DWTS Producer Teases Update After Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller Join

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Dancing With the Stars is finding its groove for season 35. 

With Ciara Miller from Summer House and Maura Higgins of Love Island UK signed on as the first celebrity contestants, producer Deena Katz has hinted that the team is working hard on all aspects of the new season.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on April 28th, Katz revealed that production is well underway. “We’ve already started casting and discussing the show’s themes – really, everything is in motion,” he said.

Katz also talked about the show’s announcement of Higgins and Miller as the first celebrities who will be competing on the dance floor.

Katz jokingly said Maura made this happen through sheer determination. She explained that Maura always lets her know when she’s in Los Angeles and eager to get together for lunch. Maura has been wanting to be on the show for a long time, and Katz believes she’d be a fantastic addition – she’s funny, entertaining, and great on camera.

Katz agreed with the positive things being said about Miller, and it likely helped that the news came during a trending story. Last month, Miller’s close friend Amanda Batula and her former partner West Wilson announced they were dating, which led to a surge of support for Miller as she joined the cast of Dancing with the Stars.

Katz and the producers of Dancing With the Stars wanted to capitalize on their current success and act quickly.

It just felt like the perfect timing for everything,” she said. “We were eager to have her join the show, and the moment was right to make the announcement.

Everything seems to be falling into place for their upcoming project. Miller has been getting ready by increasing her yoga and Pilates, and she’s looking forward to moving from New York to Los Angeles when filming begins later this year.

Oh my gosh, did you see what Miller said? It’s everything I’ve been hoping for! She basically said she’s so excited to finally have control of her time again, to be able to travel when she needs to. And the best part? She misses having a regular dance schedule, like when she was a kid! It’s like she’s coming back to herself, and honestly, I’m tearing up just thinking about it. A solid schedule and dancing? Yes, please! It’s going to be amazing!

Higgins, for her part, admitted she burst into tears upon hearing she had been cast. 

She described the experience to Bustle as feeling incredibly unreal, explaining that she had wished for it for a very long time.

For a closer look into what you didn’t know about the show, keep reading…

In 2019, Variety reported that contestants on Dancing With the Stars initially earn $125,000 for rehearsals and the first two weeks of the show. According to sources, payouts increase weekly for those who continue competing, 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, but earned $10,000 for the second. Payments then increased, going from $10,000 to $20,000 per episode, eventually reaching $50,000 per episode for those who continued with the show.

Okay, so he gets a salary of about $110,000 just for being on the show, which is amazing, but then he told me he actually made almost $400,000 total from it! I can’t even believe it! It’s just… incredible. I knew he was popular, but wow!

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 The Morning After podcast, hosted by Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester, that dancers are typically guaranteed work for a specific number of weeks. However, she added that contracts vary and she couldn’t comment on everyone’s situation.

Apparently not.

Cheryl Johnson, a two-time ‘Dancing with the Stars’ champion – she won seasons 26 and 33 with Adam Rippon and Joey Graziadei, respectively – explains that professional dancers don’t receive extra pay for winning the show, now symbolized by the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. However, she points out there are still benefits to reaching the final rounds, beyond just the prestige.

She explained on The Morning After that reaching the finale means you get paid for the entire season, plus a bonus. But winning isn’t about a large cash prize – you and your partner just receive a trophy.

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.

On the May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers’ podcast, Hot Smart Rich, Lindsay explained 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 are determined to keep the cast a secret until the live reveal. She clarified that people often assume the hosts know who’s participating, but that’s not true – producers don’t share the information with them. They want the reactions to be genuine, so they keep the cast list very private until the contestants meet their partners on stage. Despite leaks happening sometimes, the show prioritizes keeping everything under wraps until the big reveal.

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 weren’t random. In a 2015 interview with TopMob News, he explained that they considered height, body type, personality, and how well contestants would get along. They avoided pairing people who clearly wouldn’t connect, as the experience is already demanding enough. Unlike shows like The Bachelor, forcing incompatible pairings would create a negative experience for everyone involved – the celebrity, the production team, and the audience. He admitted they’d made that mistake in the past, pairing people who simply didn’t click.

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 are four hours long, happening either from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., or 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The work doesn’t end there, though. Rylee often spends additional time with producers, working on choreography, or studying dance routines. She says it takes over her whole life, but she loves it and is passionate about it. It’s a job with no days off. They perform on Tuesdays, then rehearse from Wednesday to Sunday, followed by camera blocking on Monday, before starting the cycle again with Tuesday’s show.

Emma Slater and Britt Stewart confirmed in a September 2025 Instagram video that they were mostly involved, although it was a joint effort 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 develop 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 create everything. With a team of around 20 people plus an external tailor shop, it’s a huge operation.

Steven Norman Lee, another costume designer, revealed that dancers often don’t try on their costumes until just hours before the show. While they might occasionally reuse pants for male dancers, most outfits are custom-made each week.

Gschwendtner added that while they’ll reuse costumes for group performances or promotional photos, they never reuse them for the competition itself. The goal is to keep everything fresh and new each week to maintain visual interest for the audience.

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2026-04-29 16:19