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“DWTS” Season 35 Begins With Accusations of “Unfairness.” Before “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35 premieres, the show finds itself at the center of an alleged “unfairness.”
Sources claim that the new cast members have connections to the show, dance training, and a number of other advantages that could give them an upper hand over other contestants, sparking both on-camera and off-camera drama.
While some of the participants are arguing that prior experience is not a definite advantage in the ballroom, sources allege that people are already whispering about the unfairness of it all.
“DWTS” Contestants Question Whether The Competition Is Truly Level
Amongst the greatest discussions around the upcoming season of “Dancing with the Stars” is the apparent number of contestants that seem to have an advantage even before setting foot on the ballroom floor.
According to a source talking to the Daily Mail, the cast is already “whispering” about the unfairness of Jenna Dewan being a former dancer and others possessing dance experience.
While Jenna Dewan has become the center of the alleged unfairness, she is far from being the only one who has prior experience.
The cast also includes “Save the Last Dance” actress Julia Stiles, former “Bachelor” and “Real Dirty Dancing” contestant Tyler Cameron, and “Glee” alum Harry Shum Jr., who toured as a professional dancer before branching out into acting.
However, most of the attention centers on Jenna, who was a professional dancer for a considerable amount of time, working with some of the biggest stars in entertainment.
“Everyone thinks Jenna Dewan has a very unfair advantage because she is a professional dancer. That is how she began her career,” another source stated.
“She is more or less best friends with Derek [Hough]. They both starred together in World of Dance and [ABC’s] Step Into…The Movies,” one source claimed.
Dewan’s connections are not the only ones that have brought up controversy.
Another contestant who brings up allegations of unfairness is Tatyana Ali, who has allegedly been friends with “DWTS” co-host Alfonso Ribeiro since their days starring together in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
“There are issues with Tatyana [Ali] being on the show,” a source said. “She is very close to the show’s co-host Alfonso Ribeiro because they were co-stars and played siblings in The Fresh Prince, so there is a massive bond there.
They can compare notes, and he can talk her up. Having that connection will help her.”
Tatyana Ali Kept “DWTS” Secret from Alfonso Ribeiro Despite Their Close Friendship
Tatyana Ali and Alfonso Ribeiro are good friends, so it was hard for Ali to hide her ‘Dancing With the Stars’ casting from Ribeiro.
They had worked together on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in the 90s, so the question of whether Ali received an unfair advantage on ‘DWTS’ came up because of their friendship. However, she actually had to keep the secret from her old co-star.
An average person may think that one of the good things about having such a close friend as Ribeiro would be the opportunity to tell everything.
But for Ali, that was just the opposite because of the confidentiality agreement ‘DWTS’ producers forced her and the other celebrity contestants to sign. She had to hold off telling Ribeiro about the casting of Season 35.
“Because of all the NDA stuff, I had to hold back Alfonso from knowing until later”, Ali told Entertainment Weekly. By the time she got the okay from the producers to break the news, they asked her to remain silent again.
“This was actually one of the tough parts of the pre-show preparation phase. After I got it sorted, my first idea was to share it with Ribeiro”, she said. A few days later, Alfonso figured out that Tatyana was on Season 35, but instead of being jealous or angry, Ribeiro has been supporting his old TV sibling.
“DWTS” Fan-Favorites Could End Up Being The Season’s Biggest Advantage
While the advantages of dance experience and connections raise a few eyebrows, one insider claims that the opinions of the fans will likely prove to be the most important factor.
One insider claimed that the cast is already “eye-rolling” at the prospect of certain contestants becoming fan favorites after joining the show.
These include “Summer House” star Ciara Miller, who has recently garnered a staggering amount of sympathy from the public after recent on-camera drama, and “The Traitors” alum Maura Higgins, who also has a hefty amount of supporters after her exit from the psychological thriller competition.
The insider also mentioned Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech and Tyler Cameron, whom sources label “the babe this season.”
Dewan also commands a massive fanbase cheering her on as she returns to the ballroom with three-time “DWTS” champion Val Chmerkovskiy as her partner, reigniting the long-lasting feud between him and Derek Hough.
“As for Val [Chmerkovskiy], he certainly feels the pressure to really shine a light on Jenna’s abilities. He is always determined to win but, this season, Val feels he has a strong chance with Jenna as his partner. He will certainly not hold back against his rival, Derek,” a source stated.
Carrie Ann Inaba Weighs In On “DWTS” Season 35 Controversies
The controversies surrounding the unfairness of “DWTS” Season 35 are already bubbling up, with one of the show’s judges, Carrie Ann Inaba, speaking out about the allegations that dancers with experience may have an advantage over the other contestants.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Inaba talked about the difficulty of switching styles and how transitioning styles particularly challenges experienced dancers with experience to adapt to the ballroom due to their different techniques.
“There’s difficulty, and I don’t think people think about it when you go from being a jazz dancer or a hip-hop dancer or all the other forms of dancing [to ballroom], the weight placement is so different,” she explained.
She continued, “It’s weird because your body has memory, so it remembers how to dance, and it thinks it already knows how to do these moves, but it doesn’t.
Inaba explained that it takes a considerable amount of effort to adjust to the ballroom when transitioning from another style of dance. “Dancers need a lot of time to un-train their bodies and shift their weight on the front more over your toes instead of back and down and grounded,” she added.
Inaba’s final statement directly targets critics who slammed the unfairness of “DWTS” Season 35. “It’s not as easy as people think.”
Jenna Dewan And Harry Shum Jr. Dance A New Style
When “DWTS” fans talk about the unfairness of placing ballroom newcomers alongside seasoned dancers, Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr. have pointed out that ballroom dancing is different from the styles they are already known for.
The actress and dancer, who used to be a professional backup dancer and even has a dancing movie, “Step Up”, in her career, has said that she cannot dance in the ballroom. She explains that this particular style presents an entirely new challenge; it is an entirely new thing and therefore, “you almost have to stop what you know in order to learn it.”
Harry Shum Jr., who has an amazing dance background, also rejected the idea that his background automatically means he has an advantage in the competition. Nevertheless, ballroom and Latin dance, which are part of the dance styles required on the show, make up a different dance vocabulary for Shum Jr. It is something that he still has to learn.
Carrie Ann Inaba was also in the same boat when it came to talk about the Season 35 debate. This well-known judge acknowledged that dancers such as Dewan, Shum Jr., and Julia Stiles were in some way privileged to understand the rhythm, music, and choreography already.
Yet, Inaba said that switching from jazz or hip-hop styles to ballroom dancing will entail changing one’s technique, especially in how dancers shift their weight and control their bodies. Besides, she mentioned that simply having a previous dancing experience does not imply that a person can easily enter the ballroom and perform all required styles well.
Julia Stiles’ Dance Experience Comes With A Catch
However, Julia Stiles has a different case compared to Dewan and Shum Jr. Audiences know Stiles mostly for her role in “Save the Last Dance,” but according to her, she discontinued her dance education after that movie. She has said that the fact that there had been a long time gap since her dance lessons would actually make things harder for her in the competition.
So, even if the dancing experience of some Season 35 contestants gives them certain advantages, it does not automatically imply that ballroom is within their range of dance style. With a few hours to go before the show starts, the audience will need to wait till the official beginning of the contest to determine if the prior dance experience does become their major advantage.
Giada De Laurentiis Finds Out How Painful “DWTS” Can Be
While “DWTS” Season 35 may be full of drama both on and off the ballroom floor, Giada De Laurentiis finds out firsthand how physically taxing the show can be.
De Laurentiis uploaded an Instagram reel showing her painful injury after the rehearsals for “DWTS.” As she speaks to the camera, the star reveals that she has injured her toe while preparing for her ballroom debut with dance partner Alan Bersten.
“So I had a great day at rehearsals today, but sadly, I busted my toe,” she said before showing the camera her injured toe. “You can see, it’s pretty purple, and it wraps all the way around.”
De Laurentiis worries that the injury may get worse, potentially leading to the loss of her toenail. “I’m for sure gonna lose my toenail, I think,” she said. “Anyway, I don’t know. It hurts. But we’ll figure it out tomorrow. Part of the game.”
The star later added the following caption to the post: “You know what they say… no pain, no gain.”
De Laurentiis’ injury occurs just as she admits that “DWTS” preparation has proven to be more difficult than she ever imagined, with the star discovering new muscles she didn’t even know she had.
