How Dancing with the Stars Is Making the Most of Social Media
How does Dancing with the Stars Tan-Go?
Dancing with the Stars is a reality television show that involves professional dancers and celebrity guests. The pros on this show are Whitney Carson, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Val Chmerkovskiy, Pasha Pashkov, Jenna Johnson, Gleb Savchenko, Ezra Sosa, Emma Slater, Daniella Karagach, Alan Bersten, Sasha Farber, and Rylee Arnold. Every season, each pro partners up with a celebrity guest. A few guests this season include Ilona Maher, an Olympian Rugby player, Anna Delvey, an American con-woman whose life inspired a Netflix show called “Inventing Anna,” and the adorable American Olympian gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik (aka pummel horse guy). The idea of the show is that each partnership choreographs a new dance each week that corresponds to that week's theme. The dancers could perform a cha-cha, salsa, foxtrot, tango, or jive, depending on the credentials at the time. The competition lasts about 11 weeks, with nerve-wracking weekly eliminations throughout. Finally, a winning couple is chosen at the end.
Adding Spice to the Salsa
Arguably, the most exciting pro on DWTS today is Rylee Arnold. Arnold is a 19-year-old American dancer who became known after performing on Dancing with the Stars Juniors in 2018. In addition, Arnold's oldest sister, Lindsay Arnold Cusick, is a former pro on Dancing with the Stars, helping to aid in Rylee’s upcoming fame. Last year, in 2023, Rylee Arnold brought increased attention to the show during her first season due to a couple of main factors.
The first is the familial relation to the former pro. Fans were excited to see the young dancer follow in her sister's footsteps. The second is her alleged romantic relationship with her celebrity guest, Harry Jowsey. Jowsey is an Australian model, reality star, and content creator. Before his debut on DWTS, Jowsey was known for starring on the reality show “Too Hot to Handle.” Arnold and Jowsey’s supposed relationship raised eyebrows due to the significant age gap between the two. At the time, Arnold was an 18-year-old girl who had just celebrated her high school graduation, while Jowsey was a 26-year-old man. The couple created a tremendous amount of content on their social media platforms to gain fans' attention not only toward themselves but also toward DWTS.
The Cha Cha on TikTok
As we know, Arnold is the youngest pro on DWTS and has an enormous online following. On TikTok alone, Arnold has 1.1 million followers. She has influenced DTWS to embrace social media as a way to advertise the hit reality show to the younger generation. According to Newsweek, “There has been an increase in social-media content created by the cast, which has helped boost the show.” In addition to that, "celebrities on the show who have a large following are now pushing and promoting the Dancing With the Stars brand on their socials, encouraging fans to tune in and watch the program.” The source continues to say that the increased social media use on celebrity pages helps DWTS gain traction and increases viewership. This season, most of the pros and celebrity guests have been creating content on their personal social media accounts and as well as on the DWTS platforms. The dancers share aspects of behind-the-scenes, the relationships they have with one another, funny moments together, and so much more. This connection between the dancers and the audience has single-handedly increased the show's viewership, specifically for Gen-Z viewers. The Dancing With the Stars brand has learned not to underestimate the use of social media.
About Anna
Anna is a junior majoring in Advertising and Public Relations and is pursuing a minor in Communication Advocacy. This is Anna's first year as a member of GrandPR, and she has been given the title of Account Associate. After graduation, Anna hopes to begin her professional career here in West Michigan.