Following the official announcement of the Dancing with the Stars Season 35 cast, online discourse immediately centered on contestant Jenna Dewan. Critics on social media pointed to the 45-year-old actress’s extensive background—including her early career as a professional backup dancer for Janet Jackson and her star-turn in the 2006 dance classic Step Up—arguing her background creates an uneven playing field.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Dewan directly addressed the commentary, drawing a firm line between commercial street styles and strict ballroom technique.
“Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages,” Dewan explained. “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. 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.”
Dewan admitted that her history actually heightens the pressure rather than relieving it, making the process “a little more nervous” as she steps onto the floor. “It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done — I can go out there and do that,” she added. “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.”
Her three-time Mirrorball trophy-winning partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that technical proficiency is only one element of a winning run.
“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. Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people — and I think that’s our advantage.”
Chmerkovskiy noted that while Dewan brings high-level talent to rehearsals, that pedigree comes with elevated expectations from both the judges and the public. “The way I approach things is that you’re only as good as the thing that you’ve never done, so 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 —” he noted, before Dewan interjected with a laugh, “Many years ago!”
Dancing with the Stars Season 35 premieres September 15 on ABC and Disney+.
