Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba has defended the season 35 contestants who are catching flak for their previous dance experience. The recently unveiled cast includes Step Up star Jenna Dewan, Save the Last Dance actor Julia Stiles and Glee’s Harry Shum Jr. — all of whom have notable backgrounds in dance. Some fans have been arguing that this gives them an unfair advantage in the competition.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly on the topic, longtime judge Inaba defended the casting decision, stating that ballroom is very different from the celebrities’ past training. It takes a lot of time to un-train the body to put your weight on the front more over your toes instead of back and down and grounded.” “It’s not as easy as people think,” Inaba added. Dewan, 45, started her career as a backup dancer on Janet Jackson's 2001 “All for You Tour” before landing featured roles in music videos for Christina Aguilera, Pink, Missy Elliott and NSYNC, among others.
She famously performed alongside Channing Tatum in the 2006 dance movie Step Up. Dewan went on to host Jennifer Lopez's dance competition show World of Dance and also served as a judge on the 2022 CBS series Come Dance With Me. Stiles, 45, performed an iconic tabletop dance in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You and most of the dance sequences in the 2001 hit film Save the Last Dance, in which her character is an aspiring ballerina.
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Shum Jr., 44, played Mike Chang on the hit Fox series Glee. Similarly to Dewan, he started his career as a backup dancer for Lopez, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, and also appeared in the Step Up franchise. Inaba admitted that Stiles and Dewan “have an advantage in some ways because they’ve got the rhythm and they’ve got the musicality and they know how to dance.
They know how to learn choreography and remember choreography.” But she added, “It’s been a few years since they’ve all danced, right?” Contestants in past seasons have also had prior dance training, with very different success rates on the show. Those who weren’t as successful on the show included Glee’s Heather Morris, who came in eighth place in season 24 despite her experience as a backup dancer for Beyoncé. Amanda Kloots, a Broadway star and former Rockette, came fourth place in season 30.
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