‘Dancing With the Stars’ Team on Casting Season 34, Choosing Pros

The milestone 20th year of “Dancing With the Stars” is shaping up to be one to watch. From top dancers (including the return of pro Mark Ballas), experienced and long-awaited celebrities, and exciting surprises, the team is bringing their A-game like never before. Last season, the show broke multiple voting records (more than 32 million votes for the finale) and saw the highest ratings in three years.

“I feel the pressure to try and keep it up. I think it’s a great story for any broadcast show 20 years from its inception, to still be growing in key areas,” showrunner Conrad Green tells Variety. “In the last few years, I think we’ve found a whole new younger audience who’ve re-engaged with the show and feel like it’s their show now. And the truth is, it’s always everyone’s show.”

But “DWTS,” produced by BBC Studios, has changed immensely over the last 20 years, as have the viewing patterns.

“There’s a difference now, there’s such energy and buzz around the show… My daughter and friends literally watch the show because they need to keep up on TikTok,” says executive producer and head of casting Deena Katz. “It’s turned into must-see TV in a different way.”

Katz, who has worked on the show since its inception, says younger viewers are also rewatching old seasons, much like they do with “Gossip Girl” or “The O.C.”: “It’s not just this season, it’s this excitement of other seasons. It’s taken on a whole new life.”

The Season 34 cast includes quite a plethora of celebrities — from former child stars like Danielle Fishel and Corey Feldman, to “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” influencers Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck. Throw in athletes, musicians and TV personalities, Green says this group has a “real enthusiasm” among them — which is the whole point.

“Nothing beats people really being excited about doing the show for any kind of reasons,” he says. “It’s really positive energy. Quite a lot of our people have had some experience of dance before, so I do think the dance level is going to be really high, which will be interesting to watch progress. Our audience loves seeing both great dancing and great progression.”

Katz admits she gets “so worried” every season when it comes to casting: “I always say it’s like I’m putting together the best dinner party where there’s 14 guests, and you may not know all of them, but it all kind of makes sense.”

For years, she’s been asking Fishel to be on the show, but the time was never right. Now, she couldn’t be happier. There are some people — Bill Clinton, to be specific — that she will continue to ask every season.

“I don’t take it personally if you say no. If you say you’re never going to do it, I might listen to you, I might not. I also joke with some, ‘I’m going to stalk you.’ And I think I told Danielle, ‘You’re gonna have to say yes someday, because I’m not going away,’” says Katz. “There are people on that list I’ll just keep asking, because I think they’re really right for this show.”

Of course, it’s also about finding the right pairings between professional dancers and the celebrities. Throughout the year, some pros will text Katz suggestions and sometimes, celebrities will ask for specific pros. While she considers all comments, she tells everyone the same: trust her.

“When I was with Dylan Efron, I knew immediately at lunch that he should be with Daniella Karagach. I think about it right away as I’m locking in the celebrities, and sometimes I make changes. It’s a fun show, but it is stressful,” she says. “We’re not the kind of show that tries to make couples that are going to be antagonistic, because we think it’s good television. We’re trying to do really good pairs, trying to do things that the audience hasn’t seen before.”

Katz, who also handles casting for “The Masked Singer” and “The Traitors,” is constantly thinking of who is best for each — because each has very different qualifications.

“‘Masked Singer’ is fantastic and the silliest game you’ll play — for singers or actors, people who don’t know can sing, it’s great. It’s also a different time frame. ‘Dancing’ is a long commitment and it’s about sharing your emotional journey. It’s hard for some musicians; you have to be available. ‘Traitors’ is more people who are game players. I think in general, because of the shows I do, people know, if you’re not right for something, you might be right for something else.”

After seeing how much Efron exploded as a fan favorite on “The Traitors,” she knew she wanted him for “Dancing.” Of course, some also wanted to see Boston Rob Mariano, the “Survivor” alum who became fast friends with Efron in the ballroom.

“I am the biggest ‘Survivor’ fan, so he’s on my little manifest dream board,” she says. “I wouldn’t have done it this season, because I don’t think I would have done two ‘Traitors.’ Dylan, I locked in a long time ago. But I will never say never to a Boston Rob!”

Just as much as the cast, fans of “DWTS” are invested in the pros. This season, some fans were upset that Emma Slater got paired with one of the less experienced dancers, Andy Richter, for the second season in a row. (Last year, she was teamed with Reginald VelJohnson.)

“People get mad. I have to keep it fair, too. I can’t give one person the winner every time — that’s not fair to the pros, that’s not fair to the audience. The pros are spectacular and I want every single one of them to shine,” Katz says. “Sometimes it looks like there’s a couple of seasons that someone didn’t get someone [great], but if I took out my chalkboard and showed you who everybody has gotten, it’s really even. I don’t make anyone audition, so I don’t know [how a celebrity will do]. I can do my guesses, but I’m wrong half the time, too. No one would have thought Tommy Chong was going to make the semifinals. I don’t know!”

While Season 34 doesn’t have any controversial contestants (more on that later), some viewers have been vocal on social media about being sad over the absence of Sasha Farber. The pro has competed on 12 seasons, including the last eight in a row.

“Largely, it’s about trying to get the right dancer or the right celebrity, working out pairings, and trying to be surprising in how we pair people,” says Green. “Both our dancers and the stars are big reasons for people to keep coming and watching, but our dancers are our recurring cast, as it were, so we do mix and match… People come and go, sometimes people leave to have children, sometimes people leave to do other things as well, so it’s a constant process of refreshing and regenerating that cast.”

Ballas is a big returner this season and will likely earn a great deal of votes dancing with Leavitt.

“He’s a great choreographer and great performer. He always brings so much to it,” says Green. “I think he’s going to be probably one of the favorites. But this is a super hard season to call, to be honest, with the quality of the dancers and the celebrities we’ve got, I have no idea.”

In the past, the show has had a political or specifically controversial figure in the bunch — ie. Sean Spicer or Anna Delvey. This year steers clear of that.

“Generally, we’ve tried to not lean into politics too heavily. Politics is such an ever-present thing and quite a painful subject for a lot of people in different ways, over the last few years,” Green explains. “I don’t feel like we’re a show that aims to work on division. We’re a show that aims to work on unifying people and celebrate the things that all of us as Americans can enjoy together.”

Katz adds that while she felt she had to cast Delvey — “how could I not?” — this year, it was important to steer clear of politics completely.

“I think we’re so divided right now, and there’s so much tension. The show is for everybody. We’re not preaching here,” she says. “This needs to just be a space where you can just enjoy this. I don’t need it to be divisive. I feel like right now that we really just need to be here. There’s gonna be some people you may like or not like, but not politically.”

In Season 30, the show broke barriers with the first female-female partnership with Jenna Johnson and JoJo Siwa. And in the future, they could cast a male-male duo.

“It absolutely worked with JoJo and Jenna,” says Katz. “I’m not ever going to do something like that just to do it. I have to have the right couple that I think would be great. And when I find that couple, absolutely.”

As for this season, viewers can expect a great deal of celebration around the 20 years with a big episode filled with “memorable elements,” Green tells Variety.

“Some of the things we’ll be doing in the episode, we haven’t seen in the last 20 years, in terms of both the competition and in terms of people coming, so it’ll be a real celebration,” he says. Katz teases, “You’ll see so many past celebrities, and we’re going to do things with past winners and past pros. We’re going to absolutely honor that we’re 20 years in and still going strong.”

“Dancing With the Stars” airs live on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and streams the next day on Hulu.