‘DWTS’ fans demand producers hire more Latin pros — and their reason is hard to ignore: 'Dances are...'
'Dancing With The Stars' fans would like to see more Latin champs take on the role of a professional dancer on the hit dance show. Some Latin pros who have been a part of the ABC dance competition for a long time include Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Gleb Savchenko, Pasha Pashov, Lindsay Arnold, Peta Murgatroyd, and Derek Hough. Now, the viewers have expressed their desire to witness more Latin pros in the upcoming season of 'DWTS', which will be hosted by Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro. Up until this moment, the network has not revealed the list of pros who will be competing for the prestigious mirrorball trophy in Season 34.
Recently, one user took to Reddit and shared their honest thoughts on the pros hired on the show by writing, "Was reading some posts from over the last few days, and it made me wonder why they no longer hire ballroom dancers? Rylee is an exception, but the rest don’t have the same training as the original pros who were beasts on the floor. We need Latin champs again, the dances are not wowing the audience anymore." Another user penned, "Can we get some Latin/Rhythm champs and some Standard/Smooth Champs?? Please mom??? But in all seriousness, I completely agree. That’s why people love Daniella. Because she’s a Ballroom dancer. Not a great ‘jazz-tap-ballet-ballroom-fusion’ dancer. You’ll notice I say great. They are great! Just missing the ballroom dancers."
Followed by a third user who commented, "The closest thing to the ballroom champions and competitiors we saw back in the day are Val, Dani, and Pasha. I'm sorry, but I think the excuse that Utah/SYTYCD pros are better TV is BS. The circuit dancers are just as, if not more entertaining/great for TV, I mean, we had Karina, Maks, Anna, etc, all great TV personalities. I didn't mind the Utah dancers, just so you know, but with half the lineup now being from there, I'm kinda over it. I want more diversity and a range of personalities. Strictly pulls from the competition circuit AND has a diverse range of dancers. It's not that none of them are interested in joining; Deena is just lazy and can't look outside the Utah pool."
Another user echoed the same sentiments by writing, "I completely agree about diversifying. People on this sub keep bringing up Jenna’s niece Hailey and Kamri, who’ve done DWTS Jr, but I think it’s important for producers to take a break from hiring Utah pros. No hate towards them, they’re still amazing dancers, but the only exception for Utah pros to me atm is Alexis. Let’s venture out like strictly and pull pro ballroom/latin dancers from around the world."
At the time of writing, the names of two celebrity contestants set to compete in 'DWTS' Season 34 have been revealed, and they are TikTok star Alix Earle and Australian conservationist Robert Irwin. Following the big announcement in April 2025, Irwin took to his Instagram page and wrote, “I’ve always been a fan of Dancing With the Stars. I used to watch it when I was so young with my grandma, and she always used to say to me, ‘Maybe one day you could be on there.’ I was always so in love with dance. When this opportunity came to me, it was like, What can I do next? Where can I take this? I’m ready to challenge myself. I think it’s going to be fun. It was a very obvious answer to say yes.”
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As per TV Insider, Earle stopped by 'Good Morning America' in May 2024 and quipped, “I’ve always been a fan of Dancing With the Stars. I used to watch it when I was so young with my grandma, and she always used to say to me, ‘Maybe one day you could be on there.’ I was always so in love with dance. When this opportunity came to me, it was like, What can I do next? Where can I take this? I’m ready to challenge myself. I think it’s going to be fun. It was a very obvious answer to say yes."
