The Season 35 cast announcement for Dancing with the Stars was supposed to generate excitement about which celebrities would compete for the Mirrorball Trophy this fall. Instead, it triggered a fan revolt over the show's decision to cast three contestants with professional dance training, raising questions about fairness and whether DWTS has lost sight of what made it beloved in the first place.

Jenna Dewan, Julia Stiles, and Harry Shum Jr.—all accomplished dancers with Hollywood credits spanning decades—were named to the cast earlier this month ahead of the September 15 premiere. Dewan famously danced with Channing Tatum in Step Up, Stiles starred in Save the Last Dance, and Shum spent years as a dancer on Glee. Their inclusion sparked immediate backlash from fans and reportedly even from fellow cast members who feel the playing field is anything but level.

The controversy exposes a deeper tension within DWTS: is the show about watching celebrities learn to dance, or has it become a professional dance competition masquerading as celebrity reality TV?

Fans Are Furious—and So Are Some Contestants

Social media lit up within hours of the cast reveal, with fans calling foul on the decision to include dancers in a competition explicitly designed for non-dancers. "What's the point of watching professionals compete against people who've never waltzed before?" wrote one Twitter user. "This isn't Dancing with the Stars—it's Dancing with Former Dancers."

The criticism intensified when The Daily Mail reported that other Season 35 cast members privately expressed frustration with the casting choices. According to sources, some contestants feel it's "unfair" to compete against people who spent years training in choreography, stage presence, and performance skills that amateurs must learn from scratch.

The cast also includes figure skater Amber Glenn, chef Giada De Laurentiis, and reality star Sarah Jane Nader, none of whom have professional dance backgrounds. For them, the challenge is real: learning ballroom technique, memorizing routines, and performing under pressure in just days of rehearsal. For Dewan, Stiles, and Shum, the learning curve is far less steep—they've spent careers mastering movement, timing, and how to sell a performance to a camera.

DWTS Judge Defends the Casting

Not everyone sees the controversy as justified. Carrie Ann Inaba, one of DWTS's longtime judges, publicly defended the Season 35 cast in an interview with Page Six, arguing that switching from one dance style to ballroom isn't as easy as fans assume.

"What's difficult—and I don't think people realize this—is when you go from one style of dance to another," Inaba said. "Julia Stiles may have trained in contemporary, but ballroom is completely different. The holds, the posture, the partner work—it's not automatic."

Inaba's point holds some truth. Ballroom dancing requires specific technique, precise partnering, and styles like the Viennese Waltz or Argentine Tango that even trained dancers haven't necessarily studied. A contemporary or jazz dancer can't just walk into a quickstep and nail it without training.

But fans aren't buying the defense. "No one's saying they'll automatically win," one Reddit user wrote. "We're saying they have a massive advantage that ruins the entire premise of the show. The show is supposed to be about celebrities *learning* to dance, not celebrities who already know how."

Dewan Addresses the Backlash

Jenna Dewan, who bore the brunt of the early criticism given her fame from Step Up and her marriage to Channing Tatum, responded to the backlash in an interview with USA Today.

"I understand why some people are upset," Dewan said. "But ballroom is completely different from what I've done. I've never competed in this style, never worked with a partner in this format. I'm learning just like everyone else, even if I bring some experience."

Dewan's response was diplomatic, but it didn't quiet the critics. Dance experience—even if it's not ballroom-specific—confers enormous advantages in body awareness, rhythm, performance confidence, and the ability to pick up choreography quickly. Those advantages matter immensely in a competition where contestants rehearse just hours per day and perform live on national television every week.

The Bigger Question: What Is DWTS Anymore?

The Season 35 controversy highlights a fundamental identity crisis within DWTS. When the show launched in 2005, its appeal was simple: watch celebrities with no dance experience stumble through rehearsals, fall on their faces, and slowly improve over weeks of training. The journey from clumsy beginner to competent performer was the entire point.

Over the years, that premise has eroded. The show has increasingly cast athletes, performers, and entertainers with physical skills that translate directly to dance. Olympic gymnasts, figure skaters, and Broadway performers have all competed—and dominated—because their training gave them massive head starts over true amateurs.

Season 35 may represent the breaking point. Casting three professional dancers in the same season feels less like an outlier and more like a statement: DWTS no longer cares whether its contestants are learning to dance or simply performing dances they already know how to execute.

The Risk to DWTS's Legacy

If fans feel the competition is rigged in favor of contestants with dance backgrounds, they'll stop watching. The magic of DWTS was never about perfect technique or flawless routines—it was about the transformation arc. Audiences rooted for contestants who struggled, improved, and overcame their lack of experience through hard work and personality.

When the winner is someone who walked in knowing how to dance, that arc disappears. Instead of a feel-good underdog story, viewers get a predictable outcome that undermines the show's emotional core.

The show's producers face a choice: return to the original premise by excluding professionals and semi-professionals, or double down on the current path and rebrand DWTS as a pure dance competition where celebrity status is just marketing.

Jenna Dewan, Julia Stiles, and Harry Shum Jr. are talented performers who will likely deliver polished routines throughout Season 35. But their presence has exposed a crack in DWTS's foundation, and fans are making it clear: if the show abandons what made it special, they'll abandon it right back.

Season 35 premieres September 15 on ABC, and the ratings will tell the story. If audiences tune out because they don't believe the competition is fair, DWTS will have its answer about whether casting professional dancers was worth the backlash.