‘DTWS’ Judge Carrie Ann Inaba Weighs In On Julia Stiles and Jenna Dewan’s Dance Backgrounds

As anticipation builds for the 35th season of “Dancing With the Stars,” the premiere episode is still a week away and controversy is already raging.

Fans of the reality TV hit have been taking to social media to gripe about Season 35 contestants Julie Stiles and Jenna Dewan, given that both of whom had previously displayed their fancy footwork on film (Stiles in “Save the Last Dance” and Dewan in “Step Up”).

With both actresses boasting extensive dance backgrounds — Dewan, in fact, once toured as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson —both women are drawing scrutiny amid fan accusations of being “DWTS” ringers.

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Carrie Ann Inaba Weighs In

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Entertainment Weekly spoke with “DWTS” judge Carrie Ann Inaba about the controversy.

As she told the magazine, while it might superficially seem like their dance training might place them at an advantage, ballroom dancing is a whole other animal.

“What’s difficult — and I don’t think people realize this — is when you go from being a jazz dancer or a hip-hop dancer or all the other forms of dancing [to ballroom], the weight placement is so different,” Inaba explained.

“It’s weird because your body has memory, so it remembers how to dance, and it thinks it already knows how to do these moves, but it doesn’t,” she continued. “It takes a lot of time to un-train the body to put your weight on the front more over your toes instead of back and down and grounded.”

Added Inaba: “It’s not as easy as people think.”

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An Undeniable Advantage

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That said, Inaba also acknowledged that the respective dance backgrounds of the two women certainly could work in their favor.

According to Inaba, both Stiles and Dewan “have an advantage in some ways because they’ve got the rhythm and they’ve got the musicality and they know how to dance. They know how to learn choreography and remember choreography.”

However, Inaba also pointed out that “it’s been a few years since they’ve all danced, right?”

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The Other Side of the Coin

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Meanwhile, both Stiles and Dewan have defended against the criticism.

In fact, Stiles told Entertainment Weekly that her experience on “Save the Last Dance” could actually be a “disadvantage” when dancing on the show.

“I stopped taking dance classes after that movie because people expected me to be a great dancer,” she explained, insisting that her dance experience began and ended with the film.

Dewan, on the other hand, boasts a far more extensive background in dance. In addition to Jackson, she also toured as a dancer with the likes of Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott, and appeared on TV series “World of Dance” and “Come Dance with Me.”

Dewan was nevertheless adamant that her previous experience would be little help when she hits the ballroom.

“I do not know how to ballroom dance. Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages,” she told EW.

“There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously,” she contended. “I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me. It’s a new technique, brand new technique.”

Fans will discover how it all plays out with Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars premieres Monday, September 14 on ABC.