ABC
ABC’s Dancing With the Stars has a rotating cast of professional dancers and judges as well as a whole host of celebrity contestants. When deciding which celebrities to invite onto the show, producers keep a few different things in mind.
The casting process is complicated and includes deciding who will be on the cast and then which pro dancer should be teamed up with which celebrities.
The producers don’t shy away from casting controversial figures like Tiger King’s Carole Baskin.
“It’s trying to find a little something for everyone and, yet, trying to find people that cross over a little more,” co-executive producer Deena Katz told Cinema Blend. “It really is not only getting you to watch a show but bringing you people that we know you will fall in love [with] when you watch their journey.”
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Producers Explain The Pairing of Celebrities
When pairing up couples for the show, the producers think hard about a number of things including the height of the celebrity and pro, according to Cinema Blend.
“You know, there’s a lot that goes into it,” Katz told the outlet. “First of all, obviously, height. There’s some basic ideas of height to make sure that everybody has the best chance. Obviously, someone like Charles Oakley is really tough because he’s 6’9″, but we look into the height.”
She added, “But it’s more about the personality. And for some of our pros, like Cheryl Burke, let’s say, that you’ve seen them, part of it is wanting the audience to get something new from their dancers as well as the celebrities. We get to know them. Knowing our pros so well, trying to find the best partnerships possible.”
The co-executive producer said that they want the couples to get along and gel well together.
“There’s some people that actually like to be trained harder,” she added. “Some of the athletes like to be coached differently than maybe an actor or somebody else. So that I meet every single one of them because I want every single partnership to shine.”
Katz also compared the casting and pairing as a jigsaw puzzle and “the best dinner party.”
Which Celebrities Could Appear on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 30?
Following a recent season of The Bachelorette, Tayshia Adams expressed her interest in being on the show, according to Extra. The show has been Bachelorette-heavy recently, however, with two back-to-back winning seasons by Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe, so it’s possible that the show will take a break from casting Bachelorettes for at least one season.
Tayshia Adams is also set to host the new season of The Bachelor, so it’s possible she’ll be too busy to appear on the show. According to Showbiz CheatSheet, pro dancer Cheryl Burke called for producers to take a pause on casting members of Bachelor Nation after the back-to-back wins.
Another celebrity who has expressed interest in joining the cast is actor Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria Baldwin, who has been accused of faking her Spanish heritage, according to OK! magazine.
OK! Magazine reports that the show is looking for another controversial figure for the upcoming season, and they have reportedly looked at casting ex-White House Advisor and Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. However, the report stated that there is uncertainty over whether she would be “too controversial” for the show.
Dancing With the Stars will likely return for season 30 in 2021.
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