If you can believe it, Dancing With The Stars has been alive and well for nearly 30 seasons! It is an absolutely iconic part of television and pop-culture in general!
Who doesn’t want to see a B-list celeb compete against other B-list celebs in a professional dance competition, amirite?
Here are some interesting behind-the-scenes secrets about the show that fans don’t know!
1. There is always a backup celebrity contestant in case of an emergency.
If for any reason the celebrity who was supposed to perform is unable to last-minute, there is a replacement celeb who has been rehearsing the same dance all week, prepared to step in in the case of an emergency.
2. A lot of the scenes are scripted.
Surely, if you’re a reality TV fan, you already know that a lot of what is shown is manufactured by the producers.
They add in a bit of drama to keep viewers interested. Wendy Williams, who was once a contestant on the show, confirmed that she was asked to read from a script at times.
“I know this as a participant, OK. I’m reading, I’m like, ‘Wait, this is not how I’m feeling today, and I wouldn’t say that. I’m not going to say that,'” she revealed on her talk show.
“I would tell the camera, so instead I would say what I want to say,” she added. “When they put you in the room and you have to talk to the camera about your experience. You know, the one-on-one with the camera — I was letting people know that they script you what to say. And I would look at my partner Tony Dovolani and say ‘Tony, I wouldn’t say this.’”
3. They embellish certain stories for each contestant.
“You go into [a season] with preconceptions of what couples will be like, but things change. With James and Peta … we saw paparazzi shots of them on a date and that was way before [the show even started], so as a story point, we wanted to follow that up,” one of the show’s producers told TrendChaser .
4. All of their costumes are custom-made.
According to Dancing With The Stars alum, Vanessa Lachey, the BTS costume designers have to make every single outfit by hand, specifically for each dancer.
They hold two costume fittings per week before the big show.
The dancers even get to help choose what their costumes look like.
One of the dancers on the show, Lindsay Arnold, revealed that she would often choose what style of costume she was looking for and what fabric she preferred.
5. There are some celebrities that the producers have been trying to get on the show for years.
“There are jewels that everyone has heard of,” one of the producers told People . “Jennifer Grey, Kirstie Alley, Paula Deen, Patti LaBelle — those are the people we asked almost every season until the timing was right.”
They’ve also asked Bill Clinton to be on the show every season so far, but he has repeatedly declined.
6. Contestants are paid more generously the longer they remain in the competition.
For instance, Bindi Irwin’s contract reportedly offered to pay her $125,000 just to be on the show.
She would then receive $10,000 to $50,000 each week, according to TMZ . However, if she managed to make it to week eight, then she would have made $230,000.
7. Every season, the show goes through about 5 gallons of spray tan.
Yup, you read that right. Zena Shteysel, the show’s head makeup artist revealed to InStyle :
“We have what we call spray tan Sundays, where everyone comes in on Sunday to get tanned.”
“Spray tanning is a major part of the grooming process, as this helps to hide imperfections and creates the illusion of tighter, leaner looking bodies,” she added.
“We always add a glow to the bodies before they hit the stage — South Seas Skincare Island Glow Body Bronzer is a favorite on set. ”
8. Each celebrity is paired with a dancer based on their body type and personality.
Based on the amount of drama that transpires, it’s hard to believe that they don’t intentionally pair celebs with dancers they don’t get along with.
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But according to one of the show’s producers , Rob Wade, it’s actually the opposite.
“It’s based on height, build, and personality and compatibility. We don’t pair people who aren’t going to get on. It’s too intense,” he told E! News!.
“It’s not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn’t do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us, and the viewer. You don’t want to see two people who don’t like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn’t get on so well.”
9. The winners of the show are sometimes selected ahead of time.
“There’s a lot of manipulating going on with the producers,” actor, Alfonso Ribeiro, said in an interview with AOL .
“About what weeks you’re doing which dances, and are you doing your best dances early or are you saving them for later. There’s a lot that goes into pulling out a win on the show versus being the best.”
10. The dancers need to have approval from the show’s producers to take on other jobs outside of the show.
An insider revealed to Fox News that the dancers and judges are mostly prohibited from taking on side jobs while they’re still working on DWTS .
Julianne Hough had to turn down a role on a sitcom because the producers wouldn’t allow it!
11. Many of the dancers and contestants remain close after the show wraps up — some even date.
For example, Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev announced their engagement on Instagram and welcomed their first child just last month!
