A temporary addition to a reality show’s judging panel, brought in for expertise or star power. On Dancing with the Stars’ Dedication Night 2026, former champion Kym Johnson-Herjavec served as guest judge, pushing scores to a 40-point scale and steadying a panel that had spent the week at the center of the Val Chmerkovskiy controversy. Her scores counted fully, which is why her perfect 10 for Frech carried real competitive weight.
(Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0))
Mentioned in: Tyler Cameron’s Girl-Dad Reveal, Amber Glenn’s Near-Perfect Night and the Elimination That Never Came