Whether Dancing with the Stars should cast stars with dance experience is a debate as old as time. OK, I’m being dramatic, but it is a debate that comes up season after season. Now, with the next installment of DWTS set to premiere this fall on the 2026 TV schedule, it’s come up again. Thankfully, pro Jenna Johnson has addressed the criticism, and she made some fantastic points.
From Olympic figure skaters and gymnasts to Disney Channel alums to a Dance Moms vet to TikTok stars, there are lots of contestants in DWTS's back catalog who have some sort of dance experience. JoJo Siwa (who was Johnson’s partner) and Charli D'Amelio come to mind as two who had a legit dance background before joining the series. The criticism is that other stars with less experience are at a disadvantage because of this. So, Johnson was asked about this by Us Weekly. Here’s how her explanation began:
I’ve had somebody with absolutely no experience. I’ve had somebody with experience. I’ve had an Olympian. I’ve had JoJo Siwa. There’s a wide range, but Dancing with the Stars is such a different beast.
Jenna Johnson really has had a wide range of partners. She’s won twice, with figure skater Adam Rippon in Season 26 and with The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei in Season 33. She also came in second with Catfish’s Nev Schulman and JoJo Siwa in Seasons 29 and 30, respectively. See, there’s a range of experience represented here, and they did well.
To that point, Johnson emphasized that Dancing with the Stars is more than just dancing. It’s also about being ready to perform live on television. That adds a whole new layer to this beast, as she explained:
There is the live element that people don’t take into consideration. Going out in front of millions of people with a studio audience and performing live … there is no other feeling when it goes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You’re live when that red light goes on. You cannot explain that. You never know how someone’s going to react or show up in that moment.
That’s so true; a great dancer could be terrible in a live environment, while someone with little to no experience is a natural in the spotlight but has to really work on their moves. Excelling on Dancing with the Stars does not just mean doing the choreography well; it also means thriving in a high-pressure, live environment, as the longtime pro said:
And ballroom dancing and having to do characters and theme nights. There is so much that goes into it. I understand when people are like, ‘Oh, you know, dance experience, whatever.’ Who cares! This is the first time they’re ever doing Dancing with the Stars. That is very different.
Along with DWTS being a different beast than simply being good at dancing, the show is a popularity contest. The fans vote on who gets to go through, and typically, the people who really commit to the process, show improvement, and charm the audience (no matter how good they are) tend to do the best.
I mean, let’s all remember how far Andy Richter made it last season. While he wasn’t getting the highest scores, he was having so much fun, and he charmed those watching, so he got pretty far. Notably, he was eliminated eighth, and then the week after that, Whitney Leavitt, the contestant with notable dance experience last season, got voted out. Ultimately, Robert Irwin won Season 34, and while he became a good dancer, he didn’t have prior experience.
So, overall, I think Jenna Johnson made some good points. Someone can have dance experience, but they’ve never done Dancing with the Stars. It’s a different situation entirely, and it means people of varying degrees of dance experience, or those with none, have a chance to thrive.
Now, to see who takes home the mirrorball this year, you can catch the Season 35 premiere of Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday, September 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC or with a Disney+ subscription.
