No, ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Isn’t Easy — Just Ask Zendaya
Zendaya, at the age of 16, appeared on Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars in 2013. The actress had just begun making her mark in the industry with Disney Channel's Shake It Up, co-starring alongside Bella Thorne as a pair of friends who long for dancing stardom, ironically enough, and take their first steps, or first two-steps, on Shake It Up, Chicago, the show-within-the-show. She was paired with Val Chmerkovskiy, a long-time professional on the series, and made it all the way to the finale where, despite receiving 10s across the board, they came up short, losing to American Idol alum Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough, before he took a seat at the judge's table in 2020.
In an interview with W Magazine published on January 3rd, 2025, Zendaya was candid about her feelings surrounding her time on ABC's dance floor, saying, "Listen, I'm still harboring a little animosity about that. I felt that loss. I was only 16 years old, and it was highly stressful. Being on live television every week? It’s so scary." She confesses that much of that stress rested on her shoulders, having taken the opportunity far more seriously than, in retrospect, she should have. She expands on that point, adding, "I wish I'd enjoyed it a little bit more and was just like, 'Eh, whatever.' You know what I mean? But I was stressing myself out. I really went through it on that." Celebrity or not, everyone can relate to how hard it would be to find the courage at 16 to put themselves out there on live television, where you're being judged not only by the panel but by hundreds of fans at home. To this day, Zendaya admits she has not watched the show since her appearance and has only watched it intermittently before.
The 'Dancing with the Stars' Rules Back Up Zendaya's Experience
Now, it could be the memories of a 16-year-old who was still adjusting to life in the spotlight at the time, but in Zendaya's defense, the Dancing with the Stars rules celebrities commit to are far more hard-core than you might expect. For starters, you don't choose the show, the show chooses you, but you increase the odds if you're already a fan of the show. But you can't tell anyone if you've been chosen. Speaking of choices, you also don't pick who you're partnered with, which songs you dance to, your wardrobe, or who does your hair and makeup. You practice seven days a week, must attend the final dress rehearsal, and get a spray tan once a week. And even if you've got the routine down, the producers reserve the right to tweak it as they see fit during rehearsals.Zendaya isn't the only celebrity to look back on their time on Dancing with the Stars in a less-than-positive light. Danica McKellar is one of several contestants who claim the show is "rigged" so that some stars stay on longer than they should, saying the series is "a reality show, not a dance competition." But then another star, Antonio Sabáto Jr., claimed that, "If you're not a dancer, or you don't have dancing skills from a young age, you're not gonna win." So, stars that actually have dance experience have a competitive advantage? Hardly skullduggery, but there you go.
