Season 33 celebrities Joey Graziadei, Ilona Maher, Stephen Nedoroscik and judge Derek Hough talk how key TikTok has been for the ABC reality series.
Dancing with the Stars hasn’t been officially renewed for its 34th season as yet. But it unofficially has, according to an interview that Craig Erwich, President of the Disney Television Group, gave to Variety.
“We’ll have news to share soon,” he promised. “You think about how the broadcast shows have found new windows and are being introduced to new audiences, but what the producers of Dancing with the Stars did with TikTok this year has brought a whole new audience to the show.”
But first, the hit ABC unscripted celebrated its 33rd season with an FYC (For Your Consideration) event for members of the Television Academy on Sunday at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
The morning affair began with pro dancers Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach, Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Gleb Savchenko, Pasha Pashkov, and Kailyn Rogers, who substituted for an injured Rylee Arnold, taking to the stage for a 30-minute condensed but energetic performance of the Dancing with the Stars Live! tour.
They were joined by Season 33 celebrities, including runner-up Ilona Maher, third-place finalist Chandler Kinney, and fourth-place contestant Stephen Nedoroscik for a fun-filled performance.
Then, Season 30's fourth-place finalist Amanda Kloots moderated a panel, which included the Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy-winning team of Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, judge Derek Hough, cohost Julianne Hough, Ilona, Stephen and Chandler.
During the panel, Ilona brought up the point that Erwich had made about how important TikTok was to her participation in DWTS, and how it gave them all a common goal of putting themselves out there.
“We loved making videos,” Ilona told the audience. “I think we loved showing people our personalities. Alan [her partner] got so down with it. He was like, ‘Let’s take them into the studio. Let’s them into our partnership.’ I think people loved seeing us be honest. They loved seeing us on TV as well. We weren’t afraid to be ourselves and people really gravitated to that.”
Even Julianne and Derek admitted to watching the TikToks because they couldn’t get enough on Tuesday nights. Derek added, “We didn’t have to wait until Tuesday night. We got to watch things unfold. It was so cool to have this extra element.”
“It was like an extension of your personality because we only have so much time for the package,” Joey shared. “It’s a drop in the bucket for what that whole week is like. So, for us, it was the ability to show everyone, ‘Here is what the whole week can be like.’ When we started adding social media, you saw how much we were doing out there and that was a fun way to show more.”
“I also felt that there was this massive community behind me,” Stephen said. “Not just people who want us to score well but who were falling in love with us as people and our connection to our pro partner. I think that aspect really helped as well.”
It’s scary to think that TikTok may still be banned, since it’s become such a key tool for the performances to use to take people behind the scenes of the show and rehearsals.
“I always knew the effect of social media,” Ilona concluded. “I used it to get my sport out there. So, I think we all understood the power of it this season. It wasn’t about us winning. I think, for us, it was about being our true selves and people relating to us.”
Since its debut in 2005, Dancing With the Stars has been nominated for 124 Emmy Awards and won 21 trophies, including four for Derek for choreography.
