11 Behind-the-Scenes Facts You Didn’t Know About ‘Dancing with the Stars’

The stars start getting ready for the show before 8 a.m.

When it comes to show days, there’s no time to waste. The stars have cars sent to pick them up and report to the set before 8 a.m. for a 5 p.m. show start time, Earle explained in a September TikTok.

Depending on everyone’s individual schedules, the stars and their partners will either start getting ready in the hair and makeup trailer or practice rehearsing in the ballroom.

“It’s a 12-hour day,” season 33 contestant Ilona Maher explained in a YouTube video in November 2024. “I get in early, I got to do all the things. We got to run through it so many times.”

Nearly all the outfits are custom-made for the celebrities

Since every season features a new cast, every person gets a custom-made costume for each dance every week. Although the celebrities and dancing pros don’t decide what they wear, they have some input.

Prior to the season 34 premiere, Earle took viewers behind the scenes and explained that she met with the costume designers to give them her “preferences on cuts and different stuff I like to wear.”

“They’re actually so talented it’s insane,” Earle said in a September YouTube video while checking out her first costume. “Like, they custom-make you the outfits every week. I can’t believe we’re going to be wearing this!”

Costume designers Daniela Gschwendtner and Steven Lee echoed the sentiment to Parade in 2020, explaining, “We have a creative team that sets the looks, but we still make sure the celebrity has a say and feels comfortable in what they are wearing.”

Each star has their own trailer for the whole season

When the stars and their partners aren’t performing on stage or getting ready for their performance, they can relax and wind down in their personal trailer. Each person gets their own, and it typically consists of a couch, mirrors, snacks, beverages and a television.

“I have this trailer the whole season, and I can just go in,” Maher said in her 2024 vlog. “I don’t actually spend that much time in it, I will say, but it’s good to just have. [You can] drop your stuff in, or if you need a moment to yourself, you can go into it and hang out.”

There’s “always” been one most-requested celebrity

While the producers and casting team consider a myriad of factors when creating each season’s cast, they also bear in mind celebrities whom fans have previously voiced they want to see on the show. In 2016, casting director Deena Katz told Slate that their most-requested celebrity has “always” been Jennifer Aniston.

“Every time we have dinner with people they want to play the ‘who should be on Dancing With the Stars’ game,” she said. “It’s always ‘Jennifer Aniston.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh trust me, I’ve tried. She can’t do it.’ ”

Pros work with the producers to alter their song to enhance their dances

Similar to how the song choices are collaborative between the contestants and the show’s creative teams, the music itself can be slightly altered to fully complement a dance.

In one of Earle’s YouTube videos prior to her second show in September 2025, she included a clip of her and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, working with the sound crew to add some sound effects to their song “Mambo No. 5.”

“Sometimes we’ll watch our routine, we’ll hear the song, and I’ll come in, and I’ll be like, ‘Yo, can we add a drum here or can we add an accent here just to amplify it?’ ” Chmerkovskiy explained in the video.

There are loads of snacks on set

Since the competitors spend hours at a time in rehearsals and in their trailers for showdays, a variety of snacks are available for grabbing. In one TikTok, pro Ezra Sosa showed off some of the communal packaged snacks, which included chips, popcorn, crackers, pretzels, trail mix, nuts, cookies and more.

Every individual trailer also has a bunch of goodies in addition to the rehearsal snacks. Maher panned over the treats in her trailer and showed bottled water, protein chips, granola bars, chocolate and candy.

Pros create a “framework” for each dance but also make things up on the spot as they rehearse

Each week, the pros have to choreograph a dance with a new song, and some are easier to create than others. The dancers also work with their celebrity partners to incorporate any signature moves or to see what does (and doesn’t!) complement them.

“It’s pretty collaborative,” Chmerkovskiy said in one of Earle’s videos shared Oct. 2. “The process is, I prep a routine, I bring it in. Obviously, some things are always open to be adjusted, so it’s more like a framework.”

Chmerkovskiy explained that there are some weeks when he feels more “confident to make things up on the spot with my celebrity partner,” while there are others when he prefers to “come in with a few sections ready.”

“Then I come in, we try [and] sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised, [and] sometimes I have to adjust,” he continued.

Dress rehearsals include stand-in judges, fake results and commercial breaks

After working on their routine for hours each day, the contestants finally get to practice in the ballroom the day before and the day of the show in their full costumes.

In her behind-the-scenes video, Maher showed what the dress rehearsal looked like and explained that they make it as realistic as possible, including fake commercial breaks, stand-in judges, some stand-in audience members, the real show effects, the singers, the band and the hosts.

“It’s the beginning of the dress rehearsal, so we all get out here we’re all in our outfits,” Maher explained.

The video even included co-hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro reading fake results as the contestants stood in pairs behind them. After the dress rehearsal, there is around an hour until showtime for contestants to get final hair and makeup touches or to go over any dancing mishaps.

All the contestants get ready in the same glam trailer

While every star and professional dancer has their own individual trailer, everyone gets their hair and makeup done in the same massive trailer. The show employs their own glam professionals who all take turns perfecting each person’s hair and makeup.

The contestants can use the time to create content, chat with their fellow competitors, take a lunch break or let loose.

All the trailers have live feeds of the dance rehearsals for contestants to see

Since the contestants are often in the hair and makeup chairs for hours before showtime, the trailer is outfitted with televisions showing them a live feed of what’s going on in the ballroom.

“What’s nice is in the trailer, they have a live feed going, so you can watch other people’s practice and rehearsals and see which dances are good, see what people are doing, because we are in these trailers for a while,” Maher explained in her vlog.

Some lucky fans get to meet the contestants before the show

Between the dress rehearsal and showtime, contestants can meet with friends and family members in attendance backstage, or they can also venture outside and meet fans.

“I like to go out and visit the fans that are here, because they’re so excited to be here, and this season has been so big, so I make a point to go out take as many pictures as I can, so they get to see me in person,” Maher explained. 

After the show ends, contestants can also mingle with their loved ones before doing press.