Jenna Dewan defended her spot on “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35 this week, telling Entertainment Weekly that her professional dance background offers less of an edge than fans assume because ballroom technique amounts to an entirely different discipline from the styles she has performed throughout her career. “I do not know how to ballroom dance,” Dewan said, describing her training and the show’s format as “two different languages.”
The backlash began Wednesday morning when ABC unveiled the Season 35 cast live on “Good Morning America.” Dewan, who broke into entertainment as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson before starring opposite Channing Tatum in the 2006 film “Step Up,” immediately drew criticism from viewers who argued her dance résumé gives her an unfair edge over castmates with no formal training. Social media comments accused producers of stacking the competition in her favor, with one widely shared post calling her pairing with a trained partner unfair given her performance history.
Dewan said adjusting to ballroom has proven harder than critics expect, describing the process as unlearning years of ingrained habits from commercial and music-video choreography rather than building on them. She called the ballroom style “brand new technique” and said the transition initially threw off her instincts on the floor. Dewan also danced professionally for Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake earlier in her career.
Her partner, longtime “DWTS” professional Val Chmerkovskiy, backed her casting publicly, arguing that reducing the show to pure dance skill misses what actually separates contestants. He said the competition rewards emotional openness and personal storytelling as much as technical execution, and that Dewan’s outside expectations may work against her by raising the bar audiences hold her to. Chmerkovskiy said he intends to push Dewan toward unfamiliar territory rather than lean on movements she has already mastered.
Dewan is one of 16 celebrities set to compete this season, a cast that also includes Julia Stiles, Harry Shum Jr. and Tatyana Ali. Shum, a former “Glee” cast member, faced similar criticism over his own dance background and offered a comparable defense, noting that skill in one style does not automatically transfer to another. “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35 premieres September 15 on ABC and Disney+.
