History Series / DancingWithTheStars

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: For every television season, there are two seasons of Dancing with the Stars. It would be more accurate to say that the show runs in cycles, a la ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel''.

* Season 12: [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeagueNamesToKnow Hines Ward]], beating out [[Series/{{Cheers}} Kirstie Alley]] (!!) and [[Creator/ChelseaStaub Chelsea Kane]].

The show initially starred Tom Bergeron as host, with Lisa Canning serving as his co-host in season one. Samantha Harris co-hosted seasons two through nine, with Brooke Burke-Charvet replacing her for seasons ten through 17. Erin Andrews was brought in beginning with season 18, and continued with the show all the way through season 28, at which point both Tom ''and'' Erin were replaced by Creator/TyraBanks. The judges are Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli, with former professional dancer Julianne Hough joining the panel as permanent judge in season 19. Derek Hough is the only professional dancer to have achieved six wins, a franchise record (he also achieved two back-to-back championships twice). Cheryl Burke and Julianne Hough also have won two championships back-to-back. Mark Ballas, Kym Johnson, Peta Murgatoyd and Val Chmerkovskiy are the only professional dancers in the show to have two wins that were not back-to-back. Tony Dovolani is the longest tenured professional dancer in the show, appearing in seasons 2 through 22, a total of 21 seasons.

* Season 27: Bobby Bones[[note]]Radio personality[[/note]] (!!), beating out [[Film/Zombies2018 Milo Manheim]], Creator/EvannaLynch and Alexis Ren[[note]]Model and social media influencer[[/note]].

* Season 3: [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeagueNamesToKnow Emmitt Smith]], beating out [[Series/SavedByTheBell Mario Lopez]] and [[Series/MelissaAndJoey Joey Lawrence]].

** A viewer-invoked variant happened in season 22. Because Jodie Sweetin and Val Chmerkovskiy danced together on ''Series/FullerHouse'', many viewers were expecting them to be paired up when Jodie confirmed she would finally do the show... Only to reveal she was paired up with [[TokenMinority Keo Motsepe]] instead. So when the time came for the seasonal Switch-Up Night, the majority of the viewers, unsurprisingly, voted to pair up Jodie with Val.

* Season 18: [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Meryl Davis]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/ParalympicGames Amy Purdy]], [[Series/FullHouse Candace Cameron Bure]] (!!), and [[Series/BigTimeRush James Maslow]].

* HugeGirlTinyGuy: Generally avoided, but a close instance of this was Zendaya with Val, as she's a StatuesqueStunner. It was enough that the latter requested that she bend her knees a bit so that he wouldn't tower over her in the dancing heels.

* ZettaiRyouiki: Brandy. Season 11. Grade [[strike:A]]''S''! Hot ''damn''.

* Season 29: [[Series/TheBachelor Kaitlyn Bristowe]], beating out [[Series/CatfishTheTVShow Nev Schulman]], {{Music/Nelly}}(!!) and Creator/JustinaMachado.

* Season 29: [[Series/TheBachelor Kaitlyn Bristowe]], beating out [[Series/CatfishTheTVShow Nev Schulman]], Music/Nelly and Creator/JustinaMachado.

* Season 29: TBA

** Among the judges Len Goodman favors technique while Bruno Tonioli favors performance. Carrie Ann Inaba and Julianne Hough tend to strike a balance between the two.

* Season 13: [[Series/AllMyChildren J.R. Martinez]], beating out [[KeepingUpWithTheKardashians Rob Kardashian]] and [[Film/{{Hairspray}} Ricki Lake]] (!!).

* Season 23: [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Laurie Hernandez]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/IndyCar James Hinchcliffe]], [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeagueNamesToKnowCalvin Johnson]] and Jana Kramer.

** Season 20 during America’s Choice week, in which viewers were able to suggest elements (dance style, costume, theme, etc.) to be used in routines, Rumer Willis and Val Chmerkovskiey were chosen to do a “classic, ultra elegant, like the good old days” rumba, which consisted of just the two of them dancing to Doris Day’s “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”. They not only got the season’s first perfect score (40), but Len praised them for not needing an ensemble of people and extra “bells and whistles” to produce a great routine.

** For the same reason as Nicole Scherzinger listed earlier, when ''Series/{{Glee}}’s'' Creator/HeatherMorris joined Season 24, who served as a backup dancer for ''Beyoncé'' and was initially had been hired on Glee as a choreographer. Didn’t make her early elimination any less shocking though.

*** Wildlife conservationist [[Series/CrocodileHunter Bindi Irwin]] of Season 21 was the first to break six-perfect score record with ''eight''. She was the second youngest winner at the time, and like Willis before her, only received a single score below an 8, a 7 from Carrie Ann when she and Derek accidentally did a lift during a waltz (not a split second lift, but a full multiple-second lift) in Week 2.

*** Actor Creator/Jordan Fisher of Season 25 broke the record with ''nine'' perfect scores. He is the sole male celebrity to have accomplished this feat, and the youngest male to win at age 23. He received three scores below an 8, two for his Tango in Week 1 from Len and Bruno, and one for his Charleston in Week 3 also from Len.

*** Wildlife conservationist [[Series/CrocodileHunter Bindi Irwin]] was the first to break six-perfect score record with ''eight''. She was the second youngest winner at the time, and like Willis before her, only received a single score below an 8, a 7 from Carrie Ann when she and Derek accidentally did a lift during a waltz (not a split second lift, but a full multiple-second lift) in Week 2.

*** Actress Creator/JenniferGrey of Season 11 was the first to earn six perfect scores. She received More impressive by the fact that she is also the oldest female winner at age 50 at the time.[[note]] The oldest person ever to win being Donny Osmond, then 51[[/note]] Her only slip up was her Paso Doble in Week 6, where she earned three scores below 8, a 6 from Carrie Ann and two 7s from Len and Bruno.

*** Olympic figure-skater Meryl Davis of Season 18 is the ace of all aces in the entire history of celebrities. She was the second to earn six perfect scores in Season 18, has the highest average of scores on a 30-point scale at 28.4, and ''never'' received a judge's score lower than 8. Julianne Hough when guest judging for her Argentine Tango during the switch up week where she danced with Val even told her something that amazed ''everyone''.

*** Olympic figure-skater Meryl Davis of Season 18 is the ace of all aces in the entire history of celebrities. She was the second to earn six perfect scores in Season 18, has the highest average of scores on a 30-point scale at 28.4, and ''never'' received a judge's score lower than 8.

** The celebrities listed under TheAce above, though they all showed incredible skill and technique, are all people who were personable and very likeable, especially {{Adorkable}} then-teenagers Bindi Irwin and Laurie Hernandez.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Utterly unavoidable in Season 26, with the ''7'3"'' Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar as one of the celebrity contestants. The tallest female dancers in that season's cast were 5'6" (Kareem's partner Lindsay Arnold and Sharna Burgess). Two of the female celebrity contestants were taller than any of the female dancers.[[note]]former Olympic softball pitcher Jennie Finch (6'1") and then-current college basketball player Arike Ogunbowale (5'8")[[/note]]

** Defied by the producers of the show when it comes to the 5'7" Sasha Farber. Most of his partners have been less than or exactly five feet tall. As of this writing, his tallest partners have been, Tonya Harding and Justina Machado of respectively Seasons 26 and 29, both 5'1".

** Season 21 tried to invoke this by having troupe member Jenna Johnson as the go-to replacement for incapacitated female celebs, with her taking Kim Zolciak-Biermann's place during her ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie''-themed samba on TV Night, almost replacing Tamar on the duet rumba with Nick and Sharna (it didn't actually happen due to Tamar's last-minute return to the studio, but the outtake reel shown during the finale confirms it), and performing a foxtrot to Alessia Cara's "Here" with Val as his season closer as Tamar was still in the hospital with pulmonary embolisms. Jenna finally became a pro in Season 23... [[YankTheDogsChain only to be the first eliminated]].

* HotterAndSexier: The Argentine Tango, Salsa, and Rumba are far sexier and more sensual than the other dances, with the former two often invoking [[MrFanservice shirtlessness]] from the men and [[MsFanservice revealing outfits for the age-appropriate ladies]]. There are also dance pairs like Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko who have a steamy dance style between them by default. Bruno ''loves'' dances that go this route.

The show stars Tom Bergeron as host, with Erin Andrews currently serving as his co-host (Lisa Canning was co-host in season one, Samantha Harris co-hosted seasons two through nine and Brooke Burke-Charvet in seasons ten through seventeen). The judges are Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli, with former professional dancer Julianne Hough joining the panel as permanent judge in season 19. Derek Hough is the only professional dancer to have achieved six wins, a franchise record (he also achieved two back-to-back championships twice). Cheryl Burke and Julianne Hough also have won two championships back-to-back. Mark Ballas, Kym Johnson, Peta Murgatoyd and Val Chmerkovskiy are the only professional dancers in the show to have two wins that were not back-to-back. Tony Dovolani is the longest tenured professional dancer in the show, appearing in seasons 2 through 22, a total of 21 seasons.

* Season 2: Drew Lachey, beating out [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Jerry Rice]] and Wrestling/StacyKeibler.
* Season 3: [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Emmitt Smith]], beating out [[Series/SavedByTheBell Mario Lopez]] and [[Series/MelissaAndJoey Joey Lawrence]].

* Season 6: [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Kristi Yamaguchi]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Jason Taylor]] and [[Series/CSIMiami Cristian de la Fuente]].
* Season 7: [[Series/RockStar Brooke Burke]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Warren Sapp]] (!!) and [[Music/{{NSYNC}} Lance Bass]].

* Season 12: [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Hines Ward]], beating out [[Series/{{Cheers}} Kirstie Alley]] (!!) and [[Creator/ChelseaStaub Chelsea Kane]].

* Season 14: [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Donald Driver]], beating out Katherine Jenkins and William Levy.

* Season 16: [[Series/AmericanIdol Kellie Pickler]], beating out Creator/{{Zendaya}}, [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Jacoby Jones]], and [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Alexandra Raisman]][[note]]Starting season 16, there are now four finalists, with the 4th placer being eliminated on a Monday Finale night.[[/note]]

* Season 23: [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Laurie Hernandez]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/IndyCar James Hinchcliffe]], [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Calvin Johnson]] and Jana Kramer.
* Season 24: [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Rashad Jennings]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball David Ross]](!!), [[Music/FifthHarmony Normani Kordei]], and [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Simone Biles]].

* Season 26: [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Adam Rippon]], beating out [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Josh Norman]] and [[Film/ITonya Tonya Harding]] (!!).

* Season 19: [[Series/TheFreshPrinceofBelair Alfonso Ribeiro]], beating out [[Series/DuckDynasty Sadie Robertson]], [[Series/PrettyLittleLiars Janel Parrish]] and [[Website/{{YouTube}} Bethany Mota]].