Jenna Dewan isn’t backing down from those questioning her casting on Season 35 of DWTS.
Following the official cast reveal on September 2, online chatter ramped up that the “Step Up” star holds an unfair leg up over her fellow celebrity contestants. But Dewan is setting the record straight.
Jenna Dewan Says Despite Her Dance Training, Ballroom is Different
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenna Dewan, alongside pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy, defended herself against those who believe she has an unfair advantage in the competiiton.
“I do not know how to ballroom dance. Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages,” Dewan clarified.
“There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously. I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me,” she continued.
She concluded, “It’s a new technique, brand new technique. It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don’t want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I’m used to.”
“It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done — I can go out there and do that. It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges. But that was part of why I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself.”
Jenna Dewan’s Pro Partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, Defends Her Casting
Val Chmerkovsly, who is partnered with Jenna Dewan this season, has defended her casting. He believes that just because someone has dance experience doesn’t mean that they will be a successful ballroom dncer.
Chmerkovskiy told Entertainment Weekly, “First of all, it’s naive to think that this show is just about dance. It’s about the human experience and the human journey and how much you’re willing to reveal yourself.”
He continued, “Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people, and I think that’s our advantage. Forget the dancing part. My advantage is that I’m partnered with an incredible human being that I’m excited to showcase and tell stories with and share space with and celebrate as a woman, as a mother, as someone that gets a chance to do what they love again.”
The two-time mirrorball winner concluded, “That’s what I think our advantages are. And I’m excited to celebrate that, hopefully for as long as people are willing to vote for us.”
“I’m going to push her and push us to showcase to the world something they haven’t seen from her yet. That’s a challenge in itself because we’ve seen her at the highest form of dance and what that expression can look like.”
Season 35 of DWTS features 16 celebrity couples. This ties it with Season 9 and Season 31 for the largest cast in the show’s history.
Dewan joins Julia Stiles, Harry Shum Jr., Taylor Hanson, Tatyana Ali, Amber Glen, Ezra French, Tyler Cameron and Giada de Laurentiis. Additional contestants include Sarah Jane Nader, Conner Leavitt, Connor Wood, Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson, and Guillermo Rodriguez.
DWTS stars airs beginning Tuesday, Sept. 15, and continuing Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.
