Mormon Wives Stars Jen Affleck & Whitney Leavitt Leap into DWTS Season 34
Fantastic. Just what Dancing With the Stars needed: two more Hulu reality alums tumbling onto the ballroom floor. Look, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but here we are—in season 34, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives duo Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt have traded in their confessional couches for sequined costumes and salsa lessons. Host Nick Viall dropped this bombshell during Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Reunion Special on July 1, and yes, you read that right. “Because you women are so adored,” Viall quipped, “they are gonna be sending two of you to Dancing With the Stars.” Cue the obligatory jump-and-scream celebration, courtesy of Jen (currently pregnant with baby number three) and Whitney, who promptly screamed, “We’re moving to L.A.!”—as if the cross-country logistics weren’t obvious. Jen even playfully threatened, “Hope you know you’re going down! Just kidding. Bring it on.” I told you so: reality stars hear “cast announcement” and they sprint.
In case you blinked, DWTS already locked in Robert Irwin and social media phenom Alix Earle earlier this spring. Robert, the 21-year-old conservationist, is leaning on big sis Bindi Irwin (Mirrorball champ 2015) for steps and advice. “She was incredible,” he gushed on Today (May 5), though he admits his actual dance résumé is limited to “the moves—I’ve got this, a little bit of that. That’s it though.” Meanwhile, Alix Earle told Good Morning America on May 22 that dancing since childhood with Grandma has primed her for this. “I used to watch it when I was so young…she’d say, ‘Maybe one day you could be on there,’” Alix recalled. Surprise, she’s ready to swirl and twirl.
If you’re scoring at home: that’s four newbies so far. Rumor mill says more celebs are queued up, but the DWTS editing room loves a cliffhanger. Before you swoon, a quick detour: some stars pass on the tango treadmill. Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter said yes only after years on tour freed him up (per E! News). Bindi Irwin herself was approached twice before settling on season 21. And despite Rumer Willis’s victorious 2015 run, mom Demi Moore declined her own audition. Even Caitlyn Jenner got a polite pass-back, according to former champ Alfonso Ribeiro. Reality check: not everyone wants to sweat through rehearsals under live TV scrutiny.
So strap in—your Monday nights are about to involve more reality royalty and fewer professional dancers than ever. Did anyone expect a different outcome? No? Thought so. And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News, People Magazine, Today, Good Morning America
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
