Niecy Nash Disses Nicole Scherzinger

Shots fired! Did Nicole Scherzinger background as a pop dancer and lead vocalist of The Pussycat Dolls (which is by definition a burlesque dance troupe) give the stunning singing star an unfair advantage in her quest for the Golden Mirrorball trophy on the 10th season of Dancing With The Stars?

Niecy Nash sure thinks so!

The actress-comedienne has a bone with Dancing producers over their casting of Scherzinger, who out-waltzed Olympian Evan Lysacek and ESPN’s Erin Andrews to be named DWTS champion on Wednesday’s finale. Nash would have enjoyed crowning a champ who showed progress throughout the competition. However, Nicole, as you may recall, has been hailed one of the best technical performers the show has every seen.

So while Nicole and pro partner Derek Hough are doing victory dances all over the Big Apple, Niecy is getting chatty about her displeasure with the whole thing.

“I like to see the growth,” the former Clean House host — who made it to the show’s Top 5 before being eliminated two weeks ago — spilled to PEOPLE Thursday. “Nicole today is who she was when she got here — she was a great dancer and she still is.”

“There were moments you couldn’t tell her from the pro dancers,” Niecy continued.

But is that such a bad thing? After all, DWTS is a dancing competition. Niecy thinks casting rhythmically-inclined performers, like Nicole, defeats the purpose of a competition.

“Dancing With the Stars is something that resonates with me when the contestants have a journey. I was such a big fan of Kelly Osbourne last year because she had the most transformation,” she added. “I cheer for the people who have evolved. To me, that’s what the competition should be.”