This season of Dancing with the Stars is undoubtedly star-studded, but that is not always the case. Usually, DWTS is a hit or miss based on the social atmosphere, the stars they can get, and the hosts they have at the time. Without comparing this season to past seasons too much, these are my predictions on who will end up with the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
While I consider myself a semi-expert on the lore of DWTS, I have recently become uber-excited for this upcoming season (along with the rest of the internet). The casting directors have finally gone for a new target audience, assisted by TikTok, the recent Summer Olympics, and Bachelor Nation. While last year was popular for a number of reasons (we don’t talk about Harry), this year, in comparison, has gotten thrice the amount of coverage pre-show from the marketing team stepping up their game, to the individual stars and pros flooding my feeds with funny videos and pictures from rehearsals. While I may be being personally targeted in getting served the DWTS promo, I believe there is a general consensus that everyone is excited for this season.
If you are unfamiliar with (or have been specifically hiding from the DWTS content), the star-studded cast is stacked with everyone from actors, athletes, reality stars, and even a convicted convict. One of the stars that nobody is talking about is Chandler Kinney. Kinney is most known for her role in the Disney Channel Original Movie series (DCOM) “Zombies,” and the new TV series in the “Pretty Little Liars” universe, “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.” I have not watched her performance in the show, but I have watched all the “Zombies” movies. While the movies are lackluster compared to other DCOMs, Kinney’s performance is not. She is a dancer, actor, and all-around great performer in the movies. From her roles and seeing the pre-premier TikToks with her professional partner, Brandon Armstrong, she is my top pick for the season win.
My predictions for the runner-up and third place positions are taken up by the two recent bronze medal Olympians that the entire world fell in love with this past summer. Stephen Nedoroscik became both a meme and a national treasure after helping the USA Men’s Gymnastics Team secure a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with his pommel horse routine. His glasses became iconic as he would remove them before competing, thus being comparable to Clark Kent removing his glasses to become Superman. Not to mention his professional or “pro” he is paired up with is arguably DWTS’s most-loved dancer, Rylee Arnold.
This pair will be a fan-favorite this season and athletes usually make it far in the competition.
The third place will be taken up by Ilona Maher. She is an American rugby union player and two-time Olympian who won bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Maher also became an iconic personality this summer after catching attention for wearing bright red lipstick during her rugby matches. She became a spokesperson about proving that you can still embrace your femininity while being a strong athlete. I believe she will finish at least in the top five with her fan-favorite pro, Alan Bersten.
To finish up the top five, fourth and fifth place will be earned by the two contestants who found fame through Bachelor Nation. The most recent Bachelor, Joey Graziadei, found his fiancé, Kelsey, through the show. He became everyone’s reality crush because of his charm and golden retriever-esque energy. He shared his backstory of being a tennis coach before becoming a reality star, so with this I think Graziadei will clench at least fourth place in the competition with his pro, Jenna Johnson.
Coming into fifth in my predictions will be Jenn Tran, the most recent Bachelorette. Tran is fresh off the most heartbreaking finale to a Bachelorette season (read more about it here) and will definitely make viewership go up. That being said, she will also bring in a huge fan base that will most certainly give her votes. She may end up not being the best dancer in the competition, but she will stick around for a while because of the public vote aspect of the show.
Coming up close behind Tran will be Anna Delvey, or Anna Sorokin. If you Google her name, she is described as a con artist and fraudster, but if you ask DWTS, they have introduced her as a “fashionista and entrepreneur.” Delvey is the real-life woman behind the inspiration of the hit Netflix show, “Reinventing Anna.” Despite popular belief, her ankle monitor that she is showcasing and bedazzling to match her dance costumes IS indeed legally attached, but not for her original 2019 convictions, which came after she traveled the world masquerading as a European heiress, conning banks, lawyers and a private jet company out of more than $200,000. The ankle monitor is actually the result of a years-long immigration battle where she is fighting deportation from the United States. As she is a Russian-German citizen, it will be interesting to follow not only Delvey’s dancing journey, but also her legal struggles throughout the rest of the show. Since she is such a big human interest story and is paired up with a pro in his debut season, Ezra Sosa, I think the public’s votes will keep her in the competition for a while.
Bringing up seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth places in my predictions are Danny Amendola, Dwight Howard, Brooks Nader, and Phaedra Parks, respectively. With Amendola being a former two-time Super Bowl champion as a wide receiver for the New England Patriots and Howard being a current professional basketball player who has 18 NBA seasons under his belt, I believe their athleticism will help them out with the competition, but will not make it too far. Nader is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and stated she had a bit of a dance background, but I do not know too much about her. My knowledge is also limited on Parks, who is a reality personality, attorney, activist, businesswoman, author, actress, and mortician, but is best known for starring in “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” TV show. The one upper hand these four have in common is that their pro partners are some of my personal favorites; Amendola with Witney Carson, Howard with Daniella Karagach, Nader with Gleb Savchencko, and Parks with Val Chmerkovskiy, aka my personal favorite pro.
Finally, bringing up the rear of the stars are Tori Spelling, Reginald VelJohnson, and Eric Roberts. Spelling, being the youngest of the three, is best known for playing Donna Martin on “Beverly Hills, 90210” in the 90s. While she may be a fun competitor for the older viewers, I do not think she, along with her partner, Pasha Pashkov, will last long in the ballroom. The oldest competitor this season is Vel Johnson who is most-known for playing Carl Winslow on “Family Matters.” Stepping out onto the dance floor at 72 years-old is a feat that should be celebrated, but not even his pro partner, Emma Slater, is going to be able to make those hips salsa.
Lastly, I believe the first elimination will be Eric Roberts and his partner, Britt Stewart. Roberts has an extensive film and TV career and also has celebrity family ties through his daughter, Emma Roberts and his sister, Julia Roberts. While Roberts is four years younger than the oldest competitor, Roberts does not have as much charisma or charm as VelJohnson, which will lead to getting fewer votes. Although the two may receive similar scores from the judges, the viewers’ votes have a large impact on the season outcome.
No matter who ends up with the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, this season is a must-watch for all audiences. I would absolutely recommend the show as a must-watch to anyone who will listen. DWTS brings a wholesome and exciting spin on the reality competition world and the production value is almost guaranteed to create an entertaining show, no matter if the dancers can’t cha cha to save their life. I’ll be back in 12 weeks to see how many of my predictions were right.
