I miss the old “Dancing with the Stars.” Every Monday night as a kid, I would stay up late glued to the TV with my mom to watch the show and vote to keep some of the contestants in the competition. 

Every week, the contestants are given a new dance routine choreographed by their pro dancing partner to then compete for a chance to win the mirror ball trophy. The judges score the dances based on a scale, with 1 being the worst to 10 being perfect. Then, the dancers are eliminated based on a combination of their scores from the judges and viewers’ votes. 

In its prime, “Dancing with the Stars” featured celebrities such as Zendaya, Bill Nye, Alfonso Ribero and Shawn Johnson. Due to Monday Night Football, the show has been moved to Tuesday night and put on streaming platforms. Those without cable and who opt to stream the show instead are unable to experience the excitement of live voting.

Instead, they run the risk of obtaining spoilers from social media. This has led to an overall worse experience for viewers of the show, and on top of that, they are ruining the show with poor casting decisions.

The first is casting Anna Delvey, who sparked backlash on social media. Delvey is a con artist who posed as a wealthy heiress and was charged with eight theft-related charges. After her post-release from the ICE detention facility in 2019, she was banned from social media for two years and put on house arrest. Her life was made into a Netflix show called “Inventing Anna.” 

The first episode of the competition, Delvey was shown wearing an ankle monitor as she was dancing. Derek Hough, a judge on the show, told Delvey she was stiff and missed some steps in the dance. I would agree. During the dance, her face was emotionless, and she seemed unhappy to be there. When she is about to get the judges’ scores, she said, “I hope America will get to see a different side of me.”

Delvey was sent home in the second episode. When asked what she was going to take away from this experience, she replied, “nothing.” This comment made her look ungrateful for her time on the show and made her previous comments look like a PR scheme for people to vote for her.

Even if it was a joke, she could have at least thanked her pro dancer, who was new this season, for the effort he put into choreographing the dances each week. 

The second mistake DWTS made this season was deciding to cast two contestants over 65, which could pose some health concerns. Eric Roberts, the brother of Julia Roberts, is 68 years old and competing this season. He is most notable for his roles in “Runaway Train” and “The Dark Knight.” Roberts is dancing with pro Britt Stewart and had the lowest score of the first night with 15 points.

The other contestant, Reginald VelJohnson, is 72 years old and most well-known for his roles in the “Die Hard” movies and sitcom “Family Matters.” He is dancing with pro Emma Slater and scored 16 points the first night. A perfect score from the three judges is a total of 30 points.

The last contestant over 65 was Barry Williams last season, who was partnered with Peta Murgatroyd and placed 7th in the competition. Older contestants are notorious for not going far in the competition or dropping out due to injuries. Many have gotten injured during the competition, such as Dorothy Hamill, Bill Nye and Billy Dee Williams.

Bill Nye was sent home the third week of the competition after suffering from a partially torn ligament in his leg that caused him to dance with a leg immobilizer. Back in 2013, Dorothy Hamill had to drop out of the competition due to a spinal injury.

Billy Dee Williams developed chronic back pain. I understand that these contestants consent to being on the show. These older celebrities are put on the show to shock the audience by their dancing capabilities. However, I believe the show needs to enforce an age limit for the safety of the contestants. 

“Dancing with the Stars” must be more aware of the celebrities they decide to cast going forward. If not, they could run the risk of having more injured contestants and tarnishing their reputation as a family–friendly show for all to watch. 

This story was written by Alison McMillan. She can be reached at [email protected].