“Dancing With the Stars” fans are convinced they know who the celebrity in the first same-sex pair will be — “Bachelor” Colton Underwood. Here is their reasoning and how they think he’ll do.
Fans Think It Will Be ‘Bachelor’ Colton Underwood Because of The Woman in Charge of Casting
“Dancing With the Stars” debuted its first female same-sex pair in season 30 when popstar JoJo Siwa danced with professional dancer Jenna Johnson. The pair did very well, earning top scores from the judges most weeks and finishing in second place behind NBA player Iman Shumpert and his pro partner Daniella Karagach.
Fans are sure a male same-sex pairing is coming and they think the male celebrity will be “Bachelor” Colton Underwood because co-executive producer for “Dancing With the Stars” Deena Katz loves to cast people from “Bachelor” nation.
Katz has been with “Dancing With the Stars” from the beginning, working her way up from producer to a co-executive producer. She spoke with TVInsider in 2019 about finding celebrities for both “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Masked Singer” and she acknowledged there is a lot of crossover.
“In season one [of ‘Masked Singer’], we had several people [who’d been on Dancing With the Stars including] Joey Fatone, Donny Osmond … I always like to mix it up,” said Katz, adding, “It’s still a jigsaw puzzle. It’s still about putting [the whole cast] together. We’re trying to get more relevant names. It’s more about who’s relevant. I love the nostalgia [stars], but the names [in season 28] are a bit more relevant, a little less niche.”
On Reddit, fans started a thread about her booking Rudy Giuliani for “The Masked Singer” and it segued into talking about her casting “Dancing With the Stars.”
“Why do I feel like Colton is gonna be the first male same-sex pairing…” wrote one fan. When someone asked that poster why they brought up Colton, the person replied, “Because she clearly doesn’t care about casting problematic people if it brings attention and this is yet another example. Just reminded me of him.”
The person also said that firing Tom Bergeron after he spoke out against casting choices he didn’t agree with “set a precedent that the producers are [going to] do what they want to do.”
Another fan pointed out, “Colton’s PR team got him a Netflix series and a CBS reality show, so DWTS really isn’t that much of a stretch TBH.”
A third fan wrote, “Her goal is to get people talking, they like controversy. They also like to spin a good redemption arc if they can.”
Indeed, Colton would be a little bit of a redemption story. He was a problematic “Bachelor” who later came out as gay, which was documented in the aforementioned Netflix docuseries “Coming Out Colton.” He also debuts on CBS’ “Beyond the Edge” — think “Survivor” with celebrities — on March 16. Plus, there is a long history of “Bachelor” contestants competing on “Dancing With the Stars,” from Trista Sutter in the very first season to back-to-back Bachelor Nation winners in Hannah Brown and Kaitlyn Bristowe in seasons 28 and 29.
Who Will Be The Pro Half of a Male Same-Sex Pair?
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Several “Dancing With the Stars” male pros have said they would love to be in a same-sex pair.
Gleb Savchenko was actually the first to speak publicly about it in an interview with Mr. Warburton Magazine in February 2021 where he revealed that he was pushing to be in a same-sex pair in season 29 with figure skater Johnny Weir, but the show wouldn’t agree to it.
“I can’t wait for this moment! Last season when Johnny Weir got on the show I was like, ‘Johnny, you HAVE to be my partner, but they ended up not doing it. They’ve done it before in Australia with Courtney Act and in the UK with Nicola Adams and they were both amazing!” said Savchenko, adding, “I would love to do it, but it would have to be with the right partner.”
He also said that he recognizes there is a “strong male/female dynamic in dance, but if you have two men doing the same thing it would look awesome and be so fascinating.”
Well, Gleb got his wish on the 2022 “Dancing With the Stars” tour where he and fellow pro Alan Bersten are re-creating JoJo and Jenna’s finale freestyle to Lady Gaga’s song “Born This Way.”
Pro Val Chmerkovskiy also said he would dance with a man “in a heartbeat,” which his wife and fellow pro Jenna Johnson revealed on an episode of Cheryl Burke’s podcast “Pretty Messed Up.”
Former pro Anna Trebunskaya told her Instagram followers that same-sex ballroom competitions have been around “for years now” and that she has coached same-sex couples.
What do you think, fans? Are you excited about a male same-sex couple? And do you think Reddit is right — will it be Colton Underwood kicking up his heels in the ballroom?
“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been renewed for season 31. If it is renewed, it will return in September 2022.
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DWTS Fans Predict 1st Male Same-Sex Pair