Anderson Cooper is not convinced by Bristol Palin’s ‘meltdown’ on Dancing With the Stars. Bristol was shown having an argument with her dance partner Mark Ballas, accusing him of not wanting her as his dance partner for the show and for not showing up for rehearsals. Of course, the episode was filmed and shown to the public. Anderson and his co-host Deborah Norville simply weren’t convinced that the ‘meltdown’ (as it has been portrayed in the media) was anything more than a desperate appeal for sympathy from Palin.

“Anybody who's on a reality show now knows that to get attention you have to take it to another level,” said Cooper. “You need to have a wardrobe malfunction, you need to pass out, you need to throw up, you need to have a fight, you need to have a break down. You need a storyline.” It certainly looks as though that’s the angle that 21 year-old Palin is going for and frankly, who can blame her, because it seems to have worked. All of the DWTS headlines since Sunday’s show have been more concerned with Bristol and Mark’s relationship than any of the actual dancing that took place over the weekend.

Anderson and Deborah went on to mock Bristol’s frozen expression and apparent lack of genuine emotion during the awkward clip that they played of the pair having a disagreement. Cooper then slammed Palin, suggesting she should simply stop doing TV work: I'm thinking of starting a job fair for people… I think there's a whole bunch of people who just need to get jobs: Lindsay Lohan, Bristol Palin… I think they just need to get some jobs, stop being on TV.” Oops – looks like that sympathy appeal may be floundering, Bristol.