• Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas were forced to cancel their planned Dancing With the Stars giveaway.
  • Whitney and Mark had intended to giveaway tickets to a DWTS live show, which had some fans accusing them of trying to buy votes.
  • In a follow-up video explaining the situation, Mark and Whitney promised to find another way to make it up to the fans.

There's only one way to win the Mirrorball on Dancing With the Stars and, spoiler alert, it doesn't involve giveaways. One of season 34's front-runners learned that the hard way this week, after Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas were forced to cancel their DWTS giveaway.

Riding high after their Wicked-themed quickstep earned them three 10s last week, Mark and Whitney decided they wanted to do a giveaway, reportedly asking fans on TikTok to engage with the post in the hopes of winning tickets to a live show. That video has since been deleted, apparently at the request of ABC and BBC, and the giveaway is official no more.

dancing with the stars wicked night special guest judge jon m. chu, director of last years oscar® winning wicked and this years epic wicked: for good, joins the panel to provide expert insights as the couples dance to the films iconic soundtracks in the ozdust ballroom. tuesday, oct. 21 (8:00 10:00 p.m. edt) on abc. (disney/eric mccandless) jan ravnik, julianne hough, jordan chiles, witney carson, whitney leavitt, mark ballas, pasha pashkov (photo by eric mccandless/disney via getty images)
Eric McCandless/DISNEY via Getty Images

“We actually can't do a giveaway for the Dancing With the Stars live show,” Whitney said in a TikTok posted on Friday. “It just really sucks because Mark and I just wanted to do something really special for you guys that have shown us so much support and love,” she continued, before pledging to find another way to thank the fans. “We're gonna get creative,” she promised.

Mark barely spoke in the video, but he did note that the order came directly from the networks. And while it hasn't been confirmed, fans are thinking that the giveaway probably broke a major DWTS rule—namely that you can't give fans prizes in return for engagement or votes.

Many fans were quick to point out that giving away free tickets to the DWTS live show felt a lot like an attempt to buy votes. “Trying to find a loop hole for bribing is WILD,” one person wrote in the comments. “No kidding... ‘vote for us and I'll give you a gift’ that's rigging the whole thing,” wrote another.

Others, however, came to Whitney's defense, pointing out that she and Mark never actually said that voting for them was a requirement to win the giveaway, and that they were probably just trying to do something nice for fans. “Why are so many of you people commenting so toxic?? They wanted to do something kind?? It's not bribing!” one fan wrote, adding “Whitney is an influencer, doing giveaways is a regular thing. Y'all need to stop hating on Whitney for no reason.”

We'll let the fans decide tonight, when Whitney and Mark take the stage once more.