Fans Call for Changes to ‘Dancing With the Stars’

ABC "Dancing With the Stars."

Some fans of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” are calling for changes to be made to the show’s format ahead of season 31, which will likely air in the fall of 2022.

Season 30 of “Dancing With the Stars” ended in late 2021, and some fans have reflected on past seasons and have started asking that some changes be implemented ahead of a new season.

This comes on the heels of some fans slamming “Dancing With the Stars” for alleged racism and for lacking the same “spark” present in the UK’s version of the show, “Strictly Come Dancing.”

Some Fans Want Fewer Couples in the Ballroom

“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been renewed for season 31. If it does get renewed, the show will return sometime in mid-September of 2022.

In a January 18, 2022, Reddit thread titled, “Dancing with the Stars desperately needs to go back to 12!,” fans talked about changes they wanted to see made.

The post explains that there have been 15 couples on each of the past three seasons of “Dancing With the Stars,” and the person who wrote the post said they believe the show should go back to 12 couples.

“When you’re having to cram in double eliminations in order to make the finale team quota and rushing through the premieres something has got to give,” they wrote. “Strictly [Come Dancing] can afford to have 15 teams because that network doesn’t have commercials. But DWTS pls give us less teams, longer packages, and more time to get to know these celebrities you’re paying so much to have on!”

In the replies, some fans mentioned they think the show needs better time management in order to avoid feeling rushed.

“When Tom [Bergeron] and Erin [Andrews] were on things would get rushed but not as bad as it has been with Tyra [Banks],” one reply stated. “The credits were starting to roll before Tyra could even announce the winners this season and it was disappointing to not get to see the full reaction from the cast.”

Another person thought the time management could be fixed if the bottom two couples were announced immediately rather than all couples called safe separately.

“I also don’t know why DWTS can’t run an extra week, especially with so many couples,” one person commented. “Why does it always have to end in November? It’s not like ABC has anything to fill its time slot with until January.”

Some Fans Want Results Shows Back

Another common thread in the replies to the post was that some fans want the results show back. The results show would have aired the day after the first show of the week, allowing fans to vote overnight for their favorite couples rather than just during the show’s airtime.

“I wish they’d at least do a results show for the finale,” one person wrote. “Trying to cram everything in at once and then rushing the winners announcement is terrible.”

As with most criticism received by “Dancing With the Stars” since 2021, new host Tyra Banks took some of the heat and blame for things that fans think could be done better.

“As proof by the finale, I don’t think having fewer couples will help getting more time with the contestants,” one person wrote. “We’ll just be stuck with more time for Tyra [Banks] and judges talking. I rather them cram 15 dances personally.”

“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been renewed for season 31. If it does get renewed, the show will return sometime in mid-September of 2022.

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