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The thirty-third season ofDancing with the Starskicked off in September with a new roster of celebrities. Ranging from actors, models, and reality TV contestants to more unorthodox celebrities like con artist Anna Delvey and Olympians, the latest season of the dance reality TV show seems to be off to a good start.
The show has been on the air since 2005 and has seen many counterparts in different countries.Dancing with the Starshas seen professional dancers, celebrities, hosts, and judges receive lucrative deals to appear on the series, and now all questions regarding their salaries and payouts will be revealed.
What Is The Format OfDancing with the Stars?
For the past 19 years,Dancing with the Starshas been entertaining audiences with power-packed performances from known celebrities. The participants practice their routines for weeks and the competition is high as they are paired up with various professional dancers, with only one couple set to take home the Mirrorball Trophy.
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Dancing with the Starsairs on ABC and then streams on Disney Plus and Hulu. The show puts a celebrity contestant with a professional dancer and the couple gets to perform every week. The rehearsals reportedly begin weeks ahead of the season premiere and the winning couple of the season receive the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Three judges score the performances each week, giving 0.5 to 10 rating each. Each performance can earn up to 30 points per performance. Public voting is also considered for the week’s top performers and the average of the judges’ and audiences’ votes decides who gets eliminated.
How Much Do Contestants OnDancing with the StarsEarn For A Season?
While performing and winning is a great high for the contestants, giving weeks of their time to the show definitely needs some form of compensation.Dancing with the Starsfeatures prominent faces like film actors, models, sports players, reality TV stars, and more, and has featured prominent celebrities like Zendaya, Eric Roberts, Pamela Anderson, and more.
According toYahoo!, each contestant earns a base salary of $125,000. The salary reportedly covers 20 hours of rehearsals per week for several weeks of practice before the show premieres and till week 2 of the season. If the contestant manages to last more than two weeks, they reportedly receive an additional $10,000 for weeks 3 and 4, each. They then reportedly received $15,000 for week 5.
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Similarly, after week 5, the contestants reportedly receive $20,000 per week for weeks 6 and 7 and then $30,000 for 8 and 9. For semi-finalists and finalists, the pay reportedly goes up to an additional $50,000, plus the Mirrorball Trophy for the winners. However, there has reportedly been a cap of $295,000 that a celebrity contestant can make throughout the season (viaVariety).
What Are The Salaries OfDancing with the Stars’ Hosts?
Dancer Julianne Hough and Alfonso Rebeiro have been co-hosts ofDancing with the Starssince 2023. Rebeiro joined the show on season 31, acting as a co-host for Tyra Banks until her exit in 2023, after which he was promoted to main host. Before Banks, Tom Bergeron hosted the show with various co-hosts from the series’ inception to 2020.
While the actual salaries of the current hosts ofDancing with the Starshave not been revealed,US Weeklyreported that Bergeron began his stint on the show with $150,000 per episode. With an 11-episode season, Bergeron was reportedly earning between $1.5 to $1.8 million per season.
Dance Pros Make Lesser ThanDancing with the Stars’ Celebrity Contestants
As mentioned earlier, each celebrity contestant is paired up with a dance professional at the beginning of the season and the winning couple gets the coveted Mirrorball Trophy. However, the pros reportedly do not earn the same amount as their partners. Though it is less than the celebrities’ salary, the pros reportedly still take home a good paycheck.
According toIB Times, the base salary for a first-time pro begins at $1,200 per episode but returning dancers receive significant pay increases. The website mentioned that more experienced pros receive around $5,200 per week, making their salaries up to $100,000 per season, which is still significant.
Many pros have also reportedly mentioned (via IB Times) that they have the ability to renegotiate their contracts before each season and decide whether to return.
How Much Money DoDancing with the StarsJudges Make Per Season?
While celebrities are definitely the highest earners inDancing with the Stars, the salaries of everyone else (except the pros) are reportedly not too far behind. The reality TV dance show has seen Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli act as judges for all thirty-three seasons, with Len Goodman being there till his death in 2023. Since season 29, star dancer Derek Hough has also been promoted to judge.
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According toThe Sun, the judges earned $250,000 per season in the early days of the reality dance show. However, since then, there has reportedly been a pay increase, with each judge apparently taking home a $1.2 million paycheck per season. The current salaries of the judges have not been disclosed to the public.
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2415
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
