Julianne Hough Reveals Her Surprising Answer to the Dancing with the Stars Winner She 'Strongly Disagreed' With

Julianne Hough knows that not all mirrorball trophy winners win based on skill.

On Sunday, Aug. 18, the Dancing with the Stars host, 36, shared a candid admission about a celebrity winner she "strongly disagreed" with while answering a viewer question on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

When fellow guest, country singer Mickey Guyton, quipped, "I just said Bobby Bones," Hough replied, "I actually agree with you and I think it's because of the fan base."

She explained, "It’s all about fan base on that show. He was not the best dancer.”

Bones won the mirrorball trophy in 2018 alongside DWTS pro Sharna Burgess. Despite receiving low scores from judges, he cinched the title through fan votes. Milo Manheim placed second with Evanna Lynch in third and Alexis Ren coming in fourth.

“Thank you to the people, thank you to Sharna for making all this possible," Bones said of his win before then-co-host Tom Bergeron added, “You are, in very true words, the people’s champion my friend."

Shortly after winning the trophy, the radio show host, 44, jokingly told PEOPLE of his plans to hang up his dancing shoes once and addressed the criticism he received from his performances.

"I’m never dancing again," he said at the time. "I have retired from dancing. The dancing thing was crazy because I went into it not knowing how hard it actually was. Being around the pros and actually seeing them do their thing, they’re professional athletes.”

“The people on the internet that loved that show were brutal to me,” he explained. “If people love dance, you didn’t love me on that show. If people love people going on and trying something new and putting their heart on their sleeve and being uncomfortable, then I think that’s who I was able to connect with. No one who was a ballroom fan was ever going to like me.”

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Earlier this month, PEOPLE exclusively confirmed that Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro would be resuming their duties as co-hosts for the hit competitive dance show's upcoming 33rd season.

In addition to Hough and Ribeiro, judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough will return to their seat the judging panel.

ABC will announce the celebrity dancers competing in the season 33 cast at a later date.