why is there only 2 judges on dancing with the stars

The reason there were only two judges on the "Dancing with the Stars" Season 34 premiere was that longtime judge Carrie Ann Inaba was absent due to illness. ABC decided not to bring in a guest judge to replace her for the premiere episode. As a result, judges Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough served as the only judges for that episode, which meant the contestants received scores out of 20 instead of the usual higher total from three judges. This was an unusual decision as past absences typically saw a guest judge fill in, but for the premiere, ABC chose to keep the focus on the contestants without adding an extra judge. Carrie Ann Inaba is expected to return for the following episode. This marked the first time in 20 seasons that Inaba missed judging a performance.