LOS ANGELES – Where's a scandal-ridden star to go?
Ryan Lochte,on the heels of the 2016 Summer Olympics, decided that the"Dancing with the Stars" ballroomwas best. Lochte had just been dropped by major sponsors and suspended by USA Swimming over spinning a story to police and media about being robbed at gunpoint in the games' host city of Rio de Janeiro.
Referred to colloquially as "Lochtegate," the scandal unfurled afterthe swimmerand three of his teammates claimed they had been the subjects of a stick-up at a gas station in Brazil. As plotholes began to emerge, and Rio police refuted the account, Lochte admitted that he had been heavily intoxicated and had"over-exaggerated"the story.
Blistered ankles. Teased hair.My weekend on 'Dancing with the Stars'
One month later, he hit the"Dancing with the Stars" ballroomfloor alongside professional dance partner Cheryl Burke. Save for one unexpected on-air protest, his stint on the show went off without much hitch, giving Lochte the chance to do a bit of image rehab and learn a two-step along the way.
His arc is not unlike several"DWTS"cast members, who have shocked audiences on their reveal, then waltzed their way back into good graces – or attempted to.Famed fraudster Anna Delvey, daughter of thecollege admissions scandal Olivia Jade, and Food Network starouted for using racist slurs, Paula Deen, are just a few of the names topping the list of controversial contestants past.
It seems that the show, an ABC staple for two decades, is the one move PR teams aren't afraid to make after a crisis. But why?
Casting director Deena Katz may have the answer. Where some shows may shy away from a heavily side-eyed cast announcement, she says she loves the shock value.
Karina Smirnoff and Mario Lopez Met: Season 3 (2006)
Status: Broken up
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Willa Ford and Maksim ChmerkovskiyMet: Season 3 (2006)
Status: Broken up
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Mark Ballas and Sabrina BryanMet: Season 5 (2007)
Status: Broken up
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Shannon Elizabeth and Derek HoughMet: Season 6 (2008)
Status: Broken up
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Mark Ballas and Shawn JohnsonMet: Season 8 (2009)
Status: Broken up
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Cheryl Burke and Chad OchocincoMet: Season 10 (2010)
Status: Broken up
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff Met: Prior to DWTS in 2003, but dated after Smirnoff's split from Lopez.
Status: Broken up" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
James Maslow and Peta MurgatroydMet: Season 18 (2014)
Status: Broken up
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Val Chmerkovskiy and Janel ParrishMet: Season 19 (2014)
Status: Broken up
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Kym Johnson and Robert HerjavecMet: Season 20 (2015)
Status: Married
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Val Chmerkovskiy and Amber Rose Met: Season 23 (2016)
Status: Broken up
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Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki BellaMet: Season 25 (2017)
Status: Broken up
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta MurgatroydMet: Outside of DWTS in 2009, but became a couple when Murgatroyd joined the show a few years later.
Status: Married" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Alexis Ren and Alan BerstenMet: Season 27 (2018)
Status: Broken up
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Sasha Farber and Emma SlaterMet: Outside of DWTS in 2009.
Status: Divorced" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Jenna Johnson and Val ChmerkovskiyMet: Season 18 (2014)
Status: Married " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Brian Austin Green and Sharna BurgessMet: Season 30 (2021)
Status: Still together
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Britt Stewart and Daniel DurantMet: Season 31 (2022)
Status: Still together
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Gleb Savchenko and Brooks NaderMet: Season 33 (2024)
Status: Broken up
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Jenn Tran and Sasha FarberMet: Season 33 (2024)
Status: Broken up
" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />It's a romance on – and off – the dance floor. See which 'DWTS' couples are still together.
Karina Smirnoff and Mario Lopez
Met:Season 3 (2006)
Status:Broken up
"I always look for something that when we make that announcement, you say, 'I have to see that.' It really kind of crystallized back in Season 1 … it wasn't until I locked in Evander Holyfield and suddenly we were like 'Holy cow, we have something here.'" Holyfield, a pro boxer, was eliminated three weeks into the show's inaugural season.
Katz, who has helped shepherd the show into the internet age by casting influencers and popular reality stars, says a season's celebrity dancers are like "an amazing jigsaw puzzle of the best dinner party you'll ever have."
Despite the cultural cache the shock value delivers, though,"Dancing with the Stars"status as a refuge for scandalized celebs exists because they get the opportunity to leave that scandal behind.
"We're not there to make fun of you, or to call you out. And there's certainly things that have happened behind the scenes on camera that we don't show," Katz says. "It's not like other shows where that's what a producer waits for. … We just ask that you be honest."
"Dancing with the Stars" Season 34 is almost here! But before we see Hilaria Baldwin, "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star Jen Affleck, "Boy Meets World" actress Danielle Fishel and more grace the stage in hopes of taking home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, let's revisit the past winners. "DWTS" Season 33 saw Bachelor Nation's Joey Graziadei take home the winning trophy with dancing partner Jenna Johnson. Scroll through for more. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Jenna Johnson, along with Graziadei, won Season 33 of "Dancing with the Stars." " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Val Chmerkovskiy, left, and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" actress Xochitl Gomez were the winners of "Dancing with the Stars" Season 32." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
TikTok personality turned "Dancing with the Stars" champ, Charli D'Amelio, won Season 31 with her partner, Mark Ballas." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Mark Ballas" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Basketball player Iman Shumpert and Daniella Karagach were the winners of "Dancing with the Stars" Season 30." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Bachelor Nation's Kaitlyn Bristowe won Season 29 of "Dancing with the Stars" with Artem Chigvintsev." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Artem Chigvintsev" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Bachelor Nation's Hannah Brown and dance pro Alan Bersten took home the Mirrorball Trophy during Season 28 of the show. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Radio personality Bobby Bones and Sharna Burgess were the winners of "Dancing with the Stars" Season 27." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Figure skater Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson were the winners of "Dancing with the Stars: Athletes" Season 26. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Lindsay Arnold and "To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You" actor Jordan Fisher were the Season 25 champs. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Former NFL player Rashad Jennings won Season 24 of "Dancing with the Stars." " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Jennings was partnered up with Emma Slater." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Val Chmerkovskiy and gymnast Laurie Hernandez were the Season 23 champs of "DWTS."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Season 22 winners of "Dancing with the Stars" were model and actor Nyle DiMarco and dancer Peta Murgatroyd." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Steve Irwin's daughter, Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough were the Season 21 champs of "Dancing with the Stars."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Demi Moore's daughter, Rumer Willis, competed and won Season 20 of "DWTS" with dance partner, Valentin Chmerkovskiy. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
TV personality Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson competed and won Season 19 of "DWTS."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Meet the winners of Season 18 of "DWTS": Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Derek Hough isn't new to the No. 1 spot on "DWTS." During Season 17, he also took home the trophy with "Glee" breakout star Amber Riley. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
He wins again! Derek Hough was the Season 16 champ of "DWTS" with singer and actress Kellie Pickler as his partner. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Season 15 of "Dancing with the Stars: All Stars" saw Tony Dovolani and Melissa Rycroft take home the Mirrorball Trophy. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
The Season 14 "Dancing with the Stars" winners were Peta Murgatroyd and NFL player Donald Driver. " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Season 13 winners of "Dancing with the Stars" were actor and motivational speaker, J.R. Martinez, and instructor Karina Smirnoff." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 'DWTS' announces Season 34 cast: Who has won the Mirrorball before?
"Dancing with the Stars"Season 34 is almost here! But before we seeHilaria Baldwin, "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star Jen Affleck, "Boy Meets World" actress Danielle Fishel and more grace the stage in hopes of taking home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, let's revisit the past winners."DWTS" Season 33 saw Bachelor Nation's Joey Graziadei take home the winning trophy with dancing partner Jenna Johnson. Scroll through for more.
Hilaria Baldwin, who was on this season of"Dancing,"can attest to that.Baldwinhas known her fair share of negative press coverage (see: allegations offaking a Spanish accentand heritage, and ahusband previously charged with manslaughter).
"I didn't really know what to expect,"Baldwin, 41,who described her decision to join the show as "last-minute," says. "As an environment, it's extraordinarily supportive. The most lovely people on the planet are doing this show."
But Baldwin says the positive spin is not why she joined the cast.
"There's such cool, amazing opportunities like this one and really amazing people … that come with the world that Alec brought me into," she says.Hilaria married Alec Baldwinin 2012, and the pair share seven children. "At the same time, there's people who just want to misunderstand you."
Baldwin says the pros advise all the celebrity contestants not to listen to the interview and rehearsal packages that play before their performance because it can "get in your head." As such, she doesn't really know how she was portrayed on the show, but says she imagines it was pretty true to form.
"I don't think that they're washing anything out. I feel like it's a pretty authentic experience, but I don't think they're trying to twist things to the 'gotcha,' she says. " But, I think if you behave badly, then that's the kind of thing that they probably would show."
Sean Spicer,an early press secretary forPresident Donald Trumpin his first term, echoed much of Baldwin's testimony. Spicer appeared on "DWTS" in 2019.
"It's probably one of the best experiences I've had in my professional career. It's a great group of folks," he says. "I never even danced at my wedding. I have zero artistic qualities, no rhythm."Spicer,paired with pro Lindsay Arnold, made it nine weeks on his season.
"When Deena sold it to me, she said, 'It's really a family,'" he tells USA TODAY from Los Angeles, where he had flown to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary earlier this month. "It sounded like a great talking point at the time, what I've realized is that it truly is."
"I'm in touch with folks that were (in) hair and makeup, craft services, folks who do the spray tans. It really is a great group of people who are unbelievably supportive," he says. "They take care of their own."
While he is certainly not the most scandal-tinged staffer to leave the Trump administration, Spicer's politics don't exactly find an easy home in Hollywood. Despite that, he says, the whole cast and crew were "very kind and respectful."
Spicer says his bond with Mary Wilson, the late Supremes singer who also competed during that season, was particularly strong.
"We never talked politics at all, but we developed a nice friendship. … I didn't expect that," he says.
The anecdote harkens back to Katz's original "dinner party" quip. Or, better yet, a classic joke format – a White House Press Secretary, an NBA forward and a member of the Supremes walk into a bar. Their only thing in common? They've all competed for the Mirrorball trophy.
"There's something for everybody," Katz says. "If you tune in because you're that sports fan or because you had to see Anna Delvey, you end up falling in love with someone else, and that's who you root for."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Dancing with the Stars,' scandal and becoming the ultimate PR move