The pro found herself judged more harshly than her partner.
Kel Mitchell took the stage for a sassy Quickstep to Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover" on Monday's episode of Dancing With the Stars, but his pro partner, Witney Carson, actually was the one who was judged most harshly.
As judge Len Goodman pointed out, Carson tripped on her dress half-way through the dance, causing a slight, almost unnoticeable misstep. Goodman said it was a glaring mistake, however, worthy of a critique that eventually made Carson cry.
"There was a major incident over here!" Goodman exclaimed after the dance.
"That was me. I slipped on my dress, so I'll take it," Carson graciously admitted -- though Goodman wasn't satisfied.
"Look, if the jockey's on the horse and the horse falls, it's the team that suffers, right? So I don't know if it was the jockey or the horse," Goodman replied. "However, apart from that little incident -- talk to the hand will you? -- I thought you did an amazing job. The quickstep is a hard dance, and it was fast, it was clean."
Carson and Mitchell headed to the Star Lounge with the rest of the group to receive their scores, with Carson breaking down over Goodman's comments. Co-host Erin Andrews tried to comfort her as Mitchell said that despite the mistake, their dance "felt good."
"Look what you did, you little jerk," Andrews joked to Goodman. "You made her cry!"
Goodman ended up docking a point for the misstep, awarding Carson and Mitchell an 8, while Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli each gave the dance a 9 -- bringing a smile to Carson's face.
ET spoke with Carson and Mitchell just moments after the show ended, where they opened up about the mishap. "I was like, 'Witney, hold it together,' like I usually do, and I just let it go," Carson recalled. "But it was just so frustrating because I slipped and I normally don't ever do that. So it was just very frustrating; that was my fault."
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. See more on the pair in the video below.
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