Has Disney RUINED Dancing With the Stars?

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It’s the question that has been circulating on social media a bit more this year, as fans have complaints about the show’s changes in recent years. The vibe has definitely felt different since the reality show started streaming on Disney+, but there are a lot of factors at play. Let’s dig into the nitty-gritty.

Disney+ and All the Ads

Let’s start things out with one of the biggest complaints I’ve seen from fans online — all the ADS! With Dancing With the Stars streaming live on Disney+ and premiering live on ABC, there are typically ads every two dances throughout the show. Often, we have to wait through an ad break to even see the second couple’s scores.

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With all those ads taking up the showtime, it makes the show itself feel rushed. It seems like they’re often running behind on time, with judges’ comments getting cut short and the post-elimination interview getting hurried along by the credits. And it’s not just the network ads! Now, there are promotional dances for businesses and movies that take up valuable showtime, and they’re often not received well by the fans. Take Julianne’s dance for Paris Baguette early in the season or the Cat in the Hat dance with Xochitl Gomez that kind of ruined the emotional tone of Dedication Night. It’s like they’re trying to fit TOO much marketing into a 2-hour time frame.

Host and Judge Changes

Now, keep in mind that Disney has owned ABC since before Dancing With the Stars premiered on the network in 2005, but some of the company’s decisions about the show have been more widely contested in recent years. Namely, one of the hot-button topics has been the changing of hosts. For most of the show’s run, Tom Bergeron was a host. He had several co-hosts throughout his tenure, but perhaps the most beloved was Erin Andrews, who joined him for 11 seasons. 

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In season 29, both hosts were replaced by Tyra Banks, and well, fans didn’t love the switch-up. Tyra stayed through the transition to Disney+ in Season 31, when she was joined by Alfonso Ribeiro. Tyra left after that season, and Julianne Hough took her place. In general, the crowd response to Alfonso has been positive, though some fans online have criticized Julianne’s post-dance interview questions and commentary. 

Is the Voting Rigged?

Ahh, yes, the never-ending debate. Since Dancing With the Stars doesn’t release its viewer vote numbers, there is constant discourse online about whether or not the show is “rigged.” This year, fans were particularly vocal about complaints, claiming that those contestants who stayed longer on the show were only there because they had ties to ABC. (This theory completely ignores the presence of Connor Wood and Maura Higgins, who’ve remained on the show through episode eight, and the fact that the first two contestants eliminated — Conner Leavitt and Sarah Jane Nader — are both on ABC-owned reality shows.)

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But here’s the thing, folks. There’s no point in “rigging” the show if they want to keep viewers! The stars that get the most votes are obviously the ones who fans want to see the most, and if they get eliminated unfairly, Disney will LOSE viewers. It just doesn’t make sense.

The Social Media of It All

But perhaps the biggest turning point in the past few seasons of the show has been the social media of it all. When this show first premiered, social media platforms weren’t used to drum up voters, and fans simply voted based on what they saw on TV. Now, if a contestant wants to have success on Dancing With the Stars, it’s pretty much a requirement that they and their pro be active on social media, namely TikTok and Instagram.

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Does the time spent filming TikToks take up time that could be spent practicing their dances and honing their skills? It’s hard to say without being in the room with the competitors. But it’s definitely true that social media allows fans to be more vocal with their criticisms and critiques, and many have taken that opportunity to bully those on the show or create mass campaigns to have stars or pros “canceled.” It also creates more room for drama to unfold outside of rehearsals.

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We’ve seen more celebrities chosen for the show because of their social media presence. Those who may not have ever played a professional sport or stood in front of a TV camera can now be called to the cast simply because their online audience is robust. And in some ways, that can be a good thing. When you have influencers like Connor Wood on the show, he brings a whole new group of fans, and with some of his and his partner Rylee’s content having gone viral, Dancing With the Stars is getting visibility beyond its normal viewers.

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So has Disney really ruined Dancing With the Stars? Well, technically, since the company has been behind the show the whole time, not really. Some of the decisions in the past few years have been contentious, though, and there’s no telling what will come in the future.

To see more of the behind-the-scenes drama happening at The Walt Disney Company, check out the YouTube video below.

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