Dancing With the Stars made historical past with an all-female pairing up to now — however would the identical ever be explored with two males?
“I might say we’re continuously wanting on the methods by which we will push the envelope and produce a present that displays and represents society as an entire,” government producer Ryan O’Dowd advised Deadline on Tuesday, Could 27.
O’Dowd hinted that followers shouldn’t quit hope in the case of same-sex pairings. “I wouldn’t rule it out,” he added. “It’s one thing that we’re persevering with to debate.”
The season 33 finale of Dancing With the Stars, which aired in November 2024, featured Derek Hough and Mark Ballas collaborating on an Argentine tango. Hough, 40, beforehand confirmed assist for seeing an all-male partnership competing on the dance ground.
“The entire idea of two males dancing collectively is nothing revolutionary, by any means,” he advised Gold Derby in April. “Like I stated, that is what the origins are. But it surely was cool to have the ability to see and even hear it from some individuals who have been like, ‘, I didn’t actually know if I wished to see that, however after seeing that, I beloved it.’”
Hough continued: “To indicate it and say, ‘Hey, take a look at this. That is type of totally different.’ Or, it’s not totally different, however we haven’t seen this but on this platform like this. ‘What do you suppose?’ And the response is, ‘I prefer it.’ I actually thought that was actually cool.”
DWTS historical past was made when JoJo Siwa was paired up with Jenna Johnson throughout season 30. O’Dowd defined on Tuesday that he has beloved doing “issues which have by no means been achieved earlier than” on the present. He referenced two memorable moments from final season: Ilona Maher being the primary feminine celeb to raise her male companion, Alan Bersten, and Witney Carson and Danny Amendola‘s “iconic leg raise.”
“It’s virtually like a sluggish movement leg raise that grew to become this large viral sensation and other people began making an attempt to do it [on social media],” he recalled. “I really like when issues are being achieved that transcend the scope of the published and into your on a regular basis life.”
The following season of DWTS is anticipated to air later this yr. ABC just lately introduced the primary two stars — TikToker Alix Earle and Steve Irwin‘s son Robert Irwin — however the remainder of the celeb rivals have but to be confirmed.
Along with teasing attainable shakeups, O’Dowd additionally took the chance to handle claims that voting for DWTS is rigged.
“We take that very critically. We have now by no means, nor would we ever do something to control the votes,” he advised Deadline about how the present “actually must be” credible. “It wants to permit the viewers to have a voice and to actually be the voice of who deserves to win. So we’ve by no means nor would we ever need to manipulate that in any manner.”