Pro Alan Bersten Previews DWTS Format Change

Getty Alan Bersten and Amanda Kloots

“Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Alan Bersten recently teased an exciting format change for the show in a June 2022 interview with TVInsider. Read on to find out what he’s “excited” about and how it rewards the “loyal” “Dancing With the Stars” fans.


Alan Said the Show Can Run ‘2 Hours & No Commercials’

It was announced in March 2022 that “Dancing With the Stars” is moving to Disney Plus and has been renewed for (at least) two seasons with the move. Fans have been wondering what that means for the format of the show — will it go back to having a separate results show? Will there be commercials? Will it air live to all time zones at the same time?

It sounds like several of those things are true. First off, both judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli have talked about the show airing live across the country, which means that now Mountain and Pacific timezone viewers won’t have to vote without having even watched the dances.

Now pro dancer Alan Bersten has said that he’s looking forward to the “loyal” fans getting more of the show they love.

“I feel like our fans — and I know I’m biased — they’re so loyal,” the dancer told TVInsider. “We owe everything to them. Yeah, they’ll have to switch [to Disney Plus] but they’ll get more time with us — two hours and no commercials. They’ll get more of what they love.”

Fans have been complaining for years that with the show doing away with the separate results episode, the two-hour broadcast feels very rushed — they now have to fit in all the performances, truncated video packages, four judges’ comments and still do an elimination right at the end of the two hours. It’s too much.

Alan is right — Disney Plus could air two full hours of content with no commercials, which would mean that dances could be longer or video packages could showcase more of the pairs and what their journeys are like, or the judges will have more time to give fuller, more thought-out critiques.

They could also still have plenty of time for an elimination where we get to hear a little bit from the eliminated pair before the show ends — or, as Heavy has suggested, maybe they will air a separate results show the following evening. It wouldn’t even have to be a full hour like it used to be because Disney Plus is not beholden to broadcast time slots.


Alan Did Say He Doesn’t Know if He’s Returning Yet

Alan joined “Dancing With the Stars” in season 20 as part of the troupe, even subbing in for an injured Maksim Chmerkovskiy during season 24. Then in season 25, Alan made his debut as a pro partner with singer Debbie Gibson. He won the Mirrorball trophy in season 28 with Hannah Brown and finished in fourth place in the most recent season with Amanda Kloots.

But, like all the pros at this point, he does not yet know if he is going to be asked back for season 31. The producers traditionally cast the celebrities first and then pair them up with the pro dancer they think is the most appropriate for each contestant.

“I haven’t heard [about next season] yet. But I hope to go back. ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is my dream come true,” Alan told TVInsider.

Indeed, Alan previously told the podcast “The Gamer Hour” that he “burst into tears” when he was cast on the show because he was so excited.

“When I found out I was on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ I called my mom and I burst into tears. It is the pinnacle of success for a dancer,” said Alan.

“Dancing With the Stars” returns for its 31st season in fall 2022 on Disney Plus.

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