Hilaria Baldwin says she did not campaign for a spot on Dancing With the Stars and that producers only called her a few days before the Season 34 cast was announced, contradicting comments by co-host Julianne Hough.
In an interview backstage after Tuesday night’s premiere, Baldwin, 41, told Page Six she was not seeking to join the show. "That’s actually not true. I did not campaign. It was, like, not on my radar," she said. "A few days before [the announcement], they called me and were like, ‘Do you wanna do this?’ And I just made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I had to move my whole family out here [to Los Angeles] last minute. So, you heard it here first. That is the true story."
Hough earlier this month, while guest-hosting the Chicks in the Office podcast, told co-hosts Francesca Mariano and Maria Ciuffo that Baldwin’s viral TikTok dance videos — many featuring her husband Alec Baldwin — amounted to a successful campaign to join the show. "I’m not kidding, like, that was a campaign and she won," Hough said on the podcast. Hough co-hosts that show with Alfonso Ribeiro.
Baldwin, who appeared on the premiere with professional partner Gleb Savchenko, also addressed online criticism suggesting she enters the competition with an unfair advantage because of past ballroom experience. She acknowledged she danced competitively in the past but said a serious hip injury 16 years ago forced her to stop dancing professionally and left her unable to walk for a year.
"I want to cry!" Baldwin said of performing on the show for the first time in years. "I still have pain every single day, so to be able to do that, and to be able to do it with Gleb … it’s a dream come true." The pair performed a Cha Cha to Jennifer Lopez’s "Let’s Get Loud" and received a combined score of 14 out of 20 from judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli. Carrie Ann Inaba did not judge the premiere after missing the show due to an illness.
Baldwin praised the cast, which includes Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin, influencer Alix Earle, actor Danielle Fishel and Dylan Efron, saying the season feels "warm and loving" rather than hypercompetitive. She said she feels "so lucky to be a part of it."
Alec Baldwin and his brother Stephen Baldwin attended the premiere in the ballroom and were pictured wearing "Team Hilaria" hats in support. Savchenko marked his 42nd birthday on premiere night and described the event as "the best birthday party I could ever wish for," saying he was surrounded by his "Dancing With the Stars family."
Dancing With the Stars returns next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, with new episodes available to stream on Hulu the following day.
