Traitors’ Rob Rausch Reacts to Maura Higgins’ DWTS Casting

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Rob Rausch is Faithful Maura Higgins could win the Mirrorball Trophy.

The winner of The Traitors shared that he’s really excited to see a fellow cast member from season four compete on the next season of Dancing With the Stars, which will be its 35th.

Rob told Erin Lim Rhodes of TopMob News on April 22nd, while at the CELSIUS Soccer Classic in Los Angeles, that she was very eager and he believes she’ll succeed spectacularly.

Rob shared that Maura told him she’d been cast just before ABC publicly announced she and fellow Traitor contestant Ciara Miller would be competing on the dance floor.

The 27-year-old thinks the host of Love Island USA: Aftersun is a strong contender and could easily win. Rob even said, “She’s practically guaranteed to win!”

Regarding the rumors that Rob might be joining season 35 of ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ he’s currently keeping everything under wraps and isn’t revealing any details.

When asked about the rumors, the Alabama snake handler just smiled and said, “I can’t say. You’ll have to watch and find out if I’m there.”

Even if Rob doesn’t compete on the show next season, fans will still be excited to see him supporting Maura from the audience.

Viewers of Traitors grew attached to the close friendship between the final two players, but were shocked when Rob was revealed to be the ‘Traitor’ and won the $220,800 prize by betraying Maura, whom he had led to believe he was a loyal player all season.

Despite getting epically duped, Maura ultimately forgave her cast mate for his deceptive game play.

Following the show’s finale in March, the 35-year-old told TopMob News that he and Rob were on good terms. He explained he hadn’t taken any disagreements personally, viewing it all as part of the game, and acknowledged that Rob had played it very skillfully.

Rob eventually kept his promise and apologized to her with a luxurious Hermes Birkin bag.

Maura excitedly showed off her designer purse during a March 4th appearance on Watch What Happens Live, saying, ‘I knew my time would come!’

While we wait to find out who else will be on season 35 of Dancing with the Stars, here are some fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories from the show.

In 2019, Variety reported that celebrities appearing on Dancing With the Stars initially earn $125,000 for rehearsals and the first two weeks of the show. According to sources, contestants who advance further receive additional payments each week, potentially reaching a total 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 revealed on Jason Tartick’s podcast, Trading Secrets, in September 2025, that the show’s pay structure is unusual. They explained that they earned nothing for the first episode, then $10,000 for the second. The payment then increased, roughly to $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, and $20,000 per episode, ultimately reaching $50,000 an episode for those who 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 progress 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 specific number of weeks. However, she added that contracts vary and she couldn’t comment on everyone’s situation.

Apparently not.

Professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars, like Jenna Johnson, don’t earn extra money for winning the Mirrorball Trophy – now named after the late Len Goodman. However, Johnson, who has won twice with Adam Rippon (season 26) and Joey Graziadei (season 33), says reaching the finale is still rewarding, 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 for the winning couple.

That doesn’t appear to be the case.

In a 2022 appearance on the Trading Secrets podcast, 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 deliberately keep the cast a secret to capture authentic reactions from the contestants. It’s a common misconception that the hosts know who’s paired with whom, but they don’t find out until the reveal. The producers work hard to prevent leaks and want it to be a complete surprise for everyone involved until they meet their partner.

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 they considered height, body type, personality, and how well contestants would get along. They avoided pairing people who were likely to clash, as the experience was already very intense. Unlike shows like The Bachelor, forcing incompatible matches 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 connect.

As someone who’s been behind the scenes, let me tell you, Dancing with the Stars is a full-time life! I recently spoke with Rylee Arnold, and she shared just how intense it is. They’re in four-hour rehearsals every day – either morning, afternoon, or evening. But it doesn’t end there. After rehearsal, it’s meetings with producers, perfecting choreography, or hours spent studying dance. Rylee put it perfectly: her whole life revolves around the show. And honestly, that’s the case for everyone involved! It’s a non-stop cycle – shows on Tuesdays, then straight back to rehearsals Wednesday through Sunday. Monday is for camera blocking, and then it starts all over again on Tuesday. It’s demanding, absolutely, but when you love what you do, like Rylee does, it makes all the difference.

Emma Slater and Britt Stewart shared in an Instagram video in September 2025 that they were mostly on board, 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 an external tailor shop, making it a large 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 costumes are custom-made each week.

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

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2026-04-23 17:47