A record-breaking season of Dancing with the Stars will come to an end on Tuesday night with a three-hour finale that, for the first time, will include three live dance rounds for the remaining five couples to compete in.
Season 34 has been one for the history books, catapulting the ballroom dance competition series to its best audience in years while also setting fan voting records each and every week. It also happens to be the year that Dancing with the Stars is celebrating two decades on air.
Host Julianne Hough has been there for most of them. She joined the DWTS family in 2007 as a pro dancer at just 18 years old, and she won her first two seasons. Since then, she has also been a judge and, now, a host. In an interview with Deadline, Hough reflected on Season 34, how far the show has come in 20 years, and what it felt like to step on that ballroom floor for the anniversary episode.
“We were not blowing up this season because we’re a new show,” she tells Deadline. “This has been around for 20 years of people putting so much time and energy and effort and sacrifice into it, and so I think I was just overwhelmed by just the magnitude of how much the show has changed my life.”
Read the rest of the interview below, where Hough also weighs in on the departure of Mark Ballas and Whitney Leavitt on Prince Night, the online discourse this season, and Tuesday night’s three-hour finale.
DEADLINE: This season has been such a fun one to watch. What’s it like to have been part of it?
JULIANNE HOUGH: The fact that this show has been around for 20 years, and this season is bigger than it’s ever been, and the way people are invested, I mean, I will say it felt like this back when I was on the show in Season 4 in the sense that, like, people would have watch parties, they would watch it live on TV with their families and stuff like that. But then, the world changed so much. So it has that same nostalgic feeling, but even blown up 100 times, because everybody’s watching on social media. Everybody’s a commentator now. Everybody’s creating their own content surrounding the show. So it’s like it has the same nostalgic feeling that I felt when I was 18, but like, blown up in a way that I can’t even comprehend, truly.
DEADLINE: What do you think has fueled this surge in interest around the show?
HOUGH: I mean, logistically and just age wise, I think that the generation of people that were having kids back when it started, [those kids are] all in their ’20s now, and so they’re catching a wave, and I think with TikTok and everything, dance has become so popular. On the emotional, spiritual level, I will say that it’s one of the few shows that are on TV right now that promote goodness. I mean, I’ve seen so many people comment on it. It’s not a political show. It’s all about transformation and supporting each other, watching people progress and grow as human beings and dancers. It feels like a family. It’s this thing that is bringing people together in a way that, I think, [we need] more than ever. We obviously are so separated, and this is like a unifying thing that we can all relate, bond, and feel like we have in common with each other. So that’s my deep answer, but I think, on just a surface level, it’s a feel good show that we don’t have a lot of. I think with this specific like competition show too, there are other competition shows that you’re expected to be the best every single week, like a singing competition. Whereas Dancing with the Stars, it’s about taking somebody that’s not an expert and building them up. So it’s about the journey. If you look at life, it is about the journey, it’s about the growth and the process. So I think people are experiencing something within their own lives by watching this show. I know that’s super deep.
DEADLINE: You and Derek have both been part of the show for so long. You got quite emotional during the opening of the 20th anniversary show. What did it mean to you to be part of that episode, specifically?
HOUGH: Well, I think I’m pretty sensitive energetically, and so being in that room with with all these alumni [and former] Dancing with the Stars contestants in this room, and just the build up in anticipation, with it being the biggest season it’s ever been, there was just so much energy in that room that day and and that was a really special number that my brother choreographed. The intention that went behind it, [with] all the original pros, and then there was a moment to highlight Len at the judges’ table, then to bring out Tom, who has been like the staple of the show for so many years — and I have so much reverence over the fact that I’ve been able to be a dancer, be a judge, and be a co-host. I think I was just overwhelmed by the fact that this show has not just raised me as a kid into a 37-year-old, but it’s given me an opportunity to actually grow and change and try new things and has been supportive of it, and it’s allowed me to step into different roles. So I think there was just a lot of reverence…of bringing Tom back and just paying respect to everybody who built this show. We were not blowing up this season because we’re a new show. This has been around for 20 years of people putting so much time and energy and effort and sacrifice into it, and so I think I was just overwhelmed by just the magnitude of how much the show has changed my life.
DEADLINE: Whenever I’ve visited the show, I’m always impressed by how much goes on behind the scenes. Now that you have been a pro, judge and host, how do you feel like that’s given you perspective on just how much on an undertaking this show is?
HOUGH: Well, I think that the unsung heroes are our crew, in the sense that they don’t get the external applause because we don’t see them, but what they’re doing behind the scenes is choreography. It is a dance. They are turning sets over in under three minutes during a commercial break that people would be losing their minds if they saw what they were doing. The lighting directors, the people that have to clear music every week — I mean, that job is really hard to get all those songwriters to sign off — the costume designers, the hair and makeup. I mean, this show, it looks like a perfect package, because it is. It’s everybody being an expert in what they do and knowing that the show as a whole is the success, not one person being the star, if that makes sense.
DEADLINE: Speaking of this idea of being part of a team, I love that you and Alfonso joined the team dances this year. How was that experience for you?
HOUGH: Oh my gosh, that was hard for me. I’m not gonna lie. When you’re immersed in something, you have the momentum, and you’re, like, in it, right? When you just pop somebody in, I’m like, I don’t have any say here, because I’m not competing, but it’s what I’ve done my whole life. I’m a competitor,.I am a choreographer. I’m a creative director. All these things that I do…I really I have to bite my tongue here. So, just as a funny thing, it was hard for me, but it was obviously very fun for me to be a part of, just to be on the dance floor again with the dancers and seeing them in rehearsal. Maybe it was a good thing for me to be able to chill out and relax and give the control over.
Disney/Christopher Willard
DEADLINE: Is it something you’d be open to doing again next season?
HOUGH: I mean, any time the producers call for us to be a part of something, I’m always like, ‘put me in coach,’ because it’s such an honor to do anything on the show. Yeah, that one was hard for me…but again, I had so much fun, and I loved being in the room. That was more of my own personal issues. [Laughs].
DEADLINE: That’s fair. I mean, there are multiple pros working together to choreograph each of those team dances. I’m sure there are a lot of opinions.
HOUGH: I just give credit to all of them. Again, like I said, they’re in the competition, so they’re immersed, so they have the momentum. They’re already in it, and so they know how to work with each other, etc. I’m like, I haven’t been on that dance floor, competed or put a number together with another group of people in 10 [to] 15 years. So it was just a funny exercise for me.
DEADLINE: Have there been any dances this season that have stood out to you?
HOUGH: I mean, this season, the standard has been so high, and I’m so impressed and proud of our pros for their choreography. Daniella [Karagach] is one of my favorite choreographers. She just always finds these really fun moments that, obviously, can go viral, but that are so creative and unique, but also have her spin on it. She definitely has a signature, and you know it’s a Daniella move. Mark Ballas’ choreography is so rhythmic and quirky and musical, because he’s a musician, and his brain thinks not just as in, like ‘I’m choreographing a dance, but I’m creating an entire universe and a storyline and everything’ from the little musical moments that he’ll add to the song. There are certain pros that elevate their performances through what they add to the production and the music and stuff like that, and Mark is definitely one of those pros. I mean, I’m so sad that [he and Whitney Leavitt] didn’t get to go to the finale for the sheer fact of their freestyle, of what they were going to do. They have to figure out a way to do this number, because it was going to be epic. The music was incredible. I mean, it was amazing. I’m trying to think of specific ones [I liked]. I loved Dylan [Efron] and Daniella’s Argentine tango.
DEADLINE: That Argentine tango was definitely a highlight.
HOUGH: I think so too. I remember watching it in rehearsal, and I literally screamed, because I was like, ‘Yes, he got his butt under!’ This whole time, that’s been either a note from the judges or just what I picked up on. He just really locked in. That was such a fun moment, and that dance was epic. I mean, I loved Mark and Whitney’s Halloween dance. I thought that was fantastic. Robert [Irwin], anything that he does, he’s just so embodied and so every limb of his body is connected, and it’s filled with energy. So it’s like everything he does is full out. Whereas, some of the other competitors, it’s like they have energy, and then it kind of drops, and then they go into something else, and they have their great legs, or they go into arms. But Robert…it’s all filled out in his entire body. So, just anything he does, I think, is super powerful. And Alix [Earle], I loved her Ginger Rogers number from two weeks ago, that was beautiful.
DEADLINE: Going back to Mark and Whitney, that elimination felt very premature. What’s going through your mind, having been a judge and a pro, when it feels like someone is sent home far too soon?
HOUGH: Well, I mean, it kind of goes in both directions, right? People can stay on longer than you think that they should, and then people leave earlier than you think they should. That’s part of the voting. I think that, because 50% of the vote is fan base, and then the other is for the judges scores, in Mark and Whitney’s case specifically, I mean, they were just torn apart this whole season by social media and there was just so much noise around them as a partnership and favoritism and all sorts of things. People really created a thing to, I don’t know…they didn’t want them to be in the in it. I mean, and not everybody, but there was a certain group of people that really didn’t want them in there, and so they were banding together to get them off, is what I’ve heard. I mean, I’m not totally in the know on everything, but that’s what I’ve heard. So as a pro [and] as a celebrity, you can kind of feel — energetically, again — you can kind of feel like when it’s your time to go, even if it’s not the right time. You can just feel it in the air. I think they even said it. They just had a feeling they were going to go that week. So, yeah, it’s sad, especially because you feel like it’s a personal attack…I’m a Whitney fan, and so I feel very sad for her, specifically, and how much hate she’s been getting, especially because I think it’s not called for at all. I mean, I don’t think anybody should get that kind of hate. It was just petty, catty stuff, and that’s just unfair.
DEADLINE: I really enjoyed Whitney this season. I’m interested to see what she does next.
HOUGH: I mean, when I tell you the first day we met, I was like, ‘Oh, you’re a star.’ I can’t wait to see what happens. by the way, I commented on a post [to defend her]. I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’
DEADLINE: It’s hard not to get sucked into online conversation. It gets the best of all of us at times.
HOUGH: We all get sucked in because they were saying, like, it’s bad to be ambitious. And I was like, What are you talking about? Anybody who’s on that show is ambitious.
Disney/Eric McCandless
DEADLINE: When you see this kind of online chatter, is there anything you wish that general audiences knew about what goes into being on this show?
HOUGH: First of all, it is the most vulnerable experience anybody can go through, not because you’re getting filmed and you’re getting exposed by all of the things, but when your body is put through the amount of stress, working out and exertion, you’re already at a lower level of emotional state to hold it all together, right? It’s like how some people talk about how [on] The Bachelor everybody drinks, and so then they start talking, right? Instead of that, it’s like your body is so worn down that you can’t hold your emotions together. So all your vulnerabilities come out. You are so exposed. You have this person, your partner, who is there to hold your hand and walk you through what’s happening every single week, and being your your friend, your supporter. So when people start coming not just at you, but your partner and your partner’s families and stuff like that, now you’ve got two people that are vulnerable and exposed. It’s a really hard, I think, thing emotionally, and I definitely have seen that this season, specifically. One of the things that even Al [Ribeiro] and I really talked about, we’re like, ‘Okay, we’re not going to engage in the external, but we’re going to put a little bubble of protection around our family and be like, nobody can penetrate. We’re gonna hold them in our arms.’ They always have a safe place for to go to, so that when the pros or the celebs are having a hard time, they know they can reach out to us. They can reach out to the producers [too]. It really is a safe family.
So, as much as it’s been a hard thing, it’s also the thing that’s making the show so great. It’s the polarizing conversations and people talking about it. So it’s like, you don’t want it to go away, because it’s keeping people interested. But it does affect people. People are human, and it’s hard to be picked apart personally and not just for your dancing skills, for who you are as a person, that’s really hard…I think that there’s also something really magical about you having something to go to every single day that you know you’re making progress on. Life is about that. Life is about progress and journeys and growth and and having these little victories every day. So, yeah, there’s this structure for people when they go into the show that makes them come alive in a way that is a safe place for them to explore the fullness of who they are.
DEADLINE: What are you most looking forward to in the finale?
HOUGH: I mean, they’re doing three dances this year. What I loved about this season, and the last couple, to be honest, but this season, specifically, versus, I don’t know, a few years ago is, I feel like the competitive side got a little bit soft, in the sense that people were competitive, but they were like, ‘Oh, we’re just happy to be here.’ And by the way, everybody’s happy to be there, but I think people are pretty competitive. They want to win. There’s some really great people this season, that it could go in different directions, you know? I can feel and see the excitement turned on, and the focus from a lot of the pros being very, very specific about like, what are they going to do for their freestyle? Again, these pros are just phenomenal. I have to give every single one of them their flowers. They work so hard, and they’re so intentional, and this is their body of work. It’s not just like, do a dance every week. It’s like, this is their creativity from their brain, from their body. They’ve created this every single week. The celebrities get to perform it, but the pros have created it. I’m so wildly impressed with them…People want this, people want to win. A few years ago, in kind of life and society, everybody sort of got the participation award, you know? The pendulum kind of swung that way, and I think it’s kind of coming back a little bit where it’s like, no, no, it’s okay to win. Everybody can still have a good time and support each other, but also, like, I want to win. And I think that’s what’s kind of happened this season, specifically.
DEADLINE: I do think this season has been a balance of having ambition without putting others down in the process.
HOUGH: The thing is it’s not about winning to beat others. It’s about feeling that you put everything out there on the table and gave it your best, and you’re not going to regret that you could have done more.
The Dancing with the Stars three-hour Season 34 finale airs Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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