‘Dancing With the Stars’ Has a New Nonnegotiable Rule That Caused Some Prospective Cast Members to Walk

Dancing With the Stars has been on for 35 seasons, and they run a tight ship! But for the show to operate as flawlessly as it does, there are some pretty strict rules—and apparently this season introduced a new one.The cast must, with no exceptions, be on TikTok to promote DWTS and encourage viewers to vote. And apparently “multiple” prospective cast members weren’t thrilled and decided to walk (no names have been named, sorry!).“Following last year’s uptick in votes and all the records broken from the amount of votes that came in, the producers are emphasizing social media more so this season than any other year,” a source tells The Sun. “They spoke to prospective cast members about how social media would be a larger, and now mandatory, part of the process when choosing who to cast.”The insider adds that “Anyone on the cast had to be okay with the TikToks because the larger the social media presence, the more engagement from the audience. Which means more votes and more viewers. How the contestants perform on social media has become even more important than how they perform in the ballroom. Andy Richter is proof of that.”The DWTS season 35 cast is currently in rehearsals ahead of the September 15 premiere, and everyone has been VERY busy on TikTok. Though my personal favorite is Julia Stiles for obvious Save the Last Dance–related reasons.