Because when it comes to the ABC dancing competition series, fans have speculated if the winners are predetermined or “fixed.” But as soon as Ryan O’Dowd—BBC Studios’ President of Unscripted TV as well as a producer on the show—got wind of the speculation, he immediately shut the notion down.
“We take that very seriously,” O’Dowd told Deadline of the theories in an interview published May 27. “We have never, nor would we ever do anything to manipulate the votes.”
“The show really needs to be credible,” he continued. “It needs to allow the viewers to have a voice and to really be the voice of who deserves to win. So, we have never, nor would we ever want to manipulate that in any way.”
From the onstage romances to the killer dance moves, the executive producer made it absolutely clear that authenticity is a main priority in creating the show. Which means that when Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and pro partner Jenna Johnson emerged as the winners of season 33 in November, it was absolutely deserved.
And now, as the next season of Dancing With the Stars quickly approaches, a few of the highly anticipated celebrity contestants have already been announced.
Indeed, the network revealed last month that Australian heartthrob and wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin—the son of the late Steve Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin—will soon be joining the reality series.
“I am over the moon to be joining Dancing With the Stars this season,” Robert—whose sister Bindi Irwin won the season 21 Mirrorball Trophy alongside partner Derek Hough in 2015—admitted to E! News in April. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m ready to hit the ballroom. Let’s go, let’s do this.”
“I don’t know how my dance moves are but I’m gonna give it 110 percent anyway,” he continued, adding that any new project is an opportunity to “really bring it back to the central message that we have which is conservation and protecting animals.”
Disney/Eric McCandless
Since it takes two to tango, the show’s second celebrity contestant was revealed just one month later. After having a bit of high school dancing experience, influencer Alix Earle was announced as the second celebrity who will be lacing up their dancing shoes this fall.
“I’ve always been a fan of Dancing with the Stars,” Alix said on Good Morning America earlier this month. “I used to watch it when I was so young with my grandma, and she would always say to me, ‘Maybe one day you could be on there.’”
“I was so in love with dance,” she added. “I’m ready to challenge myself, I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun. So it was a very obvious answer to say yes.”
Ahead of season 34, take a look back at who left it all on the dance floor during season 33…
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