How Dancing With the Stars Is Changing Its Format for Season 34 Finale

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Dancing With the Stars is mixing it up for the season 34 finale.

During the semi-finals, celebrities Robert Irwin, Dylan Efron, Alix Earle, Elaine Hendrix, Jordan Chiles, and Whitney Leavitt battled for a place in the Top Five. Show co-host Alfonso Ribeiro then surprised everyone with a new twist to the competition. (Click here to see who made it to the finale.)

He announced on the November 18th episode of Dancing with the Stars that next week, the show will take over ABC’s primetime schedule with its biggest season finale ever. This year, they’re adding a new element: three rounds of competition for the first time.

The competition will feature two new rounds: “Instant Dances,” where celebrities will learn and perform a surprise dance routine live on air, and the “Make-or-Break Freestyle,” a free-style dance that could make or break their chances of getting votes from the audience.

Fellow host Julianne Hough also said that with so much talent this season, viewers won’t want to miss a single moment.

This year’s competition is very competitive. Several dance pairs actually earned a perfect score in the semi-finals on November 18th.

Carrie Ann Inaba told Robert and his partner Witney Carson that their energetic jive to Prince’s “Baby I’m a Star” was a clear statement that they deserve to be in the finale. The performance earned a perfect 30 from the judges, and Inaba described it as ‘insane—so clean, sharp, bouncy, and fun!’

Meanwhile, Alix and Val Chmerkovskiy also received the maximum score for their Viennese waltz.

Judge Derek Hough told the TikToker, “You’ve become a truly amazing dancer, and I’m confident you’ll make it to the finals.”

Elaine and her partner, Alan Bersten, quickly followed with an impressive paso doble that really wowed the judges. Bruno Tonioli was so excited by their performance that he even ripped open his shirt!

“It was a regal performance,” he declared. “Majestic!”

The DWTS season 34 finale airs Nov. 25 on ABC. 

And for more details about the inner workings of the dance show, keep reading…

As a long-time fan of Dancing With the Stars, I’ve always been curious about how much the celebrities actually earn. Back in 2019, Variety reported that contestants get around $125,000 just for rehearsing and getting through the first two weeks. If they stay on the show, they apparently make more each week, with the maximum being around $295,000. But Bobby Bones, who won Season 27 with Sharna Burgess, said he actually earned quite a bit more! He recently shared on Jason Tartick’s podcast, Trading Secrets, that the pay scales up quickly. He said he didn’t get paid for the first episode, then $10,000 for the second, and it eventually climbed to around $50,000 per episode if you last. Adding in a base salary of about $110,000, Bobby said he made close to $400,000 total! Of course, ABC hasn’t officially confirmed any of these numbers, but it’s fascinating to hear the inside scoop.

Details about professional dancers’ earnings aren’t widely available, but it appears they make more money the further they progress in the competition, much like the celebrity contestants. Even if a pro is eliminated early on, they still receive payment. Jenna Johnson explained on the June 2025 episode of The Morning After podcast that dancers are guaranteed pay for a certain number of weeks, though contracts can vary. She noted she couldn’t speak for all the pros.

Let me clear up a common misconception about Dancing with the Stars. As someone who’s worked closely with the show, I can tell you that winning the Mirrorball Trophy – now named after the wonderful Len Goodman – doesn’t actually come with a huge cash prize for the professional dancers. I’ve seen so many winners, including with both Adam Rippon and Joey Graziadei, and it’s not about a million-dollar split! However, there is a significant financial incentive to make it to the finale. Basically, you get paid for the entire season, which is fantastic, and there’s a bonus just for reaching the end. The trophy is a beautiful keepsake, of course, but it’s the consistent work and that final bonus that really matter.

That doesn’t seem to be true. Dancer Lindsay Arnold shared on the 2022 podcast Trading Secrets that her pay was reduced by more than half when she moved from being a professional dancer to a troupe member.

Professional dancers have very little say in who they’re partnered with on the show. As Lindsay explained on the Hot Smart Rich podcast with Maggie Sellers in May 2025, the pairings are simply assigned: “Here’s your partner. Make it work.” Jenna added on The Morning After that the pairings are usually kept secret until the last minute to capture a genuine reaction. They don’t want the dancers to know who their partner is beforehand, or even know the full cast, though leaks do happen. According to former showrunner Rob Wade, the Dancing With the Stars team considers height, body type, personality, and compatibility when making matches. They avoid pairing people who are likely to clash, as the experience is too intense for everyone involved – the celebrity, the production team, and the viewers. Wade admitted they’ve made mistakes in the past by pairing people who didn’t get along, and they don’t want to repeat that.

Dancing with the Stars requires a huge time commitment. Rylee Arnold, who partnered with Stephen Nedoroscik in season 33, explained on the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis that rehearsals are four hours long and happen 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—she also spends time meeting with producers, working on choreography, and studying dance. Rylee says it takes over her whole life, but she loves it and is passionate about it. It’s a demanding schedule with rehearsals happening Tuesday through Sunday, camera blocking on Monday, and then back to showtime on Tuesday. It truly is a job where there are no days off.

Emma Slater and Britt Stewart shared in an Instagram video in September 2025 that they are mostly returning, but it will be 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 create a unique story for each dancer’s outfit. Then, they have only about five days – sometimes just half a day per costume, before adding rhinestones – to make everything. The department employs around 20 people, plus a separate tailor shop, to manage this huge undertaking.

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 the male dancers, most costumes are custom-made each week.

Gschwendtner added that while they’ll reuse items for group performances or promotional photos, they avoid reusing anything for the actual competition. The goal is to keep the looks fresh and new each week to maintain visual interest.

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2025-11-19 06:17