While Dancing With the Stars is a fun dance competition, it is also a job — and the professional dancers and stars are getting paid for their time.
Earlier this summer, pro Jenna Johnson — who first joined the show in 2014 as a troupe dancer and was promoted to a pro in 2016 — shared details on how payment works.
“You’re guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks,” Johnson, 31, explained on a June episode of The Morning After podcast. “I think there’s different contracts though. I can’t speak for everybody.”
“So if you make it all the way to the end, you’re getting paid the whole season, which is amazing,” she shared. “And you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale.”
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However, the Utah native — who has won the show twice — noted that there’s no grand prize for taking home the crown.
“If you win, it’s not like you win $1 million and split it with your partner,” she said. “You’re just getting a cute trophy together.”
As for the celebrities, sources told Variety in 2019 that the stars make $125,000 when they sign on for the show, which includes the rehearsal period and their first two weeks on air. After that, they can earn more money as the weeks go on, with the most being $295,000, per Variety’s sources.
The Season 34 premiere of DWTS airs on Tuesday, September 16, on ABC and Disney+ at 8:00 p.m. ET.