After 16 years of helping to high-kick the broadcast reality TV craze, Dancing With the Stars is quickstepping its way off ABC and onto the Disney+ dance floor. Finally, all those Marvel and Star Wars fans clamoring to watch a former child star do the Viennese waltz are getting what they crave…
The announcement comes after 30 seasons of ABC’s starry dance throwdown, which has been a staple on the network for so long this news is almost hard to believe. Beginning this fall, Disney+ will premiere the reality show exclusively, the first live series to debut on the streaming service.
Does that mean JoJo Siwa can wear the official Disney Princess title? (It is my patriotic duty to implore you to watch this video of her dancing while dressing as Pennywise the clown from It. A moment in history.)
Along with the big move, Dancing with the Stars has already been renewed for two seasons on the streamer. Though the upcoming Season 31’s panel has yet to be set, last season’s judges included Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman, and Julianne Hough, with Tyra Banks as the host and Ray Chew as the musical director.
The beloved dance series, which has aired for over a decade on ABC, has faced a number of shake-ups in the past few years. Tom Bergeron, who hosted the show from the very beginning, was just booted in 2019, fired due to “creative differences.” He and co-host Erin Andrews, who joined in 2014, were replaced by America’s Next Top Model host Tyra Banks, who, well let’s just say we were rooting for you. We were all rooting for you.
There was a bit more controversy surrounding Bergeron’s exit, too. Though he and Andrews have continued to skirt interview questions about their departure, speculation pins the discrepancy to Bergeron’s public denouncing of Sean Spicer’s involvement on the show.
Like The Masked Singer, Dancing with the Stars has been spiraling into some dark territory with the Stars segment of the show. Competitors like Spicer, Carole Baskin, Tonya Harding, and Olivia Jade have resulted in an outpouring of backlash for the show. There has also been a backlash against its casting of controversial conservative figures like Tucker Carlson, Tom DeLay, Bristol Palin, and Rick Perry.
Under the scrutinizing eye of the Mouse, though, could this be the end of eye-raising “celebs” on Dancing with the Stars?
Disney+ has been carefully curating their platform to be as uncontroversial as possible, ditching anything without a family friendly label. Recently, though, a handful of more mature Marvel series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, etc.) did break that barrier, so perhaps Disney+ is ready to spark just a bit of controversy in their Dancing with the Stars casting.
Then there’s the question of what celebs they would even be able to attract now that they’re on a streaming service instead of a broadcast network. Sure, the most recent season of Dancing With the Stars scored its lowest ratings in history, but it was a tried-and-true platform for grabbing mainstream attention. And while we’re having Question Time: How is the voting going to work now? And is anyone actually going to subscribe to Disney+ just to watch Dancing With the Stars Season 31?
In the best case scenario, maybe the show will become a house to promote the latest Disney+ megastars. Oscar Isaac, Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen—it’s time to break out those tap shoes!
