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PHOTO: Jenna Dewan arrives at the Fashion Trust U.S. Awards 2026 held at NYA Studios West on April 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Chad Salvador/Image Press Agency/Sipa USA via AP Images)
Would it be a new season of Dancing with the Stars without a star-studded cast reveal on Good Morning America? Ahead of the Season 35 premiere, 16 contestants were revealed on GMA Sept. 2. From Summer House’s Ciarra Miller to ‘90s pop singer Taylor Hanson, the newest season is jiving with exciting pairings that’ll go head-to-head on the dance floor starting Tuesday, Sept. 15, with a special two-night premiere. But not every celebrity contestant is waltzing seamlessly into everyone’s hearts.
Already, contestants such as actor Harry Shum Jr., known for Glee, Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D, and actress Julia Stiles, recognized for her lead roles in 10 Things I Hate About You and Save the Last Dance, have been called out for having past dancing experience. Fan criticism has arguably been loudest for Jenna Dewan, whose resume includes being a former background dancer for pop icons like Christina Aguilera and Janet Jackson, the star of dance film Step Up and a past judge on So You Think You Can Dance. Dewan has also danced alongside longtime pro-turned-judge, Derek Hough in the special, Step Into…The Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough and hosted the first two seasons of World of Dance where Hough served as a judge. According to a new article by Cosmopolitan, even the DWTS cast believes Dewan has an “unfair advantage because she is a professional dancer.”
Dewan has since responded to the criticism, telling E!News that ballroom dancing is “actually very, very, challenging” and completely different from her familiar dance styles. Her partner, three-time Mirrorball champion, Valentin “Val” Chmerkovskiy, has also come to Dewan’s defense, asserting that fan votes level the playing field.
DWTS hosts, Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, have chimed in to support Dewan too. On Season 2, episode 1 of DWTS’ official podcast, Hough argued that contestants with prior dance experience must still be able to connect to audiences like the rest of the contestants. Ribeiro, who won Season 19 of the dancing competition show, added that contestants like Dewan practically have to “start over” when learning ballroom dance.
Meanwhile, longtime DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba has spoken about Dewan’s advantage to Entertainment Weekly. While Inaba acknowledged that a lot of time to “un-train” is needed to master ballroom dance, she admitted that Dewan’s experience learning choreography and having musicality and rhythm still gives her a leg up in the competition.
What might surprise newer fans is that Dewan is not the first celebrity to compete on DWTS with previous dance experience. Celebrities like Zombies’ Milo Manheim (Season 27), Dance Moms veteran JoJo Siwa (Season 30), dancer-turned-TikTok-sensation Charli D’Amelio (Season 31) and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reality star Whitney Leavitt (Season 34) competed despite already being acquainted with the dance floor.
A deeper dive into DWTS lore reveals this trend predates its TikTok popularity. As early as the show’s third season, Saved by the Bell actor Mario Lopez, who trained in jazz and tap dancing starting at 3 years old, placed second with partner Karina Smirnoff.
Sabrina Bryan, who competed on Seasons 5 and 15 (the latter is known as the “All-Stars” season) of the show, carried dance experience to the DWTS stage. One of the faces of Disney Channel’s The Cheetah Girls franchise, Bryan graduated from Hart Academy of Dance. During her initial run on DWTS, her partner, three-time Mirrorball champion, Mark Ballas, downplayed Bryan’s past dancing experience, claiming the actress had been “clueless” when it came to ballroom dancing. Bryan ended up placing seventh in Season 5 and eighth in the All-Stars season.
Criticism of contestants with past dancing experience became more routine when Melissa Rycroft, who practiced dance at Newman Smith High School and is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, joined Season 8 of the dancing competition show. Then pro Maksim “Maks” Chmerkovskiy spoke out against Rycroft’s casting, labeling it as “unfair.” Rycroft responded by insisting her dance training was not benefitting her. Rycroft placed third in Season 8 and won the All-Stars season.
Other notable contestants, such as Nicole Scherzinger (Season 10) and Dirty Dancing’s Jennifer Grey (Season 11), won their respective seasons. Both had studied dance. Season 24’s Heather Morris, who starred in Glee alongside Shum Jr., did not share the same fate despite being a former backup dancer for Beyonce and a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance. Faced with backlash from the cast at the start of her DWTS run because of her professional experience, Morris finished in eighth place. Morris later denied her dance experience helped her in the competition, calling ballroom dance “unbelievably hard.”
And some older Gen Z fans of the show might also recall contestants Zendaya (Season 16) and Jordan Fisher (Season 25), both brought prior dance experience to the stage. Prior to joining DWTS, Zendaya, who placed second in her season, performed in a youth dance program called Future Shock Oakland and led Disney Channel’s dance-focused show, Shake It Up Fisher previously starred in dance films Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach Movie 2 before winning his season with partner Lindsay Arnold.
Ultimately, fans will have to wait to see whether Dewan’s past dancing experience makes her a favorite to take home the Mirrorball like some of the past contestants in her position. May the best celeb win.
