Why Ciara Miller Isn’t Quite Ready for Dancing With the Stars Debut

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It’s no secret that Ciara Miller brought the heat with the Summer House reunion look.

However, she isn’t entirely confident about her current fitness level as she gets ready to compete on Dancing With the Stars.

Ciara recently told TopMob News that appearance isn’t always a sign of fitness. She admitted she gets winded climbing stairs and is motivated to return to the gym to improve her endurance.

With the 35th season of the ABC reality show coming up in just a few months, the 30-year-old contestant says she still has a lot of work to do to prepare.

Ciara joked that she’s working hard to stay fit, saying it would be awful to end up needing to be carried out on a stretcher. ‘That would just be so sad,’ she said.

Even though she feels a bit behind in training, Ciara is determined to win the Mirrorball trophy.

I’m really motivated to do well in the competition, so I’m making sure to train hard. That means hitting the gym and getting on the Stairmaster!

Ciara is already thinking about the music she’ll dance to, as she prepares to compete with stars like Maura Higgins and Jackson Olson.

She playfully mentioned she’s been working really hard on her playlist. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to share any sneak peeks, but hinted that as a child of the ‘90s, it would be full of nostalgic hits – and promised it was going to be amazing.

Besides perfecting her foxtrot and samba routines, the reality star also achieved a dream come true recently – she appeared in the music video for Shaboozey’s song “Cowgirl.”

Ciara excitedly shared that she feels like her dream came true, explaining she’d been hoping for this opportunity and even told everyone she knew she wanted to be in a country music video—but not just any video, a really exciting one!

As for how the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came to be?

Ciara explained that she received a call from Shaboozey’s team and immediately jumped on a flight from France to L.A. to make it happen. She’s thrilled with how the video turned out, calling it ‘iconic,’ and raved about working with Shaboozey, praising his talent as a director and saying she had a blast on set.

Tune in to Bravo and Peacock on Wednesday, June 17th at 9 p.m. to see Ciara and other celebrities honored at the Culture Awards, hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang of Las Culturistas. Plus, check out some surprising behind-the-scenes facts about Dancing with the Stars!

According to a 2019 report in Variety, celebrities appearing on Dancing With the Stars initially make around $125,000 for rehearsals and the first two weeks of competition. They can earn additional money each week they continue on the show, 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 explained on Jason Tartick’s podcast, Trading Secrets, in September 2025 that the show’s pay structure started with nothing for the first episode. They then earned $10,000 for the second, and it increased to around $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, and $20,000 per episode after that—eventually reaching $50,000 an episode if they continued working on it.

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.

Just like with the amateur dancers, details about the professional dancers’ earnings haven’t been released. However, it appears that the professionals 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 Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester’s podcast, The Morning After, 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, who has won two seasons of Dancing with the Stars – once with Olympic skater Adam Rippon and again with Joey Graziadei from The Bachelor – explains that professional dancers don’t earn extra money for winning the coveted Mirrorball Trophy (now named after Len Goodman). However, 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 get paid for the entire season, plus a bonus. However, winning isn’t about a large cash prize; it’s just about sharing a trophy with your partner.

That doesn’t appear to be the case.

In a 2022 appearance on the show Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold shared that her pay was reduced by more than half after she moved from being a professional dancer to a company (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, ‘This is your partner, now you need to make the relationship succeed.’

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 until the live reveal. They prioritize capturing genuine reactions from the contestants. Contrary to what people might think, the show’s hosts don’t know who’s participating beforehand – the producers don’t even want them to know. While leaks sometimes happen, the goal is to keep the cast a complete 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, contestants are paired based on their physical attributes, overall personality, and how well they’re likely to get along. They avoid putting people together who clash, as the experience is already very challenging. Unlike shows like The Bachelor, they prioritize compatibility because forcing a connection would create a negative experience for everyone involved – the celebrity contestant, the production team, and viewers. Wade admitted they’ve 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, 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. But the work doesn’t end there; she often follows up with meetings, choreography work, or studying dance videos. 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 that requires dedication every single day.

Emma Slater and Britt Stewart confirmed in a September 2025 Instagram video that they’re mostly on board, but it’s a project they’re working on together 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 only five days – sometimes just half a day per costume, before even adding rhinestones – to create everything. The department employs around 20 people, plus an external tailor shop, to manage this massive 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 re-use pants for male dancers, most costumes are made from scratch each week.

As Gschwendtner added, they do reuse items for group performances or promotional shoots, but never 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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2026-06-15 15:19