PureDWTS Junior, Season 1 – What We Know So Far, A Few Updates
Well shucks – I tweet about not hearing anything about DWTSJ, and suddenly they start confirming stuff the next day. As luck would have it, I actually did get to talk to Deep Throat a bit last night and this morning, and did manage to dig up a few more of the particulars. I will maintain this post with any other facts that come to light between now and the unofficial “preseason” (the pro and cast announcements, etc), so save it to your bookmarks 😉
Confirmed facts (either by media or our own sources – newest updates in red):
1.) It’s airing on Sundays from 8-9 PM. Confirmed on Twitter by Kristyn, as it’s listed in the ABC schedule; I generally think this is a good time slot, as the show won’t be in direct competition with AGT, SYTYCD, or WOD (which was my concern when I had initially heard it was to be a summer series). It might run into some competition once some of the regular season Sunday night heavy-hitters (The Walking Dead comes to mind) start back up, but for the most part, I don’t think it’s a doomed time slot.
2.) It will tape from July-August.
Given that they’re going to be dealing with a cast that’s under the age of 18, this will probably help get around some of the child labor laws, as well as keep production costs down.
3.) There will be 10 episodes total – some will be live, some will likely be ALL pre-taped.
See above about taping schedule. My guess is that the finale will likely be live, but everything else will be pre-taped. Entire show will be pre-taped, per source. Good luck keeping those leaks plugged, ABC 😉
4.) There will be 8-10 12 couples.
Which makes sense, if the show is to be 10 episodes long. I think any more than 10 couples would be overkill, for a preliminary season of a new format. Knock on wood, I don’t think there will have to be any double elim’s, but who knows…
5.) Age cutoff is (roughly) 13.
Source said most of the pros that tried out were 13 and under – a scant few 14 y/o’s did get to audition, but no clue whether they were actually cast or not.
6.) Some of the regular DWTS pros will be serving as mentors.
We had already kinda guessed this, since Sasha & Emma were at the pro auditions, but nice to have confirmation. No idea which pros will for sure be mentoring, but I would venture a guess that Sasha & Emma are indeed involved in some capacity.
7.) Pros have been cast, but they’re still working on the celebs.
And they’ve got time, given that the show isn’t taping until July. Makes me wonder how they’re going to keep the cast from leaking like a sieve…or maybe that’s their intention…?
8.) Tom is NOT hosting.
Already confirmed awhile back, but just reiterating for the sake of being thorough.
9.) It will not affect the fall season of DWTS in any way.
The fall season will be full-length, airing on Mondays, business as usual. DWTSJ will be pre-taped, so any pros doing mentoring will not have any overlap with their regular pro duties. I’m guessing DWTSJ is going to air semi-concurrently with the fall season, with DWTSJ on Sunday nights and DWTS on Mondays.
10.) There will be all-new judges as well.
And they’re going to skew much younger than the judging panel on DWTS.
11.) At least one recent MBT-holder is going to be serving as a judge or host.
This DWTS champion (celeb, not pro) has some dance credibility, and is articulate…so I’m happy with the casting 🙂
12.) The DWTSJ pros have varying styles of training.
Some are cross-trained in ballroom and other styles; a few are trained only in ballroom; a few are trained in other styles, but not ballroom. If I had to guess, I think this likely means that the pros are going to be expected to pick up whatever choreo is thrown their way, regardless of the style – and then help their celeb learn it as well. If the producers were smart, they likely cast pros who seemed like they could handle different styles of dance, even if they weren’t specifically trained in it – kind of like the contestants on SYTYCD: most have a certain style they specialize in, but they’re expected to be able to pick up other styles from week to week.
13.) Each DWTSJ couple is going to be paired with a DWTS pro that is going to mentor/coach them the whole season.
So it’s basically teams of 3: one DWTSJ pro, one kid celeb, & one DWTS pro to coach them.
14.) The DWTS pros serving as mentors to the couples are Cheryl, Lindsay, Witney, Emma, Jenna, Hayley, Artem, Gleb, Sasha, Keo, Alan, & Brandon.
Cheryl fans, rejoice! Hayley fans, you got your wish – it looks like your girl is getting a shot at something more than just troupe 🙂 Congrats to Brandon as well – makes me wonder if the pro lineup for the fall season of DWTS might look similar to this list. Part of me thinks the absences on this list are almost more interesting than who IS involved – no Sharna, no Chmerkovskiys, no Peta? Keep in mind, this is all being pre-taped starting at the end of this month, so maybe those sitting this one out just wanted more of a summer vacay, but who knows…
15.) The DWTSJ pros I have gotten confirmation on are Rylee Arnold, Brightyn Brems, Hailey Bills, Elliana Walmsley, Kamri Peterson, Artyon Celestine, Jake Monreal, JT Church, Lev Khmelev, Tristan Ianeiro, & Sage Rosen.
Yes, I know that’s only (11) – apparently Makeila Lawrence was a pro, but had to be replaced because she was too tall. Haven’t gotten confirmation on her replacement. We’ll start posting profiles of the DWTSJ pros next week 😉
Speculation/guesses/stuff we can’t reveal yet:
We’ve been told a few of the pros names. We will reveal when we can, but if you go have a look at the post we did on the DWTSJ pro auditions, you can probably guess at least one of them – hint: I got at least one of the pros on my wish list 😉
Bindi’s brother, Robert Irwin, may be one of the celebs. His was a name a lot of the fans started tossing around when DWTSJ first got announced, and he has been spotted in the audience this season. I would not be mad if he was cast 🙂
Is Bindi possibly hosting…? This might be more within the realm of “wishful thinking”, but she did hop in and give Tom a quick assist last week, and is articulate and friendly enough that I think she’d handle talking to the kids beautifully.
The only child celeb that has publicly expressed interest is Alabama Barker. Read the original post here.
Thank you for this information! I’m actually looking forward to DWTSJR. I think it’ll be interesting once we see how they end up actually formatting it.
Me too, Cari! I’m just up for anything new & different, when it comes to DWTS 🙂
I’m insterested to see how this plays out. Wondering if the celebrities Will all be under 13 too that knocks out a lot of my original thoughts.
The one girl I think might be good is Peyton List from Andi Mack she’s 13. That’s the only young celeb I know lol
I’m guessing Rylee Arnold got cast as a pro it just makes sense.
Bindi would be a Great host but I wonder if they bring in some Disney or free form star keeping it in the fam.
Also curious on the judging wonder if some of the current pros will do it. I think Allison Holker would be awesome as a judge for the show.
Looking forward to more leaks and info. Thanks for the update
I’m very excited for DWTSJr! Been waiting to hear some info! Yay!! I remember at that taping seeing Witney there too, was Jenna as well? I know Witney, Lindsey and Jenna have family members who dance ballroom….
I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the Chmerkovskiy Bros don’t end up on the judges panel-why do I have a feeling that may happen?????????
Would love to see Mark Ballas or Allison Holker as judges.
I could see Jordan Fisher hosting as they might want to have a young cast overall, including with the host.
I also can see Maddie Ziegler as a judge, just because she is a big name young dancer (Or any of the girls from Dance Moms).
Thanks for the info, Courtney. I’ll likely check this out. I think Bindi would make for a wonderful host. Just hoping Maks does not end up on the judging panel.
Hmmm…I wonder why the show is not live, but taped instead. So they are not gonna show it till the fall season which will be in Sept. How are they gonna keep the winner secret for a month or more? I am 50/50 on this. Watching kids dance really doesn’t interest me. But I will try to be open minded about this and at least watch the 1st night to see if I like it or not.
@jordan I hope they do not bring Maddie Ziegler in as a judge she’s is so annoying and full of herself. Also she needs to give up the acting dream and stick to dancing. She is not a good actress. I’d prefer if they bring in a dance moms girl it’s Chloe L. I like her much better. She has a far better personality than Maddie. It will be interesting to see what age they pick for judging.
They need to have an adult on the panel in my opinion. It could be a younger adult, but they should have experience as a dancer, preferably experience as a ballroom coach to young dancers. I know I’m hoping for too much.
If they want to go the “name” judge then get Karina, Mark or Cheryl as the head judge. I’m pretty sure both Karina and Mark have experience coaching young ballroom dancers, Cheryl I’m not sure about, but I think she does as well.
I don’t want to see hip or popular young personalities on the judging panel who have no idea about ballroom or even general dance technique. These kids are going to be putting in the work, they deserve critique that actually, you know, critiques and guides them.
Just throwing this out there, since I already did on Twitter: I have no reason to believe that any DWTS pros are going to be serving as judges or hosts on DWTSJ. The impression I was given is that the only capacity they’re going to be serving in is as mentors/choreographers. The judges & host(s) have already been determined, and they are not DWTS pros, current or former.
I’ll admit part of the fault for the proliferation of “oh no, is Maks going to be a judge????” hand-wringing I’m seeing – it was my main fear when DWTSJ was announced. But I don’t think it’s something you’ll have to worry about 😉
There is plenty of youngs stars from the ABC family that could be cast : Miles Brown or Marsai Martin from Black-ish, the three children from This is us, Malachi Barton, etc. and I would also love to see Jacob Tremblay. Anyway I’m excited.
PS : @Taryn, I only know one Petyon List and she is 20 not 13 …
I know he’s older but I’d love to see Kenny Ortega as the head judge, with his experience working with kids/teens/young adults in “High School Musical” and “Descendants”.
How could they not have Maddie Ziegler she won the last two Teen Choice Awards as favorite dancer has almost twice as many fans as Chloe Lukasiak. Closer to the age of the contestants than Chloe, was a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, she has branched out into so many different areas and dances professionally for Brian Friedman. Heck put both Ziegler girls in there as judges.
Thank you, Courtney, for all your info on this thread about DWTSjr.
Not sure how I feel about pre-taped. And I also wonder how they will keep the winner concealed until the end when it is televised.
I’m starting to get more and more interested in this version. I keep reminding myself of how much I’ve loved the teenagers on DWTS in the past….Willow Smith and Bindi Irwin were fantastic. So, I would think I’d love this version too.
@philomene My mistake the Andi Mack lead actress is Peyton Elizabeth Lee. She is 13. I do know the Peyton List you are referring to as well from Jessie. there’s also another actress Peyton List whose even older and has been on several tv shows frequency, the tomorrow people and as the world turns. That was not who I meant tho.
Emma used to host all access maybe she’s hosting this? Hoping no Cbros/sis this is about the juniors.
Thank you for the update as I’ve been curious as to the status of this show. Mixed feelings here. First, this would’ve been the series for a stunted season and, even as is, the timing seems off. Sunday night seems a good time slot but putting 10 weeks of a kid show late summer followed up by a regular DWTS season in fall may lead to viewer fatigue. Also, the pros are a younger set than I was anticipating so I really hope they keep it age appropriate. On that note, Robert Irwin is of an age that I’d rather see his wholesomeness on the 13+ version at this point.
I’m guessing based on your hints the host/judge is going to be Rashad…unless “dance credibility” means “experience outside DWTS” in which case I’d guess Alfonso.
Oh or I guess Jordan, seeing as he’s a Disney man (sorry for extra post)
I have a feeling jordan fisher is going to be the host. He has dance background and speaks very well for himself. I would watch just to see him on T.V. again!
My gut says the last hint means Alfonso hosting. Would like to see Cheryl as a judge if I can make a wish☺️
This would be my ideal judging panel and host respectively: Kim Johnson, the kid from the descendents movies and Jessie (the kid can dance), and jordan fisher as the judging panel with Alfonso as host.
So one of the judges is a former mirrorball trophy winner with dance credibility and is articulate? And this person could be a judge or a host? That actually means it doesn’t necessarily have to be a DWTS pro I suppose????
In my opinion, in must rule out a C-Bro particularly Maks-I never exactly considered him a very articulate type ????
I I have to bet on a former winner as a host I would put my money on Alfonso.
Anyway. I’m sooo curious about this season. It wIll be refreshing.
My first guess for the for the former MBT assuming it’s a celeb which seems to be what that its stating since all the pros have dance experience is Meryl. I’m guessing this because they recently brought her back. A lot of people are saying Jordan but I wouldn’t necessarily say he has dance credibility just natural skill. I lean towards Meryl because I do believe she has continued training in dance since she left the show. I could be wrong on that. I’ve also seen a lot of people saying Rashad which is another possibility considering they had him on as a guest judge and he did well. The only other name that came to mind and this is totally a wild guess is Shawn Johnson. So my guess is Meryl, Rashad or Shawn. i don’t think its Jordan I think its just what people are wishing for.
Jordan doesn’t have dance credibility? Ok…
@Taryn, Jordan do have dance credibility (on s25, everyone was bashing him for having dance exp), maybe not as much as Meryl in ballroom but I think he knows his technique and imo, he has more dance credibility than Shawn. Anyway, Rashad has been taking dance class since winning DWTS so him and Jordan are my two guesses.
@Courtney and Philomene You guys are totally right I’m sorry I’ll have to retract my prior comment that’s my mistake. I had forgotten about someone of Jordan’s background. I mostly remember him being in teen beach movie and saw him as more of a natural talent a Disney kid. I’m now remembering he was in Hamilton and Grease too so he’s had a lot more dance training than I was originally thinking. If I’m being honest he wasn’t my favorite so I think I just hadn’t paid as much attention to him as some other past contestants. I’m sure he’d be a great choice he just wasn’t the first one I thought of. I think I was leaning toward Rashad and Meryl mostly because they had them both on the recent season. Seemed like it could have been a test for juniors. If it is Jordan I’m sure he’ll do great.
Soooo happy Cheryl is mentoring as a pro! She was awesome on Dance Moms! Very glad to see Hayley on the roster too-I think this will be a good challenge for her. Jenna will do well as a mentor-she worked very well with that kid on SYTYCDJr. The ladies, in general, I think will work well with the pro kids-I think they’ll have more patience and guide them better.
As far as the male mentors go, I think Alan will work well as a mentor-he’s like a big kid himself LOL Brandon will be good at mentoring some genres of dance? I think, as a newer troupe member tho, he’s still learning more ballroom himself ???? Sasha will be a great mentor! He’s fun and energetic and fair! The pro kids will love him! Gleb and Artem, to me, are going to be more ballroom than anything else to these pro kids and that might not be the best fit….Not gonna lie, I’m actually kinda surprised Val isn’t on the list? He, in my opinion, as much as I’m not a Chmerkovskiy fan, would make a very good mentor to these kids-let’s face it, his competive ballroom background alone does speak for itself and he can dance other genres, as well as know when to ask for choreography help???? and, in my opinion, he has more showmanship than both Gleb and Artem and can relate to kids more. Just my opinion.
Maks and Val are not gonna be involved in DWTS Jr because of all the movie offers they are getting. (Heavy sarcasm) Peta is not available because Maks isn’t doing it. From following Sharna, it does seem like she is involved in things that will prevent her from being on DWTS Jr. I will watch it and have an open mind, but am not overly excited about it. Since it won’t be a live show, I think that will be a negative. It will not have TV viewer participation, another negative. The winner will be known when the show 1st airs. It will be a challenge to keep that quiet. Watching kids dance doesn’t excite most people. After saying all that, I will keep an open mind.
@Anonymous,
Brandon is a ballroom trained dancer, he grew up dancing with Linds, etc. He was on the show on season 12 I think with Britt Cherry. I’m excited for him and to see how he is as a teacher because to be honest, the male pros line-up isn’t on the same level as the women’s. We need male pros that can bring A+ choreo each week (especially since Derek isn’t coming back and Mark may not comeback soon).
#Philomene you’re right-I looked up his bio-Brandon is supposed to be trained in ballroom and he did compete in SYTYCD-let’s see how he mentors the pro kids….
Dare I say but if Val is missing from the mentor list, is it remotely possible he’s one of the judges????? This is just speculation on my part….
@Anonymous – I’ve been getting that question a lot today – why, I’m not sure, but I will put it to you this way: I have heard nothing about Val. No “He’s judging”, no “he’s hosting”, NOTHING. His name has not come up at all in my discussions about DWTSJ with Deep Throat. And in my 9 years of blogging this show, I can say that hearing nothing usually is more indicative of someone not being involved in any capacity with the show, than it is an indicator of someone somehow being secretly promoted. I’m a tad confused as to why everyone has honed in on Val for the judging position – what makes him any more qualified for the spot than Peta or Sharna? Or, hell, Maks? And how would the dynamics of him returning to a regular pro spot for season 27 work, after he had been a judge on DWTSJ? Seems a tad implausible.
#Courtney I don’t know-i just find it hard to believe that there isn’t going to be a Chmerkovskiy hand in DWTSjr somewhere and if we haven’t heard anything, definitely, about the judges, except that they’re supposed to be younger than the current DWTS judges, he can fit the profile. And based on his years in competition? And his experience on the show already? I, personally, think that makes him just as qualified or more than Sharna or Peta to judge for sure. Not more qualified than his brother-NO but something tells me Maks doesn’t want to put himself in a position to judge kids/teenagers. Maks wants ‘the throne’ so to speak LOL He’s just busting for a seat on the regular show’s judges panel????And something tells me the producers don’t want Maks judging the jr version either-but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Val is one of the judges. Again, this is just me speculating/wondering….????
JMHO, but I think the reason why Maks, Val and Peta are not in it, is because it is unsure on whether DWTS Jr is gonna be a hit or a flop. They have pretty hefty egos, and I think they don’t want to be associated with a show on TV that will not be successful. If DWTS Jr is a hit, you can guarantee that Maks, Val and Peta will be in it the next time around.
Cheryl 🙂 I am a happy person right now
While there are 2-3 young and recent MBT holders I’d be fine with
I’m hoping Bindi is the host.
She was one of my favorite celebrities on DWTS EVER and would really set the perfect tone for this show. Fingers crossed.