‘Dancing with the Stars’ resurgence sparks nostalgia, social media attention
For some SU students, "Dancing with the Stars" carries personal value. The show has been airing since 2005, and some remembered it as a childhood staple. Maria Masek | Contributing Illustrator
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Senior Ethan Goodman is a longtime fan of “Dancing with the Stars” and kept a spreadsheet of average scores and placements throughout the 34th season.
He said the spreadsheet is “just for fun,” though it has the added benefit of comparing judges’ scores to placements and accounting for viewer votes, allowing Goodman to see if viewers had an impact, he said.
For 11 weeks, the Dancing with the Stars ballroom was filled with athletes, actors and influencers attempting these dance styles in a cutthroat competition. And Syracuse University students were invested until the very end.
Celebrities took on ballroom dancing in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and wrapped up its 34th season in its 20th year on air on Nov. 25. The show ran two seasons per year until 2019, when it switched to being fall exclusive.
Robert Irwin, the 22-year-old Australian conservationalist, was crowned the winner, along with his professional partner, Witney Carson. The pair beat out four other finalists, social media personality Alix Earle, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, reality television personality Dylan Efron and actress Elaine Hendrix.
DWTS, which now airs simultaneously on Disney+ and ABC on Tuesday nights, has been experiencing a resurgence. The show held an average viewership of nearly 6.5 million live viewers per episode this season, as opposed to 4.8 million just last season. The 2025 finale recorded over 9 million viewers, marking the series’ highest viewership since 2016.
Anna Krause, an SU freshman who’s been a fan of the show since she watched the “Juniors” version in 2018, said she was pleased with the diversity of the cast.
“They hit every aspect of reality, athletes, environmentalists, all of it,” Krause said.
While all five finalists were “great competitors,” Krause said she was partial to wildlife activist and television personality Irwin because of his energy. She’s also a fan of Carson, who she said deserved to take home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Freshman Sofiia Fetsak said she was also an Irwin fan, describing him as “such a ray of sunshine.” She said she’s been a DWTS fan since childhood, but this year the show was more personal than ever as she watched it during her first semester at SU.
“I love Dancing with the Stars because it reminds me of home and watching every week with my mom,” Fetsak said. “We would place bets on who would win, and since I was a dancer when I was little, I would always try and copy them.”
Viewer votes mattered especially for comedian Andy Richter, who consistently ended at the bottom of the leaderboard, lasted until week nine of the competition, when he was eliminated during the show’s 20th birthday episode. Krause said that she thought what he did was “fantastic,” though she did think he “should have gone earlier.”
“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Whitney Leavitt was ousted in the semifinals, despite consistently high scores from the judges. Audiences thought her dance background gave her an unfair advantage, and her strong dances couldn’t overpower fan votes, Krause said.
Goodman, who rooted for Hendrix, said according to his spreadsheet, Leavitt had the highest average score among all contestants in the season, though her elimination “wasn’t shocking.” But he has concerns about parasocial fans ruining the essence of the show.
“Social media can be a bad thing when it becomes less about dance ability than it already was,” Goodman said.
Goodman also said he uses the show and spreadsheet as a way to connect with his best friend, who goes to the University of Maryland. Since their freshman years, the two have kept up to date with the show together.
Krause said she follows the show closely on social media. She said she enjoys opening her phone on Wednesdays, the day after the show airs, and watching the contestants promoting themselves and trying to earn virality, hoping it will translate to votes. Krause attributes TikTok as a major influence of the show’s resurgence. Before each episode and during rehearsals, dancing partners posted videos of them preparing for their performances.
“[The contestants] all have their own TikTok, and they’re doing trends, and also you see some of their dance moves go viral,” Krause said.
Last season, NFL player Danny Amendola had a viral moment choreographed by his partner, Carson. Everyone was recreating it, which gave them a boost in votes, Krause said. This year, Efron and Daniella Karagach garnered over 6 million views for their dance move, which became a TikTok trend.
“Dancing with the Stars” won’t be back again until next fall, but in the meantime, a holiday special, “Dancing with the Holidays,” airs tomorrow night. In addition, fans can catch many of the professional dancers on tour this winter. The tour will be stopping nearby in Verona, New York, on Jan. 23, with Season 34 contestant and actress Danielle Fishel as a special guest.
