Dancing With the Stars Not Cancelled: ABC Boss Confirms Fall Return, Addresses the Fate of Spring Cycles
Is Dancing With the Stars on its last legs? ABC’s unprecedented move to forego a Spring 2019 cycle has stirred buzz that the once red-hot dancing competition may soon be cut off at the knees.
Newly-installed Alphabet entertainment president Karey Burke addressed the speculation Tuesday at the Television Critics Assoc. winter press tour, declaring unequivocally that the show will “definitely be returning in the fall.” Regarding the decision to skip a spring cycle for the first time in franchise history, Burke deflected, “That decision was made before I got here.”
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Having skipped this spring outright and aired an abbreviated all-athletes edition a year ago, could DWTS ever be a proper twice-a-year show again? “We’re in conversations about that,” Burke told TVLine. “They’re coming in soon to talk about their plans for the fall, and we’ll discuss it then.”
Dancing is, of course coming off a controversial 27th season. After multiple well-scored frontrunners were eliminated prematurely (including R&B singer Tinashe and Fuller House actor Juan Pablo Di Pace), the Mirrorball was ultimately awarded to country radio DJ — and very dark horse — Bobby Bones, who had scored much lower than his three fellow finalists.
The finale results caused an uproar among DWTS viewers, prompting many fans (and us!) to call for a change to the show’s voting structure.
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