Dancing With the Stars made history with an all-female pairing in the past — but would the same ever be explored with two men?
“I would say we are constantly looking at the ways by which we can push the envelope and produce a show that reflects and represents society as a whole,” executive producer Ryan O’Dowd told Deadline on Tuesday, May 27.
O’Dowd hinted that fans shouldn’t give up hope when it comes to same-sex pairings. “I wouldn’t rule it out,” he added. “It’s something that we’re continuing to discuss.”
The season 33 finale of Dancing With the Stars, which aired in November 2024, featured Derek Hough and Mark Ballas collaborating on an Argentine tango. Hough, 40, previously showed support for seeing an all-male partnership competing on the dance floor.
“The whole concept of two men dancing together is nothing revolutionary, by any means,” he told Gold Derby in April. “Like I said, this is what the origins are. But it was cool to be able to see and even hear it from some people who were like, ‘You know, I didn’t really know if I wanted to see that, but after seeing that, I loved it.’”
Hough continued: “To show it and say, ‘Hey, look at this. This is kind of different.’ Or, it’s not different, but we haven’t seen this yet on this platform like this. ‘What do you think?’ And the response is, ‘I like it.’ I really thought that was really cool.”
DWTS history was made when JoJo Siwa was paired up with Jenna Johnson during season 30. O’Dowd explained on Tuesday that he has loved doing “things that have never been done before” on the show. He referenced two memorable moments from last season: Ilona Maher being the first female celebrity to lift her male partner, Alan Bersten, and Witney Carson and Danny Amendola‘s “iconic leg lift.”
“It’s almost like a slow motion leg lift that became this massive viral sensation and people started trying to do it [on social media],” he recalled. “I love when things are being done that go beyond the scope of the broadcast and into your everyday life.”
The next season of DWTS is expected to air later this year. ABC recently announced the first two stars — TikToker Alix Earle and Steve Irwin‘s son Robert Irwin — but the rest of the celeb competitors have yet to be confirmed.
In addition to teasing possible shakeups, O’Dowd also took the opportunity to address claims that voting for DWTS is rigged.
“We take that very seriously. We have never, nor would we ever do anything to manipulate the votes,” he told Deadline about how the show “really needs to be” credible. “It needs to allow the viewers to have a voice and to really be the voice of who deserves to win. So we have never nor would we ever want to manipulate that in any way.”
