ABC had a lot of success with “The Golden Bachelor,” the dating show spinoff featuring senior citizen Gerry Turner as the lead. But will “Dancing With the Stars” follow in its footsteps when it comes to diversifying the ages of its stars?
In a March 2024 interview, pro dancer Kym Johnson Herjavec cracked a joke about her age as she talked about her return to the show last fall for an emotional tribute to late judge Len Goodman.
The 47-year-old, two-time mirrorball champion, who departed DWTS in 2018, told Parade that returning to the ballroom for Goodman’s tribute with fellow veterans Tony Dovolani, Anna Trebunskaya, Karina Smirnoff, Edyta Sliwinska, Louis van Amstel, Maks Chmerkovskiy and Mark Ballas was “so beautiful.”
“Being back there with the OGs was really special,” Herjavec said. “We reminisced. …We were there from the beginning and this show’s evolved so much. We’re so proud of it and so grateful to have been a part of the show from the beginning.”
Herjavec added that DWTS always feels like “home” for her, “It is this family there,” she added, “But I did feel quite old compared to the other pros there, I was like, “Oh, my gosh. I feel like the Golden Dancer.”
The 32nd season of the show featured several young pro dancers, including Rylee Arnold who is just 18 years old.
The Oldest DWTS Pro Was 50 Years Old
GettyLouis van Amstel
While some DWTS contestants have been in their 80s (Cloris Leachman and Buzz Aldrin, for example), the oldest pro dancer was Louie van Amstel in season 31. He was 50 at the time. “Yes!” he told ABC 7 in November 2022. “And I am proud of it!”
Corky Ballas was approaching 50 when he was partnered with beloved “Brady Bunch” mom Florence Henderson for DWTS season 11 in 2010. As for the oldest winning pros, Tony Dovolani was 39 when he won “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars” with Melissa Rycroft. In addition, Herjavec was 34 when she won the show with Hines Ward back in 2011.
Kym Johnson Herjavec Has Talked About Returning to DWTS as an ‘Older Pro’
GettyKym Herjavec.
In 2022, longtime DWTS pro dancer Cheryl Burke announced her retirement from the show at age 38. At the time she noted that there were physical reasons for her departure, as well as other career reasons. “There is wear and tear,” she told E! News of the physical toll the long rehearsals and multiple performances took on her body over her many seasons on the show. Burke was just 21 when she first competed in the ABC celebrity ballroom competition in season 2.
Still, Herjavec has not totally ruled out a return to “Dancing With the Stars.” In March, she told Heavy she would “never say never to going back as a pro.”
“Maybe they will need an older pro at some stage, and I can dust off the dance shoes!” she told us in March. The mom of two told People magazine something similar. “You know what, never say never,” she teased of a potential return to the DWTS ballroom.
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