Actress Jenna Dewan is among the celebrities competing on Season 35 of Dancing With The Stars. She’s a pretty big name for the ABC dance competition. However, fans aren’t happy about her being on the show. Keep reading to see her response to the shocking backlash.
Fans Angry Over Dancing With The Stars Season 35 Cast
After releasing the names of four Season 35 celebrity contestants over the summer, ABC unveiled the full cast list on September 2. The cast is a mix of 1990s nostalgia, social media influencers and athletes.
- Tatyana Ali (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Jan Ravnik
- Tyler Cameron (The Bachelorette) and Sharna Burgess
- Giada De Laurentiis (Celebrity chef) and Alan Bersten
- Jenna Dewan (Step Up) and Val Chmerkovskiy
- Ezra Frech (Paralympic athlete) and Daniella Karagach
- Amber Glenn (Olympic figure skater) and Pasha Pashkov
- Taylor Hanson (Singer) and Britt Stewart
- Maura Higgins (Love Island UK) and Mark Ballas
- Conner Leavitt (Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) and Adele Zaikman
- Ciara Miller (Summer House) and Brandon Armstrong
- Sarah Jane Nader (Reality TV star) and Hailey Bills
- Jackson Olson (Savannah Bananas player) and Emma Slater
- Guillermo Rodriguez (Jimmy Kimmel Live! sidekick) and Witney Carson
- Harry Shum Jr. (Glee) and Jenna Johnson
- Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You) and Ezra Sosa
- Connor Wood (Comedian) and Rylee Arnold
It’s a star-studded cast, so why are fans so upset? Several of this year’s celebrities have extensive dance experience. Julia Stiles played a character who got into Juilliard in Save the Last Dance. Harry Shum Jr. is on Grey’s Anatomy now but showed off his dance moves on Fox’s Glee and two movies in the Step Up franchise.
Jenna Dewan starred in the OG Step Up movie. She met her future ex-husband, Channing Tatum, while filming the 2006 movie. She also starred in Take the Lead and was a judge on the short-lived Come Dance with Me dance competition.
DWTS fans believe Jenna Dewan, Harry Shum Jr. and Julia Stiles have an unfair advantage over the other contestants due to their prior dance experience.
Jenna Dewan Explains Joining DWTS Amid Backlash
Before she got into acting, Jenna Dewan toured with Janet Jackson as a backup dancer. She’s paired with three-time Mirrorball champ Val Chmerkovskiy. However, she insists that she doesn’t have an unfair advantage. “I do not know how to ballroom dance,” she told Entertainment Weekly in an interview after the backlash.
“It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done – I can go out there and do that,” she added. “It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges. But that was part of why I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself,” she explained about why she joined DWTS.
Tune in to the two-night Season 35 premiere on Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16. Tell us in the comments if you think Jenna Dewan has an unfair advantage.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger