“Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro” executive producers Conrad Green and Deena Katz told TheWrap that winning the ABC dancing competition series is unlike any other show on the market, because the winner of “The Next Pro” receives “genuinely life-changing prize.”
A dozen dancers compete to have the chance to bring their talents to the ballroom as a professional on Season 35 of the ABC hit show.
“The prize is so tangible,” Conrad Green said. “Money’s money. Abstract prizes are abstract prizes, but this is a real career, life-changing moment for whoever wins it.”
“Dancing With the Stars” has boomed within the last several years with a rise in Gen Z viewership and social engagements. The series also received its first Emmy nomination in a decade this July, cementing its status as a rebounded TV hit.
Hosted by Season 34 winner Robert Irwin, “The Next Pro” has gotten off to a strong start as ABC’s strongest summer series debut across genres in six years. The spinoff debuted to 5.33 million viewers after three days of viewing on ABC, Disney+, Hulu and digital platforms.
The crop of dancers on “The Next Pro” are at the top of their game. Several already built dedicated followings on social media, while others have won national and international ballroom dance championships. The executive producers intentionally gave different style dancers a chance, but noted that the skillset of a “DWTS” pro is its own beast.
“It’s more than just dancing to be a professional dancer on our show,” Deena Katz said. “Can you talk in front of the camera? Can you teach a celebrity? Can you teach someone that doesn’t know how to dance? And it’s not just your dance ability. The pros have the hardest job on our show.”
Three-time mirrorball champion Mark Ballas and his mother Shirley (a ballroom legend in her own rite) serve as head judges on the series with the beloved “DWTS” professional dancers rotate in as a guest judge.
The executive producers said this was a natural fit for the ABC talent. Different professionals step in to mentor the dancers across various skill sets needed to succeed on the shows. Derek Hough coached the dancers on technique while Daniella Karagach will help the dancers create “wow moments.”
“We’ve always felt a little bit that our pros are an underutilized resource on the show,” Green said. “It’s never about them. They’re very selfless, but it’s quite nice to be able to flip it and put them in that position to be able to share their knowledge.”
Katz admitted that this show was a much “more thorough” audition process than any of the professional dancers on the show went through. She noted that to make a great pro it takes more than just talent.
“Our professional dancers are a coach, a mentor, a choreographer, a big brother, a therapist,” she said.
Just one week before the premiere of the spinoff series, “Dancing With the Stars” received its first primetime Emmy nomination in over a decade. Both Green and Katz have worked on the show since its infancy. Receiving the nomination after the show’s revived success felt like a testament to the entire crew’s hard work. (Katz said “The Next Pro” host and Season 34 mirrorball champ Robert Irwin broke the news to her).
“We’ve been at this show since it started, and it’s our baby,” she said. “To not have been nominated for so long, it’s okay with us until you get it. It’s for the 300 people that work on you know daily there, and everybody else that does this show, and our cast, and everybody else. It was such an honor to finally get that recognition.”
“The Next Pro” concludes Aug. 31 and the next season of “DWTS” will pick up just two weeks later on Sept. 15.
“Whoever wins the show is going to be with his or her dance partner, and three weeks later we’re live on the air,” Katz said.
