Jenna Dewan Addresses Dancing With The Stars Casting Controversy

Jenna Dewan is countering the criticism over her casting on Dancing with the Stars. It was announced on Wednesday (September 2) that the 45-year-old actress will be competing on season 35 of the ABC competition series with pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Dewan has been a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and more.

Jenna Dewan On Dancing With The Stars Casting Row

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenna defended her casting, insisting that while she is a experienced dancer, “I do not know how to ballroom dance.”

“Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages,” Dewan told EW. “There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously. I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me. It’s a new technique, brand new technique. It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don’t want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I’m used to.”

Dewan confessed her dance background almost makes her “a little more nervous” to compete on the show, because ballroom “feels really foreign.” She added, “It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done — I can go out there and do that. It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges. But that was part of why I wanted to do it. I really wanted to challenge myself.”

Val Chmerkovskiy Defends Jenna Dewan's Casting

Val has also batted for her casting, “First of all, it’s naive to think that this show is just about dance. It’s about the human experience and the human journey and how much you’re willing to reveal yourself. Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people — and I think that’s our advantage.”

“The way I approach things is that you’re only as good as the thing that you’ve never done, so I’m going to push her and push us to showcase to the world something they haven’t seen from her yet. That’s a challenge in itself because we’ve seen her at the highest form of dance and what that expression can look like", he added.