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Guillermo Rodriguez, Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime sidekick, has become an unexpected audience favorite on Dancing With the Stars despite low judges’ scores. Psychology Today suggests his perceived authenticity and underdog story may help explain the support, alongside “basking in reflected glory,” or BIRG. The show’s eventual results—and how much of his popularity that concept explains—remain unknown.
Guillermo Rodriguez, the longtime Jimmy Kimmel sidekick, has become an unexpected audience favorite on the current season of Dancing With the Stars, with viewers voting to keep him in the competition despite low judges’ scores. A Psychology Today article argues that his perceived authenticity and underdog story may help explain the enthusiasm, and points to a social psychology concept known as “basking in reflected glory,” or BIRG, through which people share emotionally in the success of someone they support.
Rodriguez competes with professional dancer Witney Carson. Psychology Today describes his continued progress as unexpected because other contestants are more skilled dancers. After a recent samba, the judges gave the pair 13 out of 30, yet audience votes were sufficient for them to return for another episode. The supplied account does not give the voting totals or the date of the episode.
The article connects Rodriguez’s popularity to an existing public persona: he became known as a quirky security guard before becoming an onstage sidekick on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. Psychology Today says fans value his willingness to appear unpolished, take himself lightly and acknowledge when he is not good at something. His chest-revealing gesture after a dance, showing the words “Dancing 4 The People,” was presented as recognition that fan enthusiasm, rather than dancing ability, was sustaining his run.
Psychology Today cites comments on Deadline’s article about Rodriguez, including one that said, “The world needs more Guillermos and especially now!” The article also quotes judge Derek Hough saying, “Just like everybody else, I’m obsessed with you,” and Bruno Tonioli saying, “I understand why you’re becoming a national obsession.” The show’s official Instagram account praised Rodriguez and Carson’s samba, writing that it “couldn’t be more obsessed” with the pair.
What Makes the Guillermo Rodriguez Phenomenon So Fascinating?
Guillermo Rodriguez keeps advancing despite low judges’ scores. His appeal may come from authenticity, vulnerability and underdog energy—with social psychology offering one possible lens, not a proven explanation.
A familiar face, an unlikely run
Rodriguez’s public story began before the dance floor. Viewers already knew the longtime Jimmy Kimmel sidekick, once introduced to audiences as a quirky security guard. That familiarity gives fans a personality to root for as well as a competitor to watch.
A story viewers know
His shift from security work to a comic presence alongside Jimmy Kimmel creates a ready-made narrative of unexpected opportunity.
Comfort with imperfection
Psychology Today says fans value his willingness to appear unpolished, take himself lightly and admit when he is not good at something.
Progress against the odds
When stronger dancers are expected to advance, a less technically skilled contestant’s persistence can make each round feel meaningful.
How BIRG could help explain the pull
Basking in reflected glory (BIRG) describes people sharing emotionally in the success of someone they support or identify with. Psychology Today applies the concept to Rodriguez’s audience appeal, while emphasizing that it does not establish why individual viewers vote for him.
Recognize
A familiar public persona gives viewers someone to follow.
Identify
Vulnerability and persistence may feel relatable.
Root for
Fans invest in the contestant’s progress and story.
Share the win
Success may feel rewarding to those who backed him.
Connection after success
BIRG: people may claim a sense of shared achievement when someone they support succeeds.
Distance after a setback
CORFing—cutting off reflected failure—is the contrasting idea of stepping back after a setback.
Support is visible; its causes are not
Comments and praise show that Rodriguez has captured attention. They reveal enthusiasm, but they cannot tell us how widespread a view is or what ultimately motivates a vote.
“The world needs more Guillermos and especially now!”Deadline reader comment · cited by Psychology Today
“I understand why you’re becoming a national obsession.”Bruno Tonioli · as quoted by Psychology Today
“We couldn’t be more obsessed with Guillermo and Witney’s Samba.”DWTS official Instagram · as quoted by Psychology Today
What the account leaves open
The available material describes a compelling audience response, but does not provide the data needed to determine its size, cause or outcome.
Vote totals and voter motives
No audience vote figures or polling explain whether viewers are responding to personality, entertainment, shared pride or another reason.
Claims that the contest is rigged
Some viewers reportedly made accusations, but the supplied account offers no evidence confirming them. These remain viewer claims.
BIRG predates the show
Studies of sports fans inform the concept. They did not test why Dancing With the Stars viewers support Rodriguez.
His eventual placement
The next performance and vote will determine whether the pair continues. The account gives no later result or final placement.
Can audience enthusiasm carry the run?
Rodriguez and Carson are set to return. Later scores and votes may show how far the audience support carries them, but results alone will not prove that BIRG explains the votes. More direct research into voter motivations would be needed.
Why Viewers Rally Around an Underdog
The response matters because it shows that a dance competition’s audience appeal can rest on more than technical scores. Viewers’ votes can keep a contestant in the competition even when judges give a low mark, making public connection part of the contest’s outcome. Rodriguez’s run offers a visible example of how personality, vulnerability and a perceived underdog narrative may draw support alongside performance.
Psychology Today links that support to BIRG, a term coined by social psychologist Robert Cialdini and colleagues in a 1976 study. The idea is that people may feel a reflected sense of achievement when someone they identify with succeeds. Supporting a popular or winning figure can also shape how fans present themselves and how they feel about their own standing. The article applies that framework to Rodriguez, but it does not establish that BIRG is the sole reason people vote for him.
The same identification can have a less positive side. The article describes “cutting off reflected failure,” or CORFing: distancing oneself from a group or person after a setback, in contrast to claiming connection after success. It also notes that strong investment in a favorite can make fans protective of that person’s place in the competition. This is a possible dynamic, not evidence that Rodriguez’s supporters have acted as a group in any particular way.
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From Kimmel Sidekick to Dance Favorite
Rodriguez’s public profile predates his appearance on Dancing With the Stars. Psychology Today says audiences already knew him through his shift from security work to a regular comic presence alongside Jimmy Kimmel. That history gives viewers a familiar personality to follow, rather than introducing him to the audience only as a competitor.
The article frames his appeal around a contrast: he is competing in a show built around dance skill while openly acknowledging that he is not among its strongest dancers. His progress can therefore read as an underdog story. Psychology Today suggests that, for viewers facing stress or feeling that success is hard to reach, seeing a less technically accomplished contestant persevere may be encouraging. That explanation is the article’s interpretation, not a measured finding about the motives of DWTS voters.
The BIRG concept has a research history separate from the television contest. Cialdini and colleagues examined fans’ responses to football-team outcomes in a 1976 paper, while a 1986 study by C. R. Snyder, Mary Lassegard and C. E. Ford examined basking in reflected glory and distancing after success and failure. Those studies provide background for the concept; they do not directly test why viewers support Rodriguez.
“Just like everybody else, I’m obsessed with you.”
— Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough, as quoted by Psychology Today
What Drives the Vote Is Unknown
The available account does not provide audience vote totals, a season calendar, or polling that would show why viewers are supporting Rodriguez. The BIRG explanation is offered as a possible psychological account; the article does not present research measuring whether fans’ votes stem from shared pride, appreciation of his personality, entertainment value or other motives.
Psychology Today also reports accusations from some viewers that the competition is rigged, alongside complaints that Rodriguez should leave because he is not dancing well. The supplied material does not provide evidence establishing that the show is rigged. Those comments should be understood as viewer claims and reactions, not confirmed findings about the contest.
It remains unclear how long Rodriguez and Carson will stay in the competition, whether they will reach the final, and what the eventual result will be. The account gives no later episode result or official statement addressing the voting controversy.
Next Episodes Will Test His Run
Rodriguez and Carson are set to return for another episode, according to the account in Psychology Today. Their next performances, the judges’ scores and the audience vote will determine whether the support described in the article continues. The eventual placement of the pair is not stated.
For viewers, the next milestone is whether Rodriguez can remain in the contest as the field narrows. The program’s later results may show how far audience enthusiasm carries him, but they will not by themselves establish that BIRG explains the support. More direct evidence about voter motivations would be needed to distinguish that interpretation from other reasons fans may be tuning in and voting.
Key Questions
Who is Guillermo Rodriguez?
Guillermo Rodriguez is known as a longtime sidekick on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. Psychology Today describes his earlier public profile as a quirky security guard who became an onstage comic presence.
Why is Rodriguez attracting attention on Dancing With the Stars?
He has continued in the competition despite low judges’ scores, drawing strong audience support. Psychology Today points to his perceived authenticity, vulnerability and underdog appeal as possible reasons for his popularity.
What does BIRG mean?
BIRG stands for “basking in reflected glory.” It describes people sharing a sense of success when a person or group they support does well, even though they did not cause that success. Psychology Today applies the concept as one possible explanation for Rodriguez’s fan support.
Did Rodriguez receive the highest score for his samba?
No. The account says judges awarded Rodriguez and professional partner Witney Carson 13 out of 30 for the samba. It does not provide the other contestants’ scores or the audience vote totals.
Has the show been shown to be rigged?
No evidence in the supplied account establishes that claim. Psychology Today reports that some viewers accused the show of being rigged, but gives no substantiation; the accusation remains unconfirmed.
Source: psychologytoday.com
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