Why Leah Remini Chose Tony Dovolani to Be Her DWTS Pro Partner

Heavy/Getty/ABC Tony Dovolani and Leah Remini.

Leah Remini had a special request when she joined “Dancing With the Stars.”

The “King of Queens” star was a contestant on season 17 of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition in 2013. In November 2023, she stopped by pal Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, where she revealed why she chose pro dancer Tony Dovolani as her partner a decade prior.

During the podcast interview, Burke asked Remini if she chose Dovolani as her partner. “Yes, because he was married and I didn’t know the shenanigans that goes on a dance show,” Remini replied.

“When I told Angelo, my husband, that I was gonna do ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ he said, ‘Who are you dancing with?’ I’m like’ Do you want me to show you pictures?’ I said, ‘I’ll pick a married guy,’” Remini continued. “So I went and looked at the cast and I Googled everybody and I wanted to see who was married, with kids. They would understand, we would kind of have a similar life. And so that’s why I picked Tony.”

Remini and her husband  Angelo Pagán have been married since 2003 and share a daughter, Sofia, according to People.

Not All DWTS Celebs Pick Their Pro Partners

Heavy/ABC“Dancing with the Stars” cast members.

Remini is well-known to DWTS fans. She filled in as a guest co-host in seasons 19 and 21, and appeared as a guest judge for the competition.  But she was lucky that she was able to pick Dovolani as her partner because that is not the norm.

“Dancing With the Stars” executive talent producer Deena Katz told Glamour in an interview that the producers have the final say in how the pro dancers gets paired with each celebrity. “There are some celebs that have wishes, and we always say we can’t guarantee,” Katz said.

As for why Remini was worried about having a proper partner, it’s widely known that love connections can blossom during training for DWTS. In September, pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy shared on Burke’s podcast that contestants sometimes fall in love with their dance partner.

Brooke Burke Said She Thought She’d Have an Affair With Single Pro Derek Hough

Unlike Remini, one person who didn’t choose a married partner was  Brooke Burke. When she competed on the show in season 7, she was paired with a single Derek Hough. At the time, Burke was in a relationship with actor David Charvet, whom she later married.

On Cheryl Burke’s podcast, Brooke Burke admitted to “crushing on Derek” when she was partnered with him on DWTS. “Had I not been married… I would have actually hoped we would have had a love affair,” she admitted. “I would have had an affair with him.”

“Let me tell you why,” she continued. “You are intertwined with someone’s body when you’re not a dancer. There is no way that I have ever been so connected — besides with a lover or a husband — than I was with Derek. And it’s every single day. So for three months, you are in someone’s arms. … It can be more intimate than making love in a bedroom — you’re making love on a dance floor, you feel more connected.”

Brooke Burke later clarified her comments during an appearance on “The Tamron Hall  Show.” “It’s an extremely intimate experience,” she said of DWTS. “Let me just set the record straight — and I was in a faithful marriage. But it’s like that dance where you’re just, you’re so close and you’re so connected and that intimacy, you can’t fake that. To me, it was extremely sensual. Sensual, not sexual.”

“And people do fall in love on that show. People have gotten married on that show,” Burke added.

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