Todd McKenney: See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Local News, By Joal, 29th July, 2009

Todd McKenney is paid to be nasty, apparently. Unfortunately, he can’t buy the favour of television audiences.

Dancing With The Stars television audience is reeling after a ‘nasty’ McKenney ripped into blind paralympian and contestant Gerrard Gosens [pictured right with dancing partner].

“You have accomplished huge things in your life but is ballroom dancing one of them? Tonight, I’ve got to say it isn’t,” said McKenney as he, along with the other judges, dished out the lowest score of the night to Gosens.

McKenney told Gosens that his dancing was “appalling” and “stilted” and that he hunched “like an old man”.

While Gosens accepted the low scores, he says McKenney’s criticism, unlike the other judges’, wasn’t constructive. It’s the second consecutive week that Gosens hit the bottom of the celebrity dancing ladder, but the author, athlete and father of one was spared elimination by the high amount of viewer votes.

And those voters have also hit back at McKenney. While the show’s online message boards are already full comments regarding McKenney, from his dancing qualifications to his comments for contestants, the site has been inundated with Gosens’ supporters.

McKenney’s response to the furore has been that he is paid to judge contestants’ dancing and to entertain the audience. The statement has lead to accusations that Channel 7 is using Gosens’ appearance and humiliation to boost ratings, an idea that Channel 7 programmer Tim Worner flatly denies, according to Perth’s The Sunday Times.

Commenting on the difficulty of dancing with a vision impairment, Gosens agreed that it was tough but indicated his other senses made up for the loss. “It’s hard, yeah, but I can smell cheap aftershave so I know where Todd is at least,” said Gosens on the night.

The man who once climbed Mount Everest said that McKenney’s words did have an impact on him. “I would not be being honest if I said I was not taking it personally,” Gosens said, and indicated he was trying to set an example for others, like his daughter, who is also blind due to the same degenerative illness he suffers.

Gosens’ wife, Heather, also weighed in on the debate, telling News.com.au that, “Gerrard is trying to show other impaired people that it is appropriate for them to be involved in mainstream activities, saying to these people that things like dancing can be part of their world too. But Todd, who has a wonderful knowledge, offered nothing constructive when he could have been more encouraging.”

Watch Gosens and partner strutting their stuff here: