“Dancing with the Stars,” first airing in 2005, has become vastly popular within the past few years. The show’s pros and stars have started to grow their fan base and engage with existing fans through social media. Tiktok has become a huge platform for “Dancing with the Stars” couples to promote themselves. Posting popular dances, sneak peaks into rehearsal and new trends, cast members continue to keep the viewers engaged beyond each Tuesday night episode. “I love watching Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold’s Tiktoks this year. They’re hilarious!” says freshman Allie Day.
Social media has also cast a spotlight on the “Dancing with the Stars” troupe members. The troupe members are typically younger dancers who perform without celebrities. They either have their own group dances or act as backup dancers to the stars. Former troupe member Hailey Bills rose to fame through her features on professionals Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovsky’s social media. She has recently joined as a new pro for season 35. Beginning this new chapter, Hailey Bills’ first partner is former star Brook Nader’s sister, Sarah Jane Nader. Hailey Bills and Sarah Jane Nader are only the second girl and girl pairing on the show, following Jenna Johnson and season 30 runner up JoJo Siwa.
In addition to highlighting the troupe, producers created a spinoff called “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro” where 12 new dancers compete to earn a spot on “Dancing with the Stars” as a pro. Each episode featured a new challenge for the dancers judged by Mark Ballas, Shirley Ballas and a rotating roster of the show’s pros. In the eight episode finale, former celebrity cast members Charli D’amelio, Nev Schulman and Adam Rippon danced with the contestants. Adele Zaikman, dancing with Nev Schulman, won the competition and is now a pro on the regular show. However, she unfortunately got eliminated with her partner Conner Leavitt in the very first week.
While many enjoy the rising popularity of troupe members and the new pro dancers, some have complained that they are taking away from the stars’ time on the show. The producers have incorporated more troupe dances early on in season 35. The increasing number of dances in just a two hour period takes away time from the judges to give adequate feedback and critiques. Alfonso even had to limit judges to one word because of the new time squeeze. “I love watching the troupe, but I think that they should incorporate more dances later in the season once more couples get eliminated,” says Senior Ava Grant.
2026-10-30