Every season on 'Dancing with the Stars,' fans call out one or more of the show's celebrity contestants for having previous dance experience. The most common complaint is that the dance experience is unfair to the other contestants on the show. While I understand (not agree with) the general concept behind the 'controversy,' it's become nothing more than a reason to not want someone to win the show. The Season 22 champions are about to be crowned, with UFC Fighter Paige Van Zant, Meteorologist Ginger Zee and Model Nyle DiMarco within arms reach of the coveted trophy.
The 'Dancing with the Stars' fan base is passionate and determined. The fans will do anything to get their favorite team to the finals and ultimately, the trophy. However, one of the tactics used is to come up with anything to make other couples unappealing. Unfortunately, Paige Van Zant has fallen victim to this. Paige openly stated on the show that she studied dance for thirteen years, but stopped when she became a cheerleader in high school.
Allow me to point out that it is rather impossible to have an entire cast of celebrities on the show all without having some form of dance experience, whether it was as children in ballet class, or participating in college dance teams. People fail to acknowledge that basic dance experience that celebrities often have offers very little to no advantage in a ballroom dance competition. It's almost like comparing a track & field runner to a professional baseball player. They're both athletes, but each requires different specific skills. While previous dance experience is helpful to a contestant, it does not by any means give anyone an advantage.
Advantages on the show are entirely relative. Everyone who steps foot on the ballroom floor has some kind of advantage over the others. The athletes can have better stamina, the actors can have better showmanship and the singers can have better musicality. There's also the factor of the strength in fan bases, since 50% of the final scores come from fan votes.
There have been a handful of professional dancers on the show and I don't recall anyone crying foul as loudly as they are now. There was an abundance of support for Sabrina Bryan and Zendaya on their respective seasons- and they dance as part of their claim to fame. The hypocrisy surrounding this issue has become truly laughable. When someone with no dance experience goes far in the competition, fans complain that they're not good enough to be there, but when someone with dance experience does well, then it's unfair.
The dance experience controversy on this show is stupid. Plain and simple. The point of this show is for celebrities to learn a new skill. So unless a celebrity is a professional ballroom dancer, then I'd say it's a fair game. People need to toss the negativity aside and just enjoy the show for what it is. Every contestant works tirelessly to learn, grow and entertain the audiences and the fans should appreciate that.
Former DWTS pros Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Derek Hough stopped by AOL Build recently and you can see their interviews here & here.