When viewers begin watching “Dancing with the Stars,” they’re under the impression that they will be watching celebrities dance, hence the name of the show, and it would be expected for them to think the same.
Recent seasons have proved that to be incorrect. The show has turned into more of a reality dating show rather than a dancing competition and, quite frankly, it’s about time to cut it out.
All of this ‘showmance’ stuff seems to have risen in popularity since season 32 when reality star Harry Jowsey was paired with first-time-pro Riley Arnold. From the beginning, fans of the show had shipped the two despite the eight-year age gap – for the record, Arnold had just turned 18.
Fans swarmed to their TikTok pages to see what trend the two would do next and paid extra attention to their dances to see if they could find any romantic tension between the duo.
While the shipping started innocently enough, it later turned into other fans getting upset that the romance was the only reason Jowsey was still on the show. The closer he and Arnold got, the more fans would vote for him to watch their showmance in real-time.
At that point, it was frustrating that no one cared that Jowsey was objectively worse at dancing than the other celebrities in the competition, especially considering he just stood there while Arnold did all the work. It made watching the show feel like a chore because everyone knew they would just be watching a boring dance.
This season is not much better.
Sports Illustrated model Brooks Nader was partnered with pro-Gleb Savchenko, and from the start, the two played into the romance that they had fabricated on TikTok. Nader even went as far as allowing Savchenko to tattoo her hip just a few weeks after meeting him.
It goes even further when the pair appeared to lick each other during their hair metal night routine, and, thankfully, that was where fans had enough. All over social media, viewers were commenting about how gross the action was and exaggerating that it made them throw up in their mouths.
Despite it being a lie, the dance was nauseating to witness, especially when the guest judge turned out to be a creep.
Even after getting voted out of the show a week later, the two continued to amp up their relationship for the fans who were still staying tuned into their dramatics. As of now, no one knows if they are still together, as the pair were going back and forth making videos that seemed to be targeted at a recent ex.
Overall, the romances of the show are getting tiring. Celebrities and pros: you are here to win a mirrorball, not a ring; there are other reality shows for that. But as season 33 comes to an end and the pairs left seem to all be just friends with each other, “Dancing with the Stars” fans should not be subjected to any more fake or real showmances.
If everyone can keep it in their pants, that is.
