{"id":2178095,"date":"2025-11-26T20:24:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2178095"},"modified":"2025-11-26T20:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:24:38","slug":"dwts-finale-and-season-34s-secret-to-success-tiktok-and-casting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/dwts-finale-and-season-34s-secret-to-success-tiktok-and-casting\/","title":{"rendered":"DWTS Finale and Season 34’s Secret to Success: TikTok and Casting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tAfter 20 years on air, Dancing With the Stars<\/a> made a comeback like no other veteran television program with their 34th season.<\/p>\n

\n\tRatings<\/a> are through the roof. Audience interaction is at an all-time high<\/a>. Viewership has only increased<\/a> week after week. All this success begs the legitimate question of how the once-struggling reality show for has-been celebrities reinvented itself and became a pop-cultural phenomenon that any public figure would be lucky to utilize as their re-introduction into the zeitgeist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShowrunner Conrad Green<\/a> and executive producer-casting director Deena Katz<\/a> both tell The Hollywood Reporter the secret to their success stems from maintaining the show\u2019s core elements while evolving to modern demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I came back to the show, my first thing was to say, let\u2019s consolidate our existing audience and make sure the show feels like what they\u2019re familiar with,\u201d said Green, who worked on the show in its original iteration until exiting<\/a> after season 17 and returning for season 33. \u201cThe next bit was then, let\u2019s outreach and try and get as broad an audience as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA few factors have boosted the resurgence of DWTS, and one of those is undoubtedly social media. Green explicitly acknowledges that a blend of \u201cDeena Katz\u2019s great casting\u201d with a laidback, uncoerced social strategy has served them well.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe showrunner explains that the social media savviness of professional dancers Rylee Arnold<\/a> and Ezra Sosa<\/a> was a turning point for the show that turned into a natural tactic for viewership. Instead of forcing the cast to post online, \u201ca lot of our other dancers saw how much attention [Rylee and Ezra\u2019s social media activity] was getting their couples, and decided to do more themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut posting on social media isn\u2019t a part of the DWTS contract \u2014 which is another reason why the team\u2019s casual strategy has worked in favor of the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t arm twist people into doing it. I never say to people, \u2018It\u2019s a part of the job that you have to do loads of social media posts.\u2019 I think a lot of the couples see it in their benefit to be part of that conversation,\u201d Green adds. \u201cIt\u2019s partly a strategy, it\u2019s partly self motivated by our dancers and our celebrities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDancing with the Stars season 34.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Eric McCandless<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tKatz, who \u201cwas the first person in America hired\u201d to work on DWTS, is the mastermind behind the celebrity (and pro) cast. After 20 years on air, part of what\u2019s proved successful of her creative process is being \u201copen\u201d to \u201ca new kind of a celebrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the modern day celebrity in 2025 appears to be the influencer<\/a>. Season 34 isn\u2019t the first time Katz cast a social media star, though it\u2019s proved to be one of the first years that digital figures were able to influence their fanbases to tune in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve forever tried to figure out for such a long time, as long as social media has been around, that how putting somebody [like an influencer] on a show wouldn\u2019t bring their audience over. It was so frustrating: Why do they have this many followers, but it doesn\u2019t turn into viewers on TV?\u201d Katz explains. \u201cWhat has happened is the TikTok world has opened something up that I\u2019ve never seen before, where we are so involved in the TikTok story every single week that there\u2019s a whole new audience that needed to start watching our show to keep up with what was going on in social media.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis season tapped Alix Earle<\/a>, Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck<\/a>, whose bread and butter is creating content. While other cast members aren\u2019t necessarily labeled \u201cinfluencers,\u201d Dylan Efron<\/a>, Robert Irwin<\/a>, Jordan Chiles<\/a>, Scott Hoying and Lauren Jauregui have massive online presences, as the show\u2019s contagious virality has parlayed positively onto the social medias of stars like Andy Richter, Elaine Hendrix<\/a> and Danielle Fishel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s clear that the \u201ccelebrity\u201d of today \u2014 at least by DWTS\u2019 metric \u2014 includes influencers. Instead of shying away from inviting the demographic onto the show, Katz has fully embraced them, which has delivered quite the prosperous results.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you want to grow as a show and audience, you have to be willing to open up to different ideas of what celebrity is. For some people, Alix Earle is the biggest star we\u2019ve ever had on the show, because that is their world,\u201d Katz notes. \u201cYou have to be able to open up and appreciate that it\u2019s not the old sitcom star and athlete that\u2019s a celebrity anymore. You need to embrace it and understand that they are really stars in their own right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAn additional viral component of season 34 was Tom Bergeron<\/a>\u2019s return<\/a> to the ballroom. The former host\u2019s guest judge appearance for the special 20th Birthday Party<\/a> episode was quite a celebratory night, but that doesn\u2019t mean the audience should expect a permanent homecoming in Bergeron\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve evolved,\u201d Katz responds when asked if she sees Bergeron ever hosting DWTS again. \u201cTom is part of our family, obviously. \u2026 I don\u2019t ever see [us] bringing him back in that role, because now that\u2019s Alfonso\u2019s role, and I don\u2019t think Tom would do that either. Maybe there\u2019s something, who knows what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tCarrie Ann Inaba, Alfonso Riberio, Derek Hough, Tom Bergeron, Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli during season 34.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Eric McCandless<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tOne of the downsides of all the new eyes on the series is the negative online discourse. The celebrities, pro dancers and judges have been subject to virtual attacks each week, as some fans launched online hate campaigns against certain stars to ensure they\u2019d be voted off, while others flooded their socials with hostile comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s awful,\u201d Green says of the online negativity surrounding the series. \u201cThere\u2019s this element of social media where some people feel they\u2019re entitled to be as mean as you can possibly be just for the sake of sport. It\u2019s certainly been hard for the cast this season, and some people get that much harder than others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGreen is talking about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives<\/a> star Leavitt. The reality star was tormented during her run on the competitive ballroom series online for various unjust reasons, including admitting to past dance experience and revealing on season three of the Hulu show<\/a> that she stayed on her cast for a shot at DWTS.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was astonished when I was reading some of the things that are written about Whitney, who\u2019s the nicest person you could ever meet, super talented and loving being on the show,\u201d Green recalls. \u201cThere\u2019s no difference to me in her journey, frankly, than Alix Earle\u2019s. And yet one of them seems to be getting tons of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe showrunner admits \u201cit\u2019s a bigger issue than this show,\u201d adding that he encourages the cast to \u201cswitch off your phone [and] don\u2019t read below the line\u201d as to tune out the noise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBaldwin was similarly criticized for having a dance background, and even spoke out<\/a> about the alleged virtual \u201ccampaigns\u201d against certain cast members that prompted viewers to vote for everyone else except the celebrity they wanted to be eliminated. But DWTS has seen boy band\/girl group members, Broadway alumni, a Dance Moms cast member and plenty of other stars whose jobs require dance training hit the ballroom floor \u2014 and the EPs assure there\u2019s nothing wrong with having this experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn fact, Green explains that it\u2019s a part of the makeup of the show, though Katz assures she\u2019d \u201cnever audition them on dancing\u201d experience as a basis to be cast.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen you look at this current cast, Elaine Hendrix was a professional dancer in her youth. Hilaria Baldwin has the most ballroom and Latin background of anyone. Whitney competed at dance when she was younger in Utah. Alix Earle competed at dance when she was younger. On the other side, you\u2019ve got Dylan and Robert, who have no real background, and Andy Richter, or Jordan has great athletic ability that is a sort of superpower,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou can never level the playing field of an audience. And so in many ways, the public vote is there to level the playing field.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMark Ballas and Whitney Leavitt in the season 34 semi-finals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Eric McCandless<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cIt makes the show better when people can dance well. It\u2019s engaging and it\u2019s super entertaining,\u201d Green adds. \u201cWe\u2019re always trying to balance out those two things. And the journey of Andy Richter, Dylan and Robert, who\u2019ve had no dance experience, indicates that these two things can live together in the same show and still feel great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe elimination system poses another major question: Just how much weight do the judges scores and viewer votes hold? \u201cIt\u2019s 50\/50, effectively,\u201d Green says, explaining that couples receive ranking points based on where they fall on both the judges leaderboard and in the public vote that are later combined to determine eliminations.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen you see the judges\u2019 leaderboards, say there\u2019s five couples and you\u2019re in first place on that leaderboard, you get five judges ranking points. If you\u2019re in second place, you get four, if you\u2019re in third place, you get three, [fourth place,] two, [and fifth place,] one,\u201d he divulges. \u201cWe do the same with the amount of public votes. You add those two [separate] ranking points together, and the couple with the lowest combined total of those ranking points goes home. And if there\u2019s a tie on those ranking points, the couple with the fewest public votes goes home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWould DWTS ever consider releasing the exact number of viewers\u2019 votes to offer more clarity for eliminations? \u201cI\u2019d prefer not to,\u201d Green says, arguing that releasing the audience stats \u201chas a very strong chance of disincentivizing people taking part or might affect the votes going forward, because people understand who to vote for. In all kinds of ways, like any election or vote, you don\u2019t want to be prejudicing the election or vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmid all the online chatter, DWTS is undeniably more popular than ever. It will be hard for season 35 to live up to season 34, and while next season isn\u2019t something on Green\u2019s mind (\u201cI haven\u2019t even thought about it yet,\u201d he says with a laugh), Katz is wasting no time contemplating who will join the 2026 DWTS class.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am so scared for next year and so motivated. I will literally start working on next year as soon as this season is over \u2014 I already have things in my head,\u201d the casting connoisseur teases. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna do the finale, we will go away for Thanksgiving, and that Monday, we\u2019ll start working on next season. It\u2019s invigorating, it\u2019s exciting. \u2026 I have so much pressure on myself, but I literally can\u2019t wait to see what happens in season 35.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPrince Night on season 34.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Eric McCandless<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tLooking forward, the reach of the 34th installment could entice more high-profile stars to take their turn in the ballroom. But both Green and Katz assure that\u2019s not necessarily something the show needs to succeed.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI certainly am not foolish to think that I now have a little more cach\u00e9 than maybe we had a few years ago,\u201d Katz admits of who she could cast, while Green adds, \u201cBig A-list names aren\u2019t necessarily what would work on the show. What works best is people who are passionate about doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe number of followers [a cast member has] doesn\u2019t hurt. But sometimes it\u2019s not so much the amount, it\u2019s the engagement of those followers and [casting] people [who] really can grow and have a personal journey,\u201d Katz says. \u201cBecause it\u2019s great to have people who have really big followers, but if there\u2019s no growth on the show, if there\u2019s not something [where] they have a life-changing moment that the audience is sucked into, they\u2019re not going to be a good cast member.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut first, the DWTS judges and audience must crown their next winner<\/a>. Though it appears the real mirrorball-worthy moment of season 34 has already panned out.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt warms my heart that people love this show so much, that they\u2019re coming back in numbers that I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ve ever seen in this way,\u201d Katz professes. \u201cI am so proud of what we\u2019ve done. I love this show so much \u2014 and that America still loves the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTo see the show in this health in its 20th year and how much pleasure and joy it\u2019s bringing to people and to see new people engaging with it has been a great pleasure. I\u2019m very proud of the show and everyone who works on it for pulling that off,\u201d Green affirms.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe finale of season 34 of Dancing With the Stars airs and streams simultaneously on\u00a0ABC<\/a>\u00a0and Disney+<\/a> on Tuesday from 8-11 p.m. All episodes are available to stream on Wednesday on Hulu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hollywoodreporter.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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