Harry Shum Jr. is weighing in on whether his past dance experience has given him an advantage on Dancing With the Stars season 35.
“I was lip-synching while dancing [when I was on Glee], so that’s a little different. I’ve done one partner dance on the show, and that nearly killed me — with Heather Morris,” Shum, 44, exclusively told Us on Wednesday, September 2, after the full cast reveal. “Even our last rehearsal, dancing for 60 seconds, I’m dying. Also, that was like 17 years ago that I last did [that].”
With DWTS, Shum shared that he’s able to “stretch” his body into a “whole different configuration.”
“So I think the elements — I think it’s performance, that’s what’s fun. Telling the story is just stuff that I’m really excited about, but the stuff I’m nervous about is really the technique of it all,” he said.
Shum, who played Mike Chang on Glee from 2009 to 2015 and has also danced in several Step Up movies, went on to note that ballroom is “absolutely” different from what he’s previously dabbled in.
“I mean, I hear it from her,” Shum said, referring to pro partner Jenna Johnson. “Even having my shoulder up too far, she just pushes it back. It feels like you’re getting poked everywhere.”
Johnson shared that she “apologized” to Shum, warning that she’s going to be “pushing up” his arm “all season long.”
Shum was announced on Wednesday as one of the cast members vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, competing against the likes of Jenna Dewan, Julia Stiles and more. Ahead of the season 35 cast reveal, Johnson shared in an interview with Us that being on DWTS is a different environment — regardless of whether someone has dance experience.
“I’ve had somebody with absolutely no experience. I’ve had somebody with experience. I’ve had an Olympian. I’ve had [Dance Moms alum] JoJo Siwa,” she told Us in August. “There’s a wide range, but Dancing With the Stars is such a different beast.”
She continued, “There is the live element that people don’t take into consideration. Going out in front of millions of people with a studio audience and performing live … there is no other feeling when it goes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You’re live when that red light goes on. You cannot explain that. You never know how someone’s going to react or show up in that moment.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
