Dancing With the Stars producers are constantly sidestepping online rumors.
Because when it comes to the ABC dancing competition series, fans have speculated if the winners are predetermined or “fixed.” But as soon as Ryan O’Dowd—BBC Studios’ President of Unscripted TV as well as a producer on the show—got wind of the speculation, he immediately shut the notion down.
“We take that very seriously,” O’Dowd told Deadline of the theories in an interview published May 27. “We have never, nor would we ever do anything to manipulate the votes.”
“The show really needs to be credible,” he continued. “It needs to allow the viewers to have a voice and to really be the voice of who deserves to win. So, we have never, nor would we ever want to manipulate that in any way.”
From the onstage romances to the killer dance moves, the executive producer made it absolutely clear that authenticity is a main priority in creating the show. Which means that when Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and pro partner Jenna Johnson emerged as the winners of season 33 in November, it was absolutely deserved.
