arm, it doesn't mean you're going to go start for the Yankees! [Laughs.]"
Ribeiro is currently dancing with various pros on the Dancing With the Stars Live! Tour. Though he sustained injuries while competing on the ABC show, he has previously said that he is healing and able to do more things now that he's not necessarily competing on a huge competitive show.
Dancing With the Stars returns for its 20th season on Monday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
