DWTS cast reflects on shows crazy beginnings – | TV Shows

Dancing With the Stars has been airing for more than 20 years on ABC, but the show had a tough start in the start, one thing that long-running decide Bruno Tonioli and professional-turned-decide-turned co-host Julianne Hough are now reflecting on.

The show premiered on ABC in 2005 and has managed to reacquire audiences in current years with new rankings highs, which introduced a spin-off collection, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, into the combination as nicely.

However, as the show gears up for a “hotter than ever” new season, those concerned are remembering the robust beginnings, when it got here close to not even being picked up.

Speaking to People Magazine, Tonioli, 70, who has served as a decide on every season of the show, and Hough, 37, opened up about the tough start the show confronted.

Tonioli, who was on hand alongside Carrie Ann Inaba and the late Len Goodman for the first season, which options Kelly Monaco, John O’Hurley, Joey McIntyre, Rachel Hunter, Evander Holyfield and Trista Sutter, admitted that many had been skeptical about the show in the start.

“It was May 2005, and at the time…Andrew Wong was running ABC, and Bob Iger was working there as well, and I know the story. It is a long story,” he said.

“They told me the story. And everybody was saying, ‘This is never gonna work. They’re crazy.”

However, after the show proved to hook viewers, it rapidly took off, with Tonioli admitting that “Next year, we were up there with American Idol–I could not believe it.”

He also admitted that he felt the show was still going strong all these years later because it never shied away from authenticity.

“The reason it lasted, and it still is, is because it is a show that has a beating heart–it’s not fake. We really do it because we love it,” he said.

“And…we always push the bar. We always make it better. And the audience really responds to that. We are really there 100%…We are there with our hearts beating. I think people get that. They get the truth.”

Hough, who joined the show as a professional dancer during its fourth season (which she received with Apolo Anton Ohno), agreed and admitted that the show resonates with followers each season because of its mixture of transformation and togetherness.

“To see that it’s been around not only just, like, survived 20 years, but is now thriving more than it ever has, it just goes to show that, like, when you stay in authenticity and integrity of what this show is–which is craftsmanship, just rooting for people to grow and succeed, and go on the journey of transformation, and keep that family experience—that’s timeless,” she said

Hough went on to win two Mirrorballs during her time as a professional dancer on the show, in seasons 4 and 5, where she was partnered with Helio Castroneves.

The Hollywood star left the show as a professional after its eighth season, before returning for seasons 19-21, 23, and 24 as a decide.

She left the show again and returned as a co-host for Season 32. Hough has retained that position since.

As for Tonioli, he and Inaba have remained as judges every season of the show, and now serve alongside Julianne’s brother, Derek, who changed Goodman after he departed following Season 31.

Goodman handed away from bone cancer in 2023.