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    Why DWTS’ Mark Ballas Thinks Maura Higgins Has an Edge for Season 35

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    Watch: Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas Reunite Onstage for Chicago on Broadway

    Mark Ballas knows Maura Higgins’ time on Dancing With the Stars will be en pointe.

    In fact, the dancing pro—who is currently starring as Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway—is all about his Traitorscostar’s “blank canvas” approach when it comes to prepping for season 35 of the dance competition.

    “I think that’s a really smart way to approach Dancing With the Stars,” Mark exclusively shared with E! News. “Be open-minded, have fun, be a blank slate person.”

    “There’s going to be moments where it’s fun and it’s wild,” he advised. “You’re in your head: ‘I’m doing it, I’m doing Dancing With the Stars.’”

    But on the flip side, the 39-year-old noted that there would also be “moments where it’s really hard. Where it’s stressful. Where you’re exhausted. Where you’re beat up—especially if you make it past week six, which we call the ‘trench.’”

    But he thinks the Love Island alum has an edge.

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    DWTS Producer Shares Update on Casting After Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller Join Season 35

    “Maura is just a laugh and she’s up for it,” Mark said. “And that’s half the battle. So I think she’s going to do really well.”

    Mark—who is set to judge Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, premiering July 13—also added that he will be there for Maura in any way he can. 

    Frank Micelotta/Disney via Getty Images

    “I will always be able to answer the phone if she needs a pep talk and some extra little bit of guidance to go through it,” he shared. “But I think she’s going to be amazing.”

    As for Maura, the Love Island USA: Aftersun host certainly felt like she had manifested her casting. 

    “I have a vision board and I redo it every year,” Maura told E! News at the Time 100 Most Influential Gala April 23. “This year is the first year that I stayed at home by myself on New Year’s Eve. I did not go out at all. I made myself a bowl of pasta and a glass of red wine and I redid my vision board for the year.”

    “Dancing With the Stars was already on it from the year before,” the 35-year-old explained. “However, I added five more Dancing With the Stars on the board.”

    TheStewartofNY/FilmMagic

    And it would appear that the manifestation really helped settle her plans for the rest of the year. 

    “If you want something,” Maura said, “stick it on about five or six times, and then it’s gonna happen.”

    Still, the reality star was “shocked” when she found out she’d be joining Summer House‘s Ciara Miller on the upcoming season.

    “I shed a tear, which I don’t normally do,” she recalled. “I never really get overly excited about stuff unless it’s something I really have been wanting for quite some time, and Dancing With the Stars is that. I manifested it.”

    For a deep dive into all the behind-the-scenes secrets about Dancing With the Stars, keep reading.

    ABC/Paula Lobo

    How Much Do the Celebrities Get Paid to Be on Dancing With the Stars?Citing multiple sources, Variety reported in 2019 that Dancing With the Stars contestants make $125,000 for the rehearsal period and first two weeks of the show. If they progress beyond that point, the outlet continued, they earn more money each week. At the time, sources told the publication stars could earn a maximum of $295,000.However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.”That show pays OK,” the radio personality said on a Sept. 2025 episode of Jason Tartick‘s podcast Trading Secrets. “Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it’s like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last.”Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, “I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show.”ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.

    Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images

    What Do the Pros Get Paid on Dancing With the Stars?Similarly, little has been shared publicly about how much the pros get paid. But as with the contestants, it seems like the longer they’re on the show, the more money they can make.But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they’re not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.”You’re guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks,” Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester‘s podcast The Morning After. “I think there’s different contracts though. I can’t speak for everybody.”

    Disney/Eric McCandless

    Do Pros Get Paid More If They Win Dancing With the Stars?Apparently not.While Johnson—who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, as well as season 33 with The Bachelor‘s Joey Graziadei—says the pros don’t get a larger paycheck if they take home what is now called the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, she noted there’s still an incentive to make it to the finale (besides bragging rights, of course).”If you make it all the way to the end, you’re getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale,” she explained on The Morning After. “If you win, it’s not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You’re just getting a cute trophy together.”

    Instagram / Dancing With the Stars

    Do the Troupe Members Get Paid as Much as the Pros on Dancing With the Stars?That doesn’t appear to be the case.On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled how her salary was cut “more than in half” when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.

    Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images

    How Are Pros and Celebrities Paired Together on Dancing With the Stars?The pros get little input when it comes to being matched with a celebrity.”You get no say,” Lindsay said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers‘ Hot Smart Rich podcast. “It’s very much just, ‘Here’s your partner. Make it work.'”In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute.”They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live,” Jenna said on The Morning After. “They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we’re keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. They really don’t even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner.”As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?”It’s based on height, build and personality and compatibility,” former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015. “We don’t pair people who aren’t going to get on. It’s too intense. It’s not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn’t do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don’t want to see two people who don’t like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn’t get on so well.”

    Disney/Eric McCandless

    How Often Do the Pros and Celebrities Practice on Dancing With the Stars?Put simply, a lot.”Every day we have four-hour rehearsals,” Rylee Arnold, who was partnered with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik on season 33, shared on a September 2024 episode of the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis. “It’s either 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m.”But the work doesn’t stop once the rehearsal wraps. Rylee noted she might then meet with producers or the creative team, work on choreography or study dance videos.”Literally my whole life is devoted to it,” she continued, “but it’s my passion and it’s what I love. So, it makes me so happy.”Indeed, it’s a no-days-off kind of gig.”We have our show day on Tuesday and then it’s Wednesday to Sunday, straight rehearsals,” Rylee added. “And then Monday we have camera blocking and then Tuesday’s show day again.”

    Instagram / Emma Slater

    Do the Pros Get to Pick the Songs Each Week for Their Dance With Their Celebrity Partner?”Mostly yes,” Emma Slater and Britt Stewart revealed in a September 2025 Instagram video, “though it’s a collaboration with producers.”

    Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images

    What’s the Process Like for Making the Costumes for Dancing With the Stars?If you thought the quickstep was fast, just wait until you hear about the pace of the costume department.”We meet with the set and lighting designers, dancers and talent and create a story [for each pair],” costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner told TV Insider back in 2017. “Then we sketch out ideas. We have five days, max, to make all the outfits. That’s half a day per costume, not including all the rhinestones. The fitting and trimming we do later. We have about 20 people in our department and then we have a separate tailor shop. It’s a big enterprise.”In fact, costume designer Steven Norman Lee said pairs usually try on their costumes for the first time just hours before showtime. And while the department “might use a pair of pants again for the boys,” he continued, everything is generally made custom each week.As Gschwendtner added, “We do reuse things for group numbers or promo shoots, but not for the competition. We don’t reuse things unless there’s a specific reason to do so. We try to keep everybody fresh and new in something different every week, so it stays interesting.”

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