How ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Could Change Due To COVID-19

The Coronavirus pandemic has uprooted the entertainment industry in numerous different ways, and no one is really sure if things will go back to normal, let alone when. One show that could see a monumental shift in the way it operates because of the health crisis is “Dancing With the Stars.”

The ABC reality competition series, which is expected to air its 29th season this Fall, thrives from airing live episodes with audiences in the studio, as they watch different celebrities and professional dancers take the dance floor and attempt to impress not only their fans but three judges. However, with the pandemic potentially threatening the ability to let things be done the way it normally would, many have begun to wonder what the show may wind up doing instead—if it airs at all. However, Season 19 champ Alfonso Ribeiro revealed to TV Insider that the show could adapt to the new world easier than some might think, even if it would mean losing a little bit of the magic associated with the program.

“I would be much harder. The real question is does it stay live or go to a pre-taped program? I think it would have to become a pre-taped program,” he told the publication. “Maybe the judges could watch [and judge] a taped performance? You’d lose the beauty of the set, the audience, the ‘here we go’ showtime aspect of it all. But they could still do it.”

Ribeiro stated that ABC’s usually live “American Idol” is an example of a show that has shown it is still possible to air new content, albeit in a different way, with a measure of success.

“It wouldn’t be the same, but ‘American Idol’ has shown how it can be done,” he said. “it’s more entertaining with a live audience but there’s no way to replicate that. I think 99% of the audience is people watching from home.”

However, he also remained hopeful that things could be somewhat back to normal by the time the show’s episodes would be expected to air again.

The former champ isn’t the only one who has expressed alternative options to the show’s usual format when it comes to how it could still go on despite COVID.

Cheryl Burke, who won the show’s second and third seasons with Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith, revealed to Gold Derby in April that if it came down to it, she could work from home and teach her husband, actor Matthew Lawrence, to dance, suggesting that the show be shot virtually in order to comply with social distancing guidelines.

There is no word on what producers are planning on for the Fall season.