Before Dancing with the Stars Season 34 began, Whitney Leavitt expected its return to intensive studio training to be both exciting and humbling. In a September 2, 2025 interview, she said she wanted the show to push her physically and mentally—and to let viewers see another side of her.
Why Whitney Leavitt wanted to join Dancing with the Stars
Leavitt described the appeal as more than the spectacle of the competition. “I’ve always admired Dancing with the Stars, not just for the spectacle, but for the way it challenges people to step (or dance) their way outside their comfort zones,” she told TV Insider on September 2, 2025. She also saw the show as a chance to challenge herself physically and mentally and show viewers a different side of who she was.
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What dance experience did she have before the season?
At the time of that interview, Leavitt said most of her recent dancing happened on TikTok or at parties, rather than in a studio. She anticipated that the change in pace would be a test: “So, getting back into a studio and training at this level again has been both exciting and will most likely be very humbling.”
Her comments were expectations ahead of the competition, not a description of how she later judged her performance. Season 34 was announced to premiere on September 16, 2025, and TV Insider reported that training with professional partners would begin the week of the interview.
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Which styles felt promising—and what made her nervous?
Leavitt said she felt confident about jazz and salsa. The elements she singled out as intimidating were intricate footwork and lifts—skills that demand precision and trust between partners. Her candid split between styles she welcomed and techniques that worried her captured the uncertainty of returning to formal dance training.
Who was Leavitt paired with?
Professional dancer Mark Ballas was Leavitt’s partner on Season 34. She competed alongside her The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives castmate Jennifer Affleck. ABC’s 2025 contestant biography described Leavitt as a cast member of that series. It also gave a dated promotional snapshot of her combined TikTok and Instagram following as more than 3.1 million; that figure reflects the biography’s publication period, not a current audience count. The biography reported that Season 2 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives had 5 million views after five days of global streaming, a figure attributed to ABC.
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How the DWTS journey turned out
Leavitt and Ballas reached the semifinals before their elimination, reported by Extra on November 19, 2025. Afterward, Leavitt said she was grateful for the opportunity and that the experience had changed her as a person. Reflecting on what she would carry with her, she said: “I know it’s just so simple, but believing in yourself, like, it’s such a simple thing, but once you do, like, you have no idea what things can come within reach and having experienced this show, like, that’s what I feel like I’m going to take from it.”
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Leavitt’s dance experience later became part of the story of her stage career. In an interview published January 27, 2026, Broadway Direct connected her earlier dance training and DWTS experience to preparing for her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago, scheduled for February 2, 2026. That later milestone adds context to the path that began with her pre-debut return to studio training, but it should not be mistaken for something she knew when she spoke to TV Insider in September 2025.
ABC / Disney Television Press’s 2025 contestant biography provides the official Season 34 profile and the promotional figures cited above.
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- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Region: Region 1 U.S. and Canada only
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Run Time: 51 minutes
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