The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reunion is the gift that keeps on giving with not one — but two — Dancing With the Stars casting announcements.
During the special, which started streaming on Hulu Tuesday, July 1, host Nick Viall surprised the cast — and Us — when he told attendees Jen Affleck, Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura, Taylor Frankie Paul, Layla Taylor and Miranda McWhorter that after several of the wives auditioned for the show, two of them were chosen.
First, Jen, 26, who is pregnant with baby No. 3 while filming the reunion, got the news that she would be competing for the mirrorball trophy in the fall. A plot twist revealed Whitney, 32, was also picked for season 34.
MomTok and DadTok— a.k.a Conner Leavitt, Zac Affleck, Jordan Ngatikaura, Dakota Mortensen, Jace Terry and Jacob Neely — were there to congratulate the costars, who will be competing against each other. ABC has previously confirmed that TikToker Alix Earle and Steve Irwin‘s son Robert Irwin were taking part in the next season, but the rest of the celeb competitors have yet to be confirmed.
Before the news, DWTS pro Val Chmerkovskiy exclusively told Us Weekly how he has very high expectations when it comes to potential celebrity contestants after the show “went viral” on social media.
“When I think of a partner, I just want somebody that — after being on the show for 20 seasons now — I just want somebody that’s excited to be there,” Chmerkovskiy, 39, shared in April. “I’ve seen a lot of really incredible people and I’ve worked with a lot of really talented dynamic people. But it is from that excitement that I’m really inspired and now you have me really going the distance for you.”
DWTS’ resurgence in popularity has been in large part because of social media. While judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli and their scores play a role — so do votes from fans. During season 33, DWTS broke a long-standing tradition by releasing viewer vote totals.
ABC told Deadline in October 2024 that there were more than 14 million fan votes received for the episode where Anna Delvey and partner Ezra Sosa as well as Tori Spelling and her partner, Pasha Pashkov, got eliminated on live TV.
“The record number of votes that week suggests to me that a lot of our audience are very passionate about a lot of our stars this year, and the increased ratings year or year would suggest that it is the case,” DWTS executive producer Conrad Green told Deadline. “At core, as always, the cast is what defines the season.”
Green continued: “This group of stars are really likable, talented and love being on the show — and that passion for what they’re doing really comes through on live TV. There’s real dance talent across the cast and lot of unique stories as well as so much potential in the couples to grow as performers.”
At the time, Green reflected on the show’s long-lasting success.
“Also, Dancing with the Stars is a really positive show at a time when the world is feeling pretty bleak, so there’s a certain escapism and sense of community that comes with watching which helps remind us of what we have in common as Americans,” Green continued. “We’ve also been on air long enough now that a new generation of viewers are watching with their kids and the popularity of the show on social apps like TikTok has exploded and introduced new viewers.”
Executive producer Ryan O’Dowd recently slammed claims that manipulated votes played a role in the show’s achievements.
“We take that very seriously. We have never, nor would we ever do anything to manipulate the votes,” O’Dowd told Deadline in May about how the show “really needs to be” credible. “It needs to allow the viewers to have a voice and to really be the voice of who deserves to win. So we have never nor would we ever want to manipulate that in any way.”
