Jenna Dewan defended her casting on Dancing With the Stars after fans questioned whether her long career as a professional dancer gave her an unfair advantage. Dewan, 45, was announced as a member of the season 35 cast on Wednesday, alongside her Step Up co-star Harry Shum Jr, 10 Things I Hate About You actor Julia Stiles, figure skater Amber Glenn, and chef Giada De Laurentiis. She will compete with professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, three-time winner of the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, when the US series returns on 15 September.
Fans called out Dewan’s casting, questioning how someone whose career began in professional dance could fairly compete against celebrities with little or no formal dance experience. Before becoming an actor, Dewan worked as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, Missy Elliott and Christina Aguilera, among other performers. Her acting breakthrough came in 2006 when she starred in the film Step Up opposite Channing Tatum.
She has since hosted Jennifer Lopez's dance competition World of Dance and appeared as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance. Rejecting the criticism, Dewan said that being an experienced performer was not the same as knowing ballroom dance. It’s two different languages,” she told Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday.
I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me. It’s a new technique, brand new technique.” She claimed her previous work actually made her “a little more nervous”. But that was part of why I wanted to do it.
I really wanted to challenge myself.” New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
The Witches of East End star told E!News that she wanted to do DWTS because ballroom was “actually very, very challenging for me, and I wanted that challenge”. I haven’t trained this hard in so many years and to do it in a new, different way, in this way, it was the right timing,” she said. Her partner, Chmerkovskiy, defended their pairing, pointing out that this was not “the first time we had a contestant that had experience”.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
