Dancing With the Stars’ Bruno Tonioli Reveals If He’s Leaving the Show

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Bruno Tonioli isn’t going anywhere. 

As Dancing With the Stars prepares for its 35th season, one of the original judges recently thought about whether he might retire. He’s been with the show since it began and considered his future before the new season’s premiere.

Tonioli shared in a TVLine interview on June 4th that he’s not much of a planner. He simply loves his work and especially enjoys connecting with the audience, which is his main motivation.

Indeed, Tonioli also gets a lot out of the format of the series. 

He said performing felt a lot like being in a Broadway show, because you get immediate reactions from the audience.

Of course, the 70-year-old also can’t get enough of the impressive routines week after week. 

He said the children genuinely impressed him. He was always thrilled with the quality of their work and eager to see what they would accomplish next.

When asked about a plan for leaving the show, Tonioli jokingly said he hopes he’ll never have to experience what it’s like without him.

“Until they want me, I’ll be there,” he said. “Because I really love the show. I really do.”

I’ve been watching for years, and it’s been so fun seeing familiar faces come and go! Julianne Hough is one of those stars – she actually started as a professional dancer, left in 2009, and then surprised us all by coming back as a judge! She stepped down again in 2017, but I was thrilled when she returned in 2023, this time as a co-host alongside Alfonso Ribeiro. It’s always great to see them both!

It feels like a natural progression to be back hosting now,” Hough explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2023. “Alfonso and I are going to be the hosts, and it’s going to feel like coming home.

And years later, Hough emphasized her part in the show’s legacy. 

She explained to Variety last year that her role is to create a comfortable and supportive environment for everyone involved – the dancers, the stars, and the audience – allowing them to be genuine. She emphasized that her focus now is on building something lasting and fostering growth, rather than needing to prove herself.

For a deeper look into Dancing With the Stars, keep reading…

In 2019, Variety reported that celebrities appearing on Dancing With the Stars initially make $125,000 for their rehearsals and the first two weeks of the show. According to sources, contestants who advance further can earn additional money each week, potentially reaching a maximum of $295,000.

However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.

The radio host mentioned on Jason Tartick’s podcast, Trading Secrets, in September 2025 that the show’s pay structure was unusual. They explained they weren’t paid for the first episode, then earned $10,000 for the second. It seemed to increase to around $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000 per episode, eventually reaching $50,000 if you continued with the show.

In addition to a salary of about $110,000, Bones revealed he earned nearly $400,000 from the show.

ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.

Details about professional dancers’ earnings haven’t been widely released either. However, like the contestants, it appears they earn more the further they advance in the competition.

But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they’re not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.

Jenna Johnson explained on the June 2025 episode of the podcast The Morning After, hosted by Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester, that dancers are typically guaranteed work for a set number of weeks. However, she added that contracts vary and she couldn’t comment on everyone’s specific agreement.

Apparently not.

Professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars, like Jenna Johnson – who has won seasons 26 with Olympic skater Adam Rippon and season 33 with Joey Graziadei from The Bachelor – don’t earn extra money for winning the Mirrorball Trophy (now named after the late Len Goodman). However, she points out there’s still a good reason to reach the final round, beyond just the prestige.

She explained on The Morning After that reaching the finale means you receive full-season pay plus a bonus. However, winning isn’t about a large cash prize; it’s just a shared trophy with your teammate.

That doesn’t appear to be the case.

In a 2022 appearance on Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold shared that her pay was reduced by more than half after she moved from being a professional dancer to a troupe member.

The pros get little input when it comes to being matched with a celebrity.

Lindsay explained on the May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers’ podcast, Hot Smart Rich, that people in these situations have no input. She described it as simply being told, ‘Here’s your partner – now you need to make the relationship work.’

In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute.

Jenna explained on The Morning After that the show’s producers intentionally keep the cast a secret to capture authentic reactions. It’s a common assumption that the hosts know who the contestants are beforehand, but that’s not true – the producers don’t even tell them until the big reveal. They work hard to prevent leaks and want the cast to remain a surprise until the contestants meet their partners.

As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?

According to former showrunner Rob Wade, the show’s pairings were determined by height, physique, personality, and how well the contestants would get along. They avoided matching people they thought wouldn’t connect, as the experience was already very demanding. Unlike shows like The Bachelor, they couldn’t risk creating a truly unpleasant situation for the celebrities, the production team, or the audience. Viewers don’t want to watch people who dislike each other, and the show had learned from past mistakes where incompatible pairings didn’t work out.

Dancing With the Stars requires a huge time commitment. Rylee Arnold, who danced with Stephen Nedoroscik in season 33, explained on the Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis that rehearsals typically last four hours – either from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., or 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. But the work doesn’t end there. Rylee also spends time meeting with producers, working on choreography, and studying dance videos. She says her entire life revolves around the show, but she loves it and is passionate about dancing, which makes it all worthwhile. The schedule is demanding, with rehearsals happening Tuesday through Sunday, camera blocking on Mondays, and then another show on Tuesdays – essentially, there are no days off.

Emma Slater and Britt Stewart shared in a September 2025 Instagram video that they were mostly in agreement, but it involved working with the show’s producers.

If you think the quickstep dance is fast-paced, you should see how quickly the costume department works! Costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner explained to TV Insider that they collaborate with set, lighting, and dance teams to create a unique story for each dancer’s outfit. Then, they have just five days – often only half a day per costume, before even adding rhinestones – to make everything. The department employs around 20 people, plus a separate tailoring team, making it a large operation.

Costume designer Steven Norman Lee added that dancers usually don’t try on their costumes until just hours before the show. While some basic pieces might be reused for male dancers, most outfits are custom-made each week.

As Gschwendtner pointed out, they’ll reuse items for group performances or promotional shoots, but never for the competition itself. They prioritize creating fresh, new looks every week to keep things exciting for the audience and dancers.

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2026-06-05 16:49