Dancing With the… Moms? Come Dance With Me — CBS’ all-new dancing competition show featuring child dancers who partner with a parent or loved one with no prior dance experience — premieres on Friday, April 15, and Us Weekly has an exclusive look at your new favorite series.
“You have a child dancer who takes their parent or someone that they look up to and ask them to come and dance with them,” judge Tricia Miranda explains of the premise in the clip.
Host Philip Lawrence adds of the duos, “We have these teams who are going to compete week after week in the hopes of ultimately winning the grand prize of $100,000.”
Per Variety, the two lowest-scoring teams at the end of each episode will face off in a freestyle dance to determine who moves on to the next week.
All of the pairs will showcase “all different styles of dance,” notes Jenna Dewan, who will also judge the competition, adding that she’s “been really surprised” by the quality the performers bring every week. “The teams on this show are all so unique and over the course of the competition have really turned into performers,” she says.
Some of the teams who are “thrust headfirst” onto the stage, as judge Dexter Mayfield puts it, include Limp Bizkit drummer John Otto and his 11-year-old daughter, Ava, as well as Dance Moms alums Kamryn Smith, 10, and her mom, Adriana Smith.
“I pretty much will try anything,” Adriana explains. “I might not be great at it, but I go full out.”
The competition show, which is executive produced by LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell, was partially inspired by the extreme popularity of TikTok dances, the actor told Variety.
For his part, the “Mama Said Knock You Out” artist — who has worked alongside O’Donnell for years on NCIS: Los Angeles and on other production ventures — told Variety that he “liked the idea of families getting together and the music.”
He added that the heartwarming camaraderie is only more important during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“This idea of kids getting with the parent, the adult in their life who’s meaningful to them, and going on a show and having their dreams come true — especially with what we’ve been going through over these past couple of years,” the rapper elaborated.
Come Dance With Me premieres on CBS Friday, April 15 at 8 p.m. ET.
