Could James Van Der Beek Win ‘Dancing With the Stars’?

Getty James Van Der Beek

James Van Der Beek is competing on the current season of Dancing With the Stars. The television actor has taken the competition by storm, and many feel he has a chance at winning the entire thing. Could Van Der Beek win Dancing With the Stars? What are his chances of winning?

Before the season started, Van Der Beek was considered the biggest competition by three of the contestants, including Ally Brooke, Hannah Brown and Kel Mitchell. The Dawson’s Creek star has repeatedly proved them right, as he notched the highest score curing the first week and has continued to shine in subsequent weeks. Brooke talked to Entertainment Tonight about Van Der Beek, and how she considers him to be the frontrunner.

Van Der Beek Is the Frontrunner for ‘DWTS’ Season 28

“It’s so tough because everybody’s killing it and rising [and] I love all of them too, but I would say James is so amazing — and his technicality,” she admitted. He is totally one to watch for sure… They’re all amazing, so I don’t want to [pick one].” Brooke also complimented Van Der Beek’s professionalism and his willingness to encourage others.

“I also love him so much. He’s kind of like … a father figure to me on the show because he’s so encouraging to me and supportive,” she continued. “Literally, when I’m walking down the stairs, he’s always there to hold my hand. … He’s just literally perfect, but he’s incredible, so I’m like, ‘I’m watching you, James!’”

Van Der Beek Says He’s Having a ‘Great Time’ On the Series

Van Der Beek talked to Us Weekly about joining Dancing With the Stars and how it echoed a storyline of his fictional self in the sitcom Don’t Trust the B In Apartment 23. “I don’t think it could be any more meta without all of our brain imploding. That happened because I love to dance and I thought it would be really fun,” he explained. “I’m the one who actually pitched that storyline.”

“Fake me doing a fake Dancing With the Stars because I thought it would be really fun to dance and I thought it would be amazingly fun to also play a scene where like the fake version of me melts down, hallucinating and his hands are made out of pound cake,” Van Der Beek added. “I learned, one cha-cha and had a great time.”

Van Der Beek Finished With the Highest Week 1 Dancing Score

On a lighter note, Van Der Beek told PEOPLE that dancing has allowed him to lose weight. “I haven’t stepped on a scale, but my pants have gotten looser,” he revealed. “I was training, I was fight-training for something for like six months. So I was in pretty good shape, but not dancing shape. It’s a whole other level.”

“I knew it was going to be hard,” Van Der Beek continued. “I was prepared for a really, really steep learning curve,” he said. “It’s about what I expected. I had no illusions going in. I knew it’d be a lot of work. I knew it would be a ton of time. I just really wanted to do it.”

So does Van Der Beek have a chance at winning the current season of Dancing With the Stars? Based on his performances so far, and the positive momentum he has going, we’d say that he’s the contestant to beat.