Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) Season 34 premiered on Sept. 16, and as the show progresses toward the finale scheduled for Nov. 25, fans have become upset with the celebrities competing. Growing criticism sparks a large online debate: is the DWTS stage a level playing field?
The controversy stems from celebrities with a dance background being cast, which contradicts the show’s tradition of featuring celebrities without a strong dance background being taught by professionals. This debate has two sides. Many believe that the training before the show ruins the show’s original purpose of learning how to dance from scratch. Others think that better dancing improves the show and makes it more fun to watch. South Varsity dance team member Riley Degemmis ’29 spoke on the topic.
“I feel like it’s not fair,” Degemmis said. “If some people come on the show already knowing how to dance when they’re supposed to be learning on the show.”
The backlash rose on social media when influencer Charli D’Amelio competed on and won Season 31 in 2022. D’Amelio has been trained in competitive dance since she was three years old and gained her fame on TikTok from dancing videos. Other controversial stars include Broadway singer Jordan Fisher, who won Season 25 and also had a dancing background. DWTS fan Alissa Mourad ’27 agrees with Degemmis.
“The point of the show is for these stars to come on and learn from professional dancers,” Mourad said. “I feel like if a star already has a dancing background, that’s not really fair.”
Current competitor, Heidi Baldwin, is this season’s critiqued star. Baldwin received ballroom dancing training starting at a young age and competed in college. Baldwin was eliminated during week four and publicly claims she was bullied off the show by critics and mean “girls”, she told Us Weekly, upset with her dance background. Wells Webber ’28 disagrees with the critics.
“I think [having a dance background] makes the dance routine better and more entertaining,” Webber said.
Stars have also been critiqued for other things in their past. Sean Spicer’s casting, Season 28, caused backlash from fans because his fame comes from politics. Dancers with criminal backgrounds, like retired professional football player Adrien Peterson, Season 32, didn’t sit well with many viewers. This, among the controversy surrounding previous dance training, has posed the question of whether people are reading into things too much or if the show needs to improve its casting department based on celebrities’ pasts.
“If the casting department reaches out to celebrities, that makes it biased from the start,” Mourad said. “So either way, the casting doesn’t seem fair.”
