Dancing with the Stars: How this classic format found Gen Z

The social media strategy behind its ratings surge – and why no celebrity is ever asked to dance before they’re cast.

The people behind today’s biggest shows – in conversation with C21’s Mark Rowland.

Season 35 opened on ABC and Disney+ last week with 6.7 million viewers, up almost a quarter on last year and the show’s best start since 2020.

In the run-up to the new season, I had the chance to talk with executive producers Conrad Green and Deena Katz. Together they launched Dancing with the Stars in the US.

Twenty years on, with its biggest audiences in a decade, you still get the sense they’re both a little surprised it worked at all. It was so unlike the hard-edged celebrity contests it was up against.

They certainly aren’t sitting still. Conrad takes us through the strategy that has reached a new generation, and Deena tells us about the unique casting process that delivers season after season.

Here’s just the start of what we find out:

Deena thought it would never get made. It launched in the era of Fear Factor – “this thing’s never gonna go.” It took one particular booking to change her mind.

Conrad puts the ratings rise down to the show’s smart social media strategy – and handing the pro dancers much more control over what they post

Nobody auditions. Deena has never tested a celebrity’s dancing  – “never ever” – and she thinks not knowing is part of why the show works.

Also out today, a bonus episode: BBC Studios’ Sumi Connock on the global strategy that supports Dancing with the Stars – and the new shows breaking through.

Next Thursday: Alex Horne, star and creator of Taskmaster, on how uniquely British silliness has delivered international success.