Are Showmances Really Necessary to Do Well on ‘DWTS’?

It’s no secret that Dancing With The Stars has one of the most unique markets of all competition reality shows. The show, which features both celebrities and professional dancers, draws in a diverse audience. This audience typically stays along for the ride the more vulnerable the celebrity gets, but what happens when there isn’t a sob story of some kind? Is a showmance necessary? 

Showmances What Are They? Do They Help on DWTS?

If you’ve seen any season of Dancing With The Stars, I’m sure you’ve noticed the show can play out more similarly to a reality show, than a traditional competition show. Since fans are typically familiar with the celebrities on the show, this platform is used as an opportunity to be more vulnerable week-to-week. If celebrities have nothing to be vulnerable about, or maybe they haven’t opened up as much as their co-stars, rumors begin to swirl on social media.

These rumors usually tell a tale of a celebrity who has fallen head over heels for their celebrity partner. The majority of the time, people creating these rumors ignore the obvious like happy marriages of pro dancers, or even the celebrity involved. 

Some of the biggest showmance rumors have involved JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson; Danny Amendola and Witney Carson; Trevor Donovan and Emma Slater; as well as many more. It’s also worth noting that partnerships of Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart; Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Garcia; Kym Johnson and Robert Herjavec are not counted in this showmance argument, since they are/were married to their former partner. 

Fans want to feel personally involved in the journey of their favorite celebrity on the series. They want to feel like there’s no barrier between them and what they’re seeing on the screen. In reality, many people have a hard time deciphering between on stage chemistry and actual, romantic, chemistry.

Do They Really Help?

You know the saying “any publicity is good publicity?” That’s pretty much the saying that’s used when pairings decide to portray a relationship during the competition. No matter how well the partner dances, fans care more about what’s going on behind the scenes. Two of the biggest cases were Rylee Arnold and Harry Jowsey and Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko. 

Both Jowsey and Nader were not the best dancers of their season, yet they continually got voted through each elimination because of their on-going showmance.The will they or won’t they element was truly what kept them going. That being said, neither pair made it anywhere near the Finals. 

So while showmances may help gain votes in the short term, but in the long run, they don’t help enough in the competition. They definitely are not necessary to do well on the show. Fans really enjoy seeing celebrities get vulnerable on the stage. Although a showmance may make fans feel closer to their favorite celebrity, it often hurts the celebrity more in the long run.