Jenna Dewan asked whether she would still appear The newbie after joining the 35th season of Dancing with the stars.
“I do both at the same time,” Dewan, 45, said TV Insider on Wednesday, September 2nd. “They’re amazing. They’re all so excited about this opportunity and are really working on it between the two productions.”
Dewan acknowledged that it could be overwhelming at times, adding: “I’ll be a little crazy between filming The Rookie and coming here and doing the shows, but it’s all exciting. I’m here for the challenge and the best people in the world are working on it.”
Both DWTS And The newbie are currently in production and the competition show will premiere later this month. Meanwhile, the rookie is filming season nine with Dewan’s co-stars Nathan Fillion, Eric Winter, Melissa O’Neil, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Mekia Cox And Shawn Ashmore.
Melissa Rycroft, Jordan Fisher, Heather Morris and other Dancing With the Stars contestants have sparked considerable controversy over the years for seemingly having an unfair advantage over ABC competition. Former professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy caused a stir in season eight when he told TVGuide it was “unfair” that Rycroft, who has a background in (…)
In a separate interview, Dewan addressed the backlash she has received over her casting DWTS even though I already had dance experience. (The actress was a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and appeared in the 2006 dance film Step up.)
“I don’t know how to ballroom dance,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “To be clear, they are two different languages.”
Dewan explained how challenged she has been since becoming a partner Val Chmerkovskiy.
“Of course there are parts of my dance training that are helpful,” she continued. “I learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain feeling of unlearning for me. It’s a new technique, a completely new technique.”
Dewan added: “It almost threw me off at first because I had to unlearn a lot of, I don’t want to say bad habits, just habits of the style that I’m used to.”
After signing up for season 35, Dewan said her dance background made her “a little more nervous” about competing because ballroom “feels really foreign.”
“It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done – I can go out there and do that. It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges,” she noted. “But that was one of the reasons I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself.”
“Dancing With the Stars” returns to the ballroom for its 35th season with a star-studded cast. The full lineup of celebrity contestants and professional dancers for the milestone season was revealed on the Wednesday, September 2 episode of “Good Morning America.” The newly confirmed participants are joined by Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson and Guillermo Rodriguez, (…)
Chmerkovskiy, 40, also defended his partner’s casting.
“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,” he said. “Dance is a way for us to find out more about these people – and I think that’s our advantage.”
He continued, “The way I approach things is that you’re only as good as what you’ve never done before, so I’m going to push her and us to show the world something they haven’t seen from her before. That’s a challenge in itself because we’ve seen her at the highest level of dance and what that expression can look like.”
Dancing with the stars Season 35 begins with a two-night premiere on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
