‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestants With Prior Dancing Experience

Credit: Shutterstock; ABC

‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestants With Prior Dancing Experience

All isn’t always fair on the dance floor. Melissa Rycroft, Jordan Fisher, Heather Morris and more Dancing With the Stars contestants have sparked backlash for having an unfair advantage on the ABC competition. Pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy made waves during season 8 when he told TVGuide that it was “unfair” that Rycroft, who has a background in ballet and as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, was on the show. “Let me be that voice of everybody who thinks [it] but won’t say it,” Chmerkovskiy, who was paired with Denise Richards during the 2009 season, told Access at the time. “I mean, I can’t compete next to someone that’s had a lot of dance training.” Fellow pro dancer and future DWTS judge Julianne Hough added at the time, “I’m not going to say anything about it being unfair, but compared to everybody else, there is a huge difference in ability.” Rycroft and partner Tony Dovolani defended themselves at the time.“ “I’m not the only person that has ever come in here with dance experience,” the former Bachelor contestant told Access Hollywood. “There have definitely been people that have more [experience] than me. But it’s not benefiting me at all, believe me. It’s not like we practice for a day and have six off!” Dovolani, for his part, called out Chmerkovskiy’s season 5 partner Mel B.: “Well, I would love to say to Maks, ‘How about Mel?’ That’s all I’m going to say.” [jwplayer FwG8h2yN-zhNYySv2] More recently, season 29 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe and runner-up Nev Schulman raised eyebrows with their dancing pasts. After the November 2020 finale, third-place finisher Nelly admitted to Entertainment Tonight that he “probably [would] not” have joined the show if he knew ahead of time that his fellow castmates had so much experience. "Because you don't stack yourself up against that. Why would I get in a boxing match with someone who’s been boxing since they were 12? Why would I go play basketball with somebody who played in college? There are certain things that you're basically setting yourself up for,” the rapper said. "Obviously, it's still a competition and you use whatever you have to win. So it's not a bad thing, it's just a thing. So you want to work that much harder because the odds are stacked up against you." Nelly added at the time that he was happy for Bristowe, who worked as a dance teacher before she was the season 11 Bachelorette in 2015. “Kaitlyn's beautiful, she's a sweet person, she really wanted it. She won! You can't say anything about that … I just would have liked to have known that coming into it. That's all. You don't want to get sideswiped once you get in,” Nelly said. "But that being said, she deserves to win, because she won. She danced beautifully. She's a sweet person, she did her thing. Me and my partner, we did our best and the experience was great." Scroll through for a list of past competitors who weren’t strangers to the spotlight:

Credit: Shutterstock; ABC

‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestants With Prior Dancing Experience

All isn’t always fair on the dance floor. Melissa Rycroft, Jordan Fisher, Heather Morris and more Dancing With the Stars contestants have sparked backlash for having an unfair advantage on the ABC competition. Pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy made waves during season 8 when he told TVGuide that it was “unfair” that Rycroft, who has a background in ballet and as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, was on the show. “Let me be that voice of everybody who thinks [it] but won’t say it,” Chmerkovskiy, who was paired with Denise Richards during the 2009 season, told Access at the time. “I mean, I can’t compete next to someone that’s had a lot of dance training.” Fellow pro dancer and future DWTS judge Julianne Hough added at the time, “I’m not going to say anything about it being unfair, but compared to everybody else, there is a huge difference in ability.” Rycroft and partner Tony Dovolani defended themselves at the time.“ “I’m not the only person that has ever come in here with dance experience,” the former Bachelor contestant told Access Hollywood. “There have definitely been people that have more [experience] than me. But it’s not benefiting me at all, believe me. It’s not like we practice for a day and have six off!” Dovolani, for his part, called out Chmerkovskiy’s season 5 partner Mel B.: “Well, I would love to say to Maks, ‘How about Mel?’ That’s all I’m going to say.” [jwplayer FwG8h2yN-zhNYySv2] More recently, season 29 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe and runner-up Nev Schulman raised eyebrows with their dancing pasts. After the November 2020 finale, third-place finisher Nelly admitted to Entertainment Tonight that he “probably [would] not” have joined the show if he knew ahead of time that his fellow castmates had so much experience. "Because you don't stack yourself up against that. Why would I get in a boxing match with someone who’s been boxing since they were 12? Why would I go play basketball with somebody who played in college? There are certain things that you're basically setting yourself up for,” the rapper said. "Obviously, it's still a competition and you use whatever you have to win. So it's not a bad thing, it's just a thing. So you want to work that much harder because the odds are stacked up against you." Nelly added at the time that he was happy for Bristowe, who worked as a dance teacher before she was the season 11 Bachelorette in 2015. “Kaitlyn's beautiful, she's a sweet person, she really wanted it. She won! You can't say anything about that … I just would have liked to have known that coming into it. That's all. You don't want to get sideswiped once you get in,” Nelly said. "But that being said, she deserves to win, because she won. She danced beautifully. She's a sweet person, she did her thing. Me and my partner, we did our best and the experience was great." Scroll through for a list of past competitors who weren’t strangers to the spotlight:

Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

Heidi and Charli D’Amelio

The mother-daughter duo are set to compete against one another during DWTS season 31. While the TikTok star and her mother are both former competitive dancers, they have defended their participation on the season.

“I would love to do a little nod to why I am even here and what got me here, but I think I’m really going to work on the technical sides of ballroom,” Charli said during a September 2022 interview on Good Morning America.

Heidi, for her part, noted it’s been a “long time” since she competed in dance competitions. “We’ll see if it’s like riding a bike [and I can] pick up choreography,” she told Michael Strahan.

Credit: Kristin Callahan/ACE Pictures/Shutterstock

Nev Schulman

The Catfish host, who was vocal about his love for ballet, defended his past dance experience during the 2020 season.

“So there have been some rumors about how much dance experience I had coming into this. I’ve been very open about it. When I was in fifth grade I started dancing with an organization. It was not formal training, it was not ballroom or ballet or even jazz, it was just youthful kind of kid performance movement,” Schulman, who finished in second place, said via Instagram at the time. "It was a dance troupe. And I danced with them for three or four years, and then casually here or there through high school and a little bit in college, took a couple dance classes but never really pursued it seriously or danced at any kind of competitive level."

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JoJo Siwa

The Nickelodeon star is set to compete on season 30 of DWTS in 2021. Her casting made headlines as she will be part of the dancing show’s first same-sex pairing. Other fans, however, questioned Siwa’s casting as she rose to fame for competing on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition and starring on two seasons of Dance Moms before launching a singing career.

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Jordan Fisher

The Broadway star won season 25 of the ABC show amid fans' questioning that he was too experienced to be on Dancing With the Stars.  

“I’m comfortable in front of an audience, but Ballroom is the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done,” he told Young Hollywood during the 2017 season.

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Normani / Ally Brooke

The former Fifth Harmony members were both no stranger to the stage ahead of their respective stints on DWTS. Normani, for her part, told Complex in 2015 that she’d be dancing since she was three years old.

"In those early years dance became a part of my identity and helped shape who I am today," the “Motivation” singer, who finished in third place during season 24, said at the time. "Dancing is more than just moving body parts, it is a pathway of expressing your deepest inner thoughts. When I dance I escape the present and become one with my soul."

Brooke also finished as the second runner-up during season 28.

Credit: Owen Sweeney/Shutterstock

Heather Morris / Amber Riley

While both women had dancing experience from their time on Fox’s musical series Glee, Morris was also a backup dancer for Beyoncé before joining the 2017 season.

“They watch it and they want to believe, ‘She’s a dancer, it’s not fair, she knows exactly how to do all those things’ … I cannot do ballroom [dancing],” Morris, who was voted off fifth despite receiving the season’s first perfect score, said on the “Ladygang” podcast in 2017. “It’s unbelievably hard … it’s so challenging.”

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Jennifer Grey

The Dirty Dancing star, who won season 11 of DWTS in 2010, studied dance at the Dalton School in Manhattan.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Kaitlyn Bristowe

Prior to winning the 2020 season, Bristowe admitted she felt pressure to do well because Bachelor Nation knew she had a dance background.

"I think I have a bit of a disadvantage because I have to unlearn so much of like classically trained ballet moves that come to play when I try to practice,” she said at the time, adding “I faked my way through tap dancing my whole life” and "ballroom is just a whole other beast."

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Nicole Scherzinger

The Pussycat Dolls singer, who had a dance minor in college, took home the mirrorball during season 10 in 2010.

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Mel B

The Spice Girls singer worked as a dancer at a resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, before finishing in second place on season 5.

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AJ McLean / Nick Carter

Both Backstreet Boys singers took dance classes growing up before their respective appearances on DWTS. While McLean finished in 7th on season 29, Carter was the runner-up on season 21.

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Sabrina Bryan

The Cheetah Girls alum trained at Hart Academy of Dance in California before her stints on DWTS seasons 5 and 15.

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Mario Lopez

The Saved By the Bell star started dance training at the age of three years old and was discovered at a recital when he was 10. Lopez finished in second place on season 3 of DWTS.

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Mya

The singer grew up dancing and teaching classes before hitting the stage on season 9 of DWTS, dominating until she sprained her ankle and ultimately coming in second place.  

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Tinashe

The musician, who has 15 years of dance training, agreed with past performers who believe it could be a disadvantage in the competition.

"I think having a little bit of dance training has its advantages with just learning basic steps," Tinashe told E! News during season 27. "But in this particular case, ballroom, it's so specific and so different than what I'm used to it's almost is a hinder."

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Drew /Nick Lachey

The brothers and 98 Degrees members had similar stage experience before DWTS, but Nick was eliminated 5th during season 25 while Drew won season 2 and returned for All-Stars in 2012.

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Joey Fatone / Lance Bass

The ‘Nsync members were used to learning choreography thanks to their boyband days. While Fatone finished in second place on season 4, Bass came in third during season 7.

Credit: Andy Kropa/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Melissa Rycroft

After finishing in third place on season 8 of DWTS, the former cheerleader won the All-Stars season in 2012.

Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Amanda Kloots

The Broadway alum trained with the Rockettes for years before joining season 30 of Dancing With the Stars. "Ballroom dancing and Broadway dancing — the Broadway dancing that I used to do — are honestly like English and Japanese. I am learning a completely new language," she told Us Weekly in 2021. "I have to throw everything I know out the window, and it's like starting from day one."