Jenna Johnson’s Niece Hailey Bills Makes Dancing With the Stars Debut

Dancing With the Stars is a family affair for Jenna Johnson.

The 31-year-old is facing off against both her husband, professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, and her niece, Hailey Bills, who are both also competing on season 34.

On the September 16th premiere of the ABC dance competition, 19-year-old Hailey began performing as a troupe dancer. These dancers are professionals who perform as a group and don’t have individual celebrity partners.

Jenna noticed a resemblance between herself and the teenager when they both wore the same outfit during a large performance, and jokingly called them “#Twins” on TikTok on September 17th.

She silently mouthed the words to the music as Hailey danced in their identical black leotards: “You’re not seeing double… you’re seeing trouble!”

This isn’t Hailey’s first experience with *Dancing With the Stars*. Back in 2018, during season 27, she performed on the show with the *Dancing With the Stars: Juniors* cast. She was part of a Disney-themed group dance alongside Tripp Johnston, the son of Bristol Palin.

Rylee Arnold, who now competes with Scott Hoying from Pentatonix, was previously on the cast of *Dancing with the Stars: Junior*. She later became a professional dancer on *Dancing with the Stars* in 2023.

Many dancers who start in the background of *Dancing with the Stars* eventually get paired with a celebrity contestant. Besides Jenna, who was a troupe member from 2014 to 2016, other well-known professional dancers who began as background performers include Lindsay Arnold, Sharna Burgess, Artem Chigvintsev, Sasha Farber, and Keo Motsepe.

Interestingly, over half of the professional dancers on this season of *Dancing with the Stars* were once part of the show’s ensemble. This includes well-known faces like Witney Carson, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Alan Bersten, and Britt Stewart.

Jenna was thrilled for her niece. A TikTok video from September 11th shows Jenna and Val-parents to 2-year-old Rome-telling Hailey she’d been cast in the show, and Hailey immediately started crying tears of joy.

Hailey shared a heartfelt message, writing, “This day will always be special to me!” She also expressed her love for Jenna Johnson and Val, adding, “So glad we captured it on video!”

To see who’s competing on season 34 of DWTS, read on.