Top 10 Secrets You Didn't Know About Dancing with the Stars

The celebrities and dancers always look their absolute best for the cameras and spotlight, but as you can probably imagine, they didn’t just roll out of bed looking like that. Back in 2014, the head makeup artist for the show, Zena Shteysel, revealed to People the sheer amount of makeup that the show goes through each season. It includes up to five gallons of spray tan, 30 bottles of bronzer, jugs upon jugs of glitter, 500 pairs of eyelashes, and 200 tubes of mascara. And that’s not to mention the constant touch ups during commercial breaks to prevent running. Many female contestants also wish to use their own personal hair and makeup artists, but the show forces them to use theirs instead.

Back in 2016, judge Bruno Tonioli sat down with TV Magazine and unveiled his extensive schedule. As he works on both “Dancing with the Stars” and the UK’s “Strictly Come Dancing,” he spends overtwenty hours a week in the air, and he admitted that the constant flying is “driving [him] crazy.” He also admitted that he finds the work demanding and difficult, stating, “It’s 10 weeks of jet lag. It never gets better, but we soldier on. All you can do is…just get used to it so it becomes a normal way of being.” If it’s so taxing, he could always follow fellow judge Len and drop one of the shows!

Turns out, it takes a LOT of work to become a good dancer. “Dancing with the Stars” is no joke, and many celebrities have spoken about the sheer amount of work that goes into their progress. During one of Vanity Fair’s lie detector videos, Mark Cuban admitted that competing on the show was one of the most challenging things he has ever done. And while exact numbers are hard to find due to the variety in schedules, we do know that Rashad Jennings spent 362 hours training with Emma Slater. He went all ten weeks, so that’s about 36 hours of training a week. AKA a full-time job.

Creating absorbing television on the fly is quite a daunting challenge. On show days, the live studio audience, which includes over 800 people, are brought into CBS Television City Studios around 3:30pm Pacific Time. The show starts at 5, and the TV production is managed by the control room. It involves 18 studio cameras, and director Phil Heyes is required to oversee the camera operators, stage manager, and producers. The control room also receives a piece of paper with the judges’ scores so they can produce the on-screen graphics in conjunction with their live scoring paddles. It looks like fun on TV, but a lot of not-so-fun work goes into it.

So, how exactly are the “stars” chosen? Luckily, casting director Deena Katz opened up a bit with Slate and revealed how she chooses the contestants. She spends hours a day reading all the topical gossip sites and celebrity news to get a handle on who is hot and likely to draw in viewers. She also consults with her husband and younger daughter to target different demographics, and she admits that her husband suggested she hire Steve Wozniak and Gary Busey. Finally, she tries to combine goofy and entertaining celebrities, nostalgic picks for the older crowd, and some wild cards no one would ever expect. The result, in Katz’s own words, is “the best dinner party ever.” Sounds about right.

The celebrities aren’t just doing this show for fun. They also get some fat checks for showing up. According to Variety, all contestants earn $125,000 for rehearsals and the first two weeks of the show. The pay then goes up in weekly increments, peaking around $295,000 for the winner. Now you know why some are so distressed when they’re eliminated! So, the celebrities can make a killing, but what about the pros? (xref) Well, it varies widely based on the dancer, and the salaries are kept a well-guarded secret. According to Reel Rundown, the veteran dancers may earn as “little” as $5,200 a week but could also earn up to $100,000 for the full season. Either way, not as much as the celebrities!

Much like the casting, a lot of different factors go into the pairing of celebrities and professional dancers. It’s not as easy as throwing everyone’s name into a hat and pairing ‘em up in five minutes! Executive producer Rob Wade told E! News that dancers are paired on a combination of “height, build and, personality, and compatibility.” Mark Ballas mirrored Wade’s explanation, saying that the dancers “don’t get a say in their [celebrity] partners” and that they’re paired based on height and size for the purpose of physical comfort. They also analyze everyone’s personality, as they try to avoid typical reality TV show conflicts and personal drama. Not to say that that doesn’t happen sometimes…

One problem with reality TV is that emergencies can come up at inopportune times. As such, the producers often employ backup celebrities to fill the potential void. Various celebrities have dropped out over the years, including Vincent Pastore and Mark McGrath, who were respectively replaced with backup celebrities John Ratzenberger and Rocco DiSpirito. Casting director Deena Katz also revealed that David Carradine was held as an emergency replacement for Master P. and that he had even rehearsed and been given a costume. You know what they say – the show must go on!

Each person has a certain celebrity they want to appear on the show, but EVERYONE seems to want Jennifer Aniston. The thing is, Jennifer Aniston is really busy, and “Dancing with the Stars” is probably the furthest thing from her mind. Deena Katz admits that Jennifer Aniston is one of the most asked for celebrities among fans and friends, but it’s a request that she usually replies with a “Trust me, I’ve tried. She can’t do it.” Well, at least we know they’ve reached out! As for Katz, her personal white whale is Bill Clinton, and she told Slate that she tries to get him every year. So, there you have it. No Jennifer Aniston and no Bill Clinton. At least not in the near future!

Not only are the contestants slathered in makeup…they’re wearing very expensive outfits, too! Oh, the costly world of professional dancing. Making the costumes is a very time-intensive and elaborate process, and Tony Dovolani explained that they’re often held “until an hour before the show begins.” This means that they aren’t available until dress rehearsal, and alterations are being made until the very last possible minute. They aren’t cheap either, with each individual piece is priced somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000. Put simply, a lot of work and money goes into making these stars look as good as they do!