The Dancing with the Stars season 28 cast was revealed on August 19th on Good Morning America and the show premiered on September 17th. Hannah Brown, the most recent Bachelorette, is one of the celebrities competing on the new season of Dancing with the Stars. However, this is not the first time someone from The Bachelor Franchise has competed on the show.
Prior to the season 28 cast reveal, there have been several members (4 former Bachelors, 1 former Bachelorette, and 2 contestants from either The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, or Bachelor in Paradise) from The Bachelor Franchise (also on ABC) that have competed on Dancing with the Stars. Brown’s participation makes her the first Bachelorette lead to compete on the show since season 1’s Bachelorette Trista Sutter did so on season 1 of Dancing with the Stars.
Read on to see every person from The Bachelor Franchise who’s ever competed on Dancing with the Stars below:
Trista was the first-ever Bachelorette and her marriage to her Final Rose Recipient Ryan Sutter produced the franchise’s first successful relationship. The two are still together to this day and have two children.
Unless you are a hard-core Dancing with the Stars fan, most people don’t know that Trista was also a celebrity contestant on the first-ever season of Dancing with the Stars in 2005! The show’s first season lasted only six weeks and had six celebrities competing. The Season 1 Bachelorette’s professional dance partner was Louis Van Amstel. Trista and Louis lasted two weeks on Dancing with the Stars before becoming the first-ever couple to be eliminated on the show.
Before competing on two seasons of Dancing with The Stars and becoming a television presenter, Melissa Rycroft was a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Bachelor Contestant. She competed on Jason Mesnick’s season of The Bachelor and ultimately won Mesnick’s final rose and the two got engaged on the season finale. However, while the show was airing, Mesnick famously dumped Rycroft on the pre-taped After The Final Rose Special (which is now live) after he realized he was still in love with the runner-up and now-wife Molly Malaney.
Nancy O’Dell, the then-co-host of Access Hollywood, was originally part of the celebrity cast that season but was forced to withdraw before the premiere after tearing her meniscus (which required surgery). Just a few days after the controversial season 13 Bachelor finale aired, Rycroft was cast as O’Dell’s replacement and only had two days to learn her first dance with her professional partner Tony Dovolani. Despite this, Rycroft and Dovolani managed to have the second-highest scoring routine for Week 1.
Melissa did well on season 8 of Dancing with the Stars and made the finale. She and Dovolani finished third overall in a closely contested finale where the winning couple Shawn Johnson and her professional partner Mark Ballas beat Runners-up Gilles Marini and his professional partner Cheryl Burke by a margin of less than 1 percent. However, Rycroft’s journey on Dancing with the Stars wasn’t quite done yet (See #4).
On Season 14 of The Bachelor, Jake Pavelka controversially proposed and gave his final rose to Villain Vienna Girardi over runner-up Tenley Molzahn (one of the fan-favorites from that season). Shortly after his season concluded, Pavelka was announced as one of the eleven celebrities competing on season 10 of Dancing with the Stars. This made Pavelka the first-ever lead from The Bachelor to compete on the show.
Pavelka’s professional partner was Chelsie Hightower. On Season 10, the pilot showed she was an average dancer and was eliminated in Week 6, finishing seventh overall.
Rycroft was one of 13 former contestants who returned to compete on Dancing with the Stars Season 15 for its first (and so far, only) All-Stars season. However, she wasn’t the only person from Season 8 to compete on the All-Stars season as Shawn Johnson (the winner) and Gilles Marini (the runner-up) were also part of the cast too. In addition, Johnson was one of 6 former champions who took part in that season as well.
For the All-Stars Season, Rycroft was reunited with her original partner Tony Dovolani (she was one of the lucky five celebrities to do so). Meanwhile, Johnson and Marini didn’t get to reunite with their original partners Mark Ballas and Cheryl Burke respectively. On the All-Stars Season, Johnson danced with Derek Hough while Marini danced with Peta Murgatroyd (who won the previous season with NFL Player Donald Driver).
While Marini was surprisingly eliminated and finished sixth overall, both Rycroft and Johnson made the final two. Many fans thought that Johnson would win her second Mirror Ball trophy. However, in a shocking twist, Rycroft and Dovolani were announced as the winners instead (see the clip below). She was the only celebrity on the All-Stars season to finish higher compared to his/her original season. In addition, Melissa’s victory made her the first and (and so far) the only person from The Bachelor Franchise to ever win Dancing with the Stars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OYCy2EUlGc&t=1s
On the Season 17 finale of The Bachelor, Sean Lowe proposed to and gave his final rose to his now-wife Catherine Giudici over runner-up Lindsay Yenter. On Good Morning America, the day after The Bachelor finale aired, Lowe was revealed as the twelfth celebrity to compete on Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars. His professional partner was Peta Murgatroyd, who was the winning pro on season 14. Lowe could not take part in the initial Dancing with the Stars Cast Reveal two weeks prior as his season hadn’t finished airing yet.
On Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars, Lowe wasn’t the best or the worst dancer. While no one expected him to beat Kellie Pickler or Zendaya, the eventual winner and runner-up respectively, Lowe still managed to make it far on the show before he was eliminated on Week 8, finishing 6th overall.
Back when Dancing with the Stars aired two nights a week (once for the dances and once for the results), the judges were allowed to select one dance from the previous night to be performed as an encore performance on the results show. Most of the time, the encore performance goes to the couple who had the highest score. However, in a rare move, Lowe and Murgatroyd’s Cha Cha Cha to “YMCA” by The Village People in Week 3 (the week’s theme was Prom Night) was selected as the encore performance despite not being the highest-scoring dance. The clip below is their routine from the performances night.
On the Season 19 finale of The Bachelor, Chris Soules (on the right) proposed to and gave his final rose to Whitney Bischoff (in the center) over the runner-up Becca Tilley. On Good Morning America the day after the finale aired, Soules was revealed to be the twelfth and final celebrity to be featured on Season 20 of Dancing with the Stars (like with the case of Season 17 Bachelor Sean Lowe — see #5). Soules couldn’t be revealed as a contestant with the rest of the cast, as his season of The Bachelor had yet to finish airing when the cast reveal happened.
Soules’s professional partner on the show was Witney Carson (on the left), who won the previous season with Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Star Alfonso Ribeiro. Their partnership caused a stir with fans and the media due to both Chris’s dancing partner (Witney) and fiancee (Whitney) having the same first names (albeit different spellings) and Carson’s resemblance to Bischoff. In addition, the chemistry on the dance floor between Soules and Carson sparked rumors that his engagement to Bischoff was on the rocks. A few weeks after season 20 ended, the relationship between Bischoff and Soules was over.
Despite receiving low scores from the judges, Soules and Carson survived each week until they were eliminated on Week 8 in a double elimination with Shark Tank panelist and businessman Robert Herjavec and his professional partner Kym Johnson. However, Robert and Kym were eliminated first and finished sixth overall while Chris and Witney were eliminated second and finished fifth overall. As of today, Soules’s fifth-place finish (unless you count that Joe Amabile finished tied for fifth place in Season 27, see #8 below) is the highest placement for any male from The Bachelor franchise who has ever competed on Dancing with the Stars.
The season 21 Bachelor proposed to and gave his final rose to Vanessa Grimaldi over runner-up Raven Gates in the season finale. After his season ended, Viall participated on Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars and was partnered with Peta Murgatroyd (now a two-time winning pro), who previously partnered with Season 17 Bachelor Sean Lowe. Unlike Lowe and Chris Soules, Viall’s casting was announced on the actual cast reveal on Good Morning America despite his season of The Bachelor still being on the air.
Viall made it very far on his stint on Dancing with the Stars with Murgatroyd before they were eliminated in Week 7 in a double elimination along with former figure skater and two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan and her professional partner Artem Chigvintsev. Both couples finished in a tie for sixth place.
Although Becca Kufrin sent him home on Night 1 on season 14 of The Bachelorette, Joe Amabile became an instant fan favorite after his appearance on season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise. On the latter show, he formed a connection with Kendall Long and although they broke up in the season finale, the two confirmed on the reunion special that they got back together while the show was still airing. In addition, Amabile (a Chicago native) was offered a spot on Season 27 of Dancing with The Stars on the reunion episode so he and Long (who lives in Los Angeles) could continue their romance, which he accepted.
Amabile’s casting made him the second person from The Bachelor Franchise to compete on Dancing with The Stars despite not being the lead on either The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. The first to do so was Melissa Rycroft (See #2 and #4 above). On Season 27 of Dancing with the Stars, Amabile was partnered with Jenna Johnson, who won the previous season with Olympic Figure Skater Adam Rippon.
Despite receiving the lowest scores each week, Amabile and Johnson managed to survive each week over couples with higher scores. Amabile managed to make it to the semi-finals, where he and Johnson were eliminated in a double elimination with Fuller House star Juan Pablo Di Pace and his partner Cheryl Burke (the latter couple was the one to beat that season until their shocking elimination). Both couples finished in a tie for fifth place.
As said in the introduction earlier, Brown is currently competing on Season 28 of Dancing with The Stars, which premiered on September 26th. She was partnered with Alan Bersten, who has been a pro on the show since Season 25 (Prior to his promotion as a pro, Bersten has been on the show since season 20 as a member of the now defunct-troupe).
On Week 1, Hannah and Alan danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston. They earned a 20 for their routine and finished second to Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek and his professional partner Emma Slater, who earned a 21 for their Tango to “Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons.
Dancing with the Stars fans, and even Bachelor franchise alum,s have praised Brown’s dancing abilities and believe she has a good chance to win the Mirrorball Trophy. A lot of fans (including two of the judges and co-host Erin Andrews) have also noticed the strong chemistry between Brown and Bersten. If Brown does win, she’d be the first person from The Bachelor Franchise to win Dancing with the Stars since Melissa Rycroft did so on the All-Stars season (Season 15).
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