‘DWTS’ Casting Director Admits Show Has Been ‘Like a Rehab for a Career’ for Some Contestants

Dancing with the Stars is gearing up for season 35 with a cast full of stars currently making headlines, including Summer House standout Ciara Miller. But according to the show’s longtime casting director, that wasn’t always the strategy.

Deena Katz, the show’s executive producer and casting director, made the admission during a panel at the Television Academy’s Televerse Festival, according to a report People published Wednesday, August 26.

“I admit there were some seasons past where maybe it felt like people that have gone away, and it’s like a rehab for a career,” Katz said, per the publication. “And really, I think what we’re [not] missing is the relevance.”

Over the years, the show has cast its share of stars looking to rebuild their public image, including Ryan Lochte following his Rio Olympics scandal. According to The Guardian, the swimmer, 42, had claimed he was robbed at gunpoint in Brazil, but authorities said he had actually been confronted by a security guard after vandalizing a gas station.

The controversy followed him onto the dance floor: During his DWTS debut, two protesters wearing anti-Lochte T-shirts attempted to rush the stage after his foxtrot.

According to Time, Sean Spicer used his 2019 stint on the show to soften his public image after his controversial tenure as President Donald Trump‘s White House press secretary. The publication described his appearance as a “triumph of image rehab without accountability,” noting that the show presented Spicer, 54, as humble and self-aware, while allowing viewers to see a more lighthearted side of his personality.

HuffPost reported that Olivia Jade Giannulli joined DWTS in 2021 as part of an effort to rebuild her public image after the college admissions scandal involving her parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli.

And according to Vanity Fair, convicted fraudster Anna Delvey joined in 2024 while attempting to build a new public life following her release from prison. Delvey, 35, competed while still under electronically monitored house arrest, even wearing her ankle monitor on the dance floor, but her attempt at image rehabilitation was short-lived when she was eliminated during the first round.

When the new season premieres in September, fans may notice a shift in Katz’s casting strategy toward stars who are already part of the cultural conversation, according to People. That approach is reflected in a lineup that includes The Traitors breakout Maura Higgins and Miller, 30, fresh off a dramatic season of the Bravo reality show.

“You look at this season coming up, and I’m not going to say who’s on the season coming up, but there’s so many people that have really big day jobs right now, and they’re taking a moment out of it, or while they’re doing it, to come on and do this,” Katz said, per the report. “So you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m watching them on something else, and now they’re here.”

Katz continued, “So you feel like they’re in your zeitgeist, and yet they’re still on the show at the same time.”

According to the article, Katz also pushed back on the idea that producers should cast whoever they personally want to watch. “There’s a lot of shows where I think the producers tend to put people on the show that they love and that they like,” she said. “We’re not making this for us.”