Dancing With the Stars’ supersized season 32 finale premiered December 2023 with 18-year-old actress Xóchitl Gómez declared the winner. While there have been a number of celebrities who have declined the opportunity to join the dance competition show like Caitlyn Jenner, Ricky Shroeder, and Jamie Lee Curtis to name a few, there are some stars who have been turned down. Drag Race’s Michelle Visage explains how she wanted to strut her stuff on Dancing With the Stars, but that she apparently keeps getting turned down.
Michelle Visage has been known for hosting and producing one of the best reality TV shows, RuPaul’s Drag Race, since Season 3 as well as its four spinoff series. She also finished fifth place on the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother where housemates stay in a custom-built house until they’re eliminated. You’d think with all of the reality TV experience Visage has that she’d be a shoo-in for Dancing With the Stars if she wanted to be on it.
While speaking to THR, the former Seduction girl group member explained why she keeps getting turned down to compete in the dance competition series:
I would do Dancing With the Stars in the U.S., but they won’t let me do it because I did [Strictly Come Dancing] here.
Believe it or not, Dancing With the Stars was actually the Hollywood adaptation of the British series Strictly Come Dancing. Premiering one year before DWTS, celebrities partner up with professional dancers to compete predominately in Latin and ballroom dances. Michelle Visage partnered with dancer Giovanni Pernice on the show’s 17th season in 2019 only to be eliminated in week 9 after performing Madonna’s “Vogue.”
Even though Michelle Visage didn’t make it as a winner on Strictly Come Dancing, she claimed that her experience on the British series was what made the ABC series turn her down:
They won’t let me do it! I injured myself on Strictly and got voted off in week 10 or something like that. I’ve since had knee surgery. I beg them every year to do Dancing With the Stars, and they won’t let me. They’re like, ‘You got too far.’ I’m just like, ‘But I didn’t get to the semifinal. I didn’t win!’
It’s bizarre that competing on one similar television show could stop a celebrity from competing on another. After all, it didn’t stop David Archuleta who first started as a Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search in 2003 and then later in 2008 became one of the most famous American Idol contestants, finishing second place. There have also been American Idol contestants who also competed on The Voice like The Morgan Twins, Keith Semple, Agina Alvarez, and more. You’d think that Visage would be no exception.
The Emmy winner may not have been accepted on Dancing With the Stars because of her previous experience competing in dance. On the other hand, the television personality pointed out one aspect she noticed from previous DWTS contestants that didn’t seem fair to her:
I say this all the time. I’m like, ‘Hold on a minute. Nicole Scherzinger is a Pussycat Doll. It’s a dance troupe.’ JoJo Siwa was on Dance Moms. That’s not fair. They’re actual dancers. I am not. So yeah, I would kill to do it in the States, but they’re not having it. I’m like, ‘Guys, please. I’m still a shitty dancer. Trust me.’
The American reality star/singer does have a point in that Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger won the tenth season of Dancing With the Stars despite her dancing experience in the girl group. JoJo Siwa was also a known dancer in two seasons of Dance Moms. Yet, that didn’t stop her from making history on DWTS for the show’s first same-sex pairing and placing second. When you look at the facts of the show’s previous history of not turning away dancers from competing, you can see where Visage is coming from.
Dancing With the Stars seems to apparently keep declining reality star Michelle Visage from competing due to her time on Strictly Come Dancing. But like she told THR, she still has no hesitation to put herself out there in other areas like her interest in wanting her own talk show with best friend and former DWTS contestant Leah Remini as well as wanting to host the Australian and New Zealand version of Drag Race.
You can watch RuPaul’s Drag Race on your Hulu subscription as well as Dancing With the Stars on your Disney+ subscription. Make sure to look at our 2024 TV schedule so you don’t miss out on new seasons of these two shows.
